I have no experience with your particular situation, but I can make a few general points.
1. A short letter (to an editor or a governor) is much more likely to be read than a long one. 2. A letter should pick one main focus area and stick to it. 3. You should decide what you really want: getting improvements implemented in the park is a very different goal than seeing that the guilty parties are exposed or punished. If getting the improvements means letting jerks who caused or allowed the problem in the first place take the credit and look like heroes, you have to accept that. 4. Relative to points 1 and 2, above: if your situation is too complex to handle concisely, and it sounds like it is, it may be wise to pick a single sub-issue that can be dealt with more or less independently of the other issues and make it your opening wedge. If you get some success there, you may find a way to use it as a stepping stone to other issues. The people who help with that issue, if they are buoyed up by a success, may form into some sort of a team to tackle subsequent issues, learning and growing as they proceed. 5. Remember that different people will have different forms of attachment to the Park. Yours may be a love of nature; for someone else it might be memories of trips there with grandparents, and for history buffs it might be some event that happened there. Try to use emotional appeal as well as facts and logic in winning support for your case. I hope some of this helps. Martin M. Meiss 2015-07-21 17:48 GMT-04:00 Brian Czech <[email protected]>: > Elmer is right: letters to editors are effective. > > Taking it up a notch, you could also develop a signable petition or > position statement. This works especially well if you have a lot of > patience and of course if the scenario lends itself to said patience! > > This reminds me, newer ECOLOG members ought to sign the CASSE position on > economic growth at www.steadystate.org and in particular at > http://steadystate.org/sign-the-position/ . (A lot of the earlier > members are already signatories.) > > Cheers and best of luck, > > Brian > > > > --- > Brian Czech, Ph.D., President > Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economywww.steadystate.org > > On 2015-07-21 5:34pm, Elmer Finck wrote: > > John -- Sometimes a letter to the editor of a nearby newspaper is > effective in these situations. Maybe a local media will pick up the > cause. Saludos y nos vemos más tarde, EJF > > Elmer J. Finck, Professor > Department of Biological Sciences > Fort Hays State University > 600 Park Street > Hays, KS 67601-4099 > office: AH 322 > e-mail: [email protected] > webpage: http://www.fhsu.edu/biology/efinck/ > office phone: (785) 628-4269 > fax: (785) 628-4153 > home phone: (785) 625-9727 > cell phone: (785) 650-1057 > > Too much hat not enough cowboy. > > > > From: "John A." <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Date: 07/21/2015 01:50 PM > Subject: [ECOLOG-L] A Lonely Voice in the Wilderness -- Still Alone > Sent by: "Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news" < > [email protected]> > ------------------------------ > > > > A few months ago I asked this list for advice on helping turn around a > dismal situation at a heavily used and abused state park. Unfortunately > the situation has not improved, and at this point I could use some advice > again. > > Two months ago I sent a letter to the state parks director detailing my > strong concerns. I received a bland reply with some vague paper promises, > superficially addressing a handful of my points but with no timeline and no > specifics, much less any mechanism for true accountability. > > The director's letter contained a number of statements which are > stupendously false, and which must have been provided to him by park > staff. The staff were entirely aware these statements were false, and > equally certain that the director wouldn't know any better. The director > himself ignored my sincere invitation to walk the trails and see the > situation in person. > > As I expected, two months later not a single one of the director's > promises have been even attempted, much less fulfilled, and the situation > is worse than ever. The people who abuse the park are secure in the > knowledge that nothing will ever be done, and the state park staff are > perfectly aware that they will never be held accountable for their gross > inaction. > > At this point I'm not sure what to do. No one cares. My only other > public option is to write a letter to the state's governor, who has been > known to respond to letters concerning this park in the past. But I have > no experience writing effective letters to governors, and I would want to > present a full account, backed up with as much information as possible, > rather than simply send a letter which could be easily ignored. > > So my request is twofold: I could use advice from anyone with > experience developing supporting materials for citizen projects--and I > could use suggestions on what else to try. At this point I'm the only > person willing to speak out, but I don't know how to raise my concerns > effectively. > > > - J. A. > >
