Folks,
Please note that Bill Putnam is running as a write in candidate for the
NSS Board. I have known Bill for more than 15 years and can attest to
his willingness to work hard for the NSS and cavers in general. I know
him best for his work at the Southeastern Cave Conservancy.
I would recommend that you also consider Bill for the board. Below is
his platform.
Geary Schindel
Platform
The NSS is in a crisis, but it is not a financial crisis, a membership
crisis, or a biological crisis: it is a leadership crisis. Our problems
and challenges are but symptoms of this larger deficiency. The mis-
management of the current election is an excellent illustration. It is
time to address the root causes.
We have been poorly served by our officers and directors for far too
long, and good people have resigned in disgust or declined to run for
reelection because they are fed up with the obstruction, obfuscation,
and incompetence, and inaction of our leaders. The current board and
officers know that these things are true, but some have ignored and
suppressed them. It is well known to the board members that they have
had difficulty each year finding candidates willing to run for the board
- this year was a case in point. One reason for this is that no talented
person wants to waste his or her valuable and limited time serving on an
ineffective board. I have been solicited to run many times, but have
declined repeatedly for exactly this reason. I know others who can tell
the same story.
It is time to clean house, lead by example, and get the NSS back to its
core mission and principles. We need leaders who are not afraid to take
positions, answer questions, and make tough choices in the best
interests of the Society and its members. I am such a person, and I ask
you to write in my name on your ballot, and to urge your friends and
associates to do likewise. NSS Board elections typically garner only
about 1000 to 1200 ballot responses - less than 10% of the membership.
Your vote and efforts will make a difference.
Further, I urge you to vote for or write in people you know or believe
will be active, dynamic, and outspoken leaders, and not just chair-
warmers. We need an activist board, where each director is expected to
chair at least one committee and serve on at least two others. I will
commit to do this and hereby challenge other candidates to do the same.
We need articulate people, who can speak, write, and provide thoughtful
opinions and debate. We need people who are serious and committed, and
who have taken the time and trouble to read our governing documents,
attend board meetings, and give substantially of their time, talents,
and resources to support the society in its mission and projects. We
need people who will lead by example and walk the walk.
I have attended more board meetings in 30 years than I care to recall. I
have served on and chaired NSS committees. I have supported the NSS as a
Life Member and with targeted donations to the Great Ex purchase, the
library fund, and other funds and projects. I have edited NSS
publications and supported the NSS office with my professional skills,
time, and talents as a volunteer.
Current Issues
I believe the NSS must be a leader in the research and prevention
efforts related to WNS. We should support research in every way that we
can, lead by example, reach out to the non-NSS cavers, and take an
active role in partnership with BCI, ACCA, US-FWS, USGS and other
organizations as befitting the premier speleological organization in
North America. We must also act to protect and conserve our own caves
and do everything possible and reasonable to prevent harm by WNS,
whatever its cause.
I believe the NSS office should remain in Huntsville unless that becomes
economically impossible. I have considered and discussed the three
proposals recently developed. I have concluded that the Indiana site is
too remote from airports and interstates and would be too expensive to
build and operate due to its rural location, and that the Kentucky site
would be too remote from airports and from a sufficiently large grotto
or member base for adequate volunteer support. Huntsville, on the other
hand, has a regional airport and is served by interstate highways. It
has a large grotto with many active members who have historically
supported the office in countless ways until alienated by the board and
officers. We also have a substantial investment in our office staff,
which will probably be lost if the office is relocated out of the
Huntsville area, increasing training and staffing costs and reducing
efficiency and member services.
The proposal to build a new facility across the street from the present
Huntsville office, demolish the old office, and expand the Shelta Cave
preserve is a good one - both environmentally and economically. It
offers the least disruption of NSS office activities and operations. Its
estimated cost is within the ability of the NSS fund raising activities,
given adequate leadership, focus, and effort. It will be the quickest
and easiest to implement. It will have the largest volunteer and member
support base (assuming that we can repair the relationship with the
grotto, as I believe new leaders can and should do). Finally, and
perhaps most importantly, it is doable right now. The Cave Research
Foundation conducted a similar sized project a few years ago with a much
smaller membership base. I believe that the new office complex as
proposed can be designed to house, protect, and display the NSS library
and museum, something that is long, long overdue.
I believe that the NSS should not seek to buy, own, or manage caves.
That is the mission and competency area of the local and regional cave
conservancies, such as the SCCi, IKC, MCKC, and others. The NSS should
support those organizations - not compete with them for funds and other
resources. Buying, owning, and managing caves is demanding work, and it
diverts energy, time, volunteers, money, and other resources away from
our core mission areas. If a significant cave is offered in donation to
the NSS, we should consider accepting, provided that we have the
resources to manage and protect the cave, but we should first consider
whether there is some better home for it, such as a local or regional
cave conservancy.
The NSS should focus on its core mission:
"The purpose of this Society shall be to promote interest in and to
advance in any and all ways the study and science of speleology, the
protection of caves and their natural contents, and to promote
fellowship among those interested therein."
We should direct our efforts toward promoting the study and science of
speleology, supporting the protection of caves and cave life, and
promoting fellowship and community among all members of the caving
community at large. We do not have to conduct science, buy caves, or
throw parties to do these things. We can produce publications, create
and give scholarships, give grants, raise awareness, create educational
programs, sponsor conferences, conventions, and expeditions, and do many
other things that no other organization in North America is doing. We
should not compete with other organizations or institutions where our
interests overlap - we should support and cooperate, and allocate our
resources wisely.
I believe the NSS should investigate and seriously consider spinning off
a National Speleological Land Trust, an entity similar to the National
Speleological Foundation that manages the NSS financial assets, so that
we can transfer title to our cave preserves to a separate tax=exempt
land trust dedicated to their care and management. This will allow the
NSS to substantially reduce its liability insurance costs while
providing greater protection to bother the Society's other assets and to
the caves themselves. Cave conservancies already follow this successful
model - it works, and it takes the management of our caves out of
political hands and micromanagement and puts it into the hands of the
people who know and love them best.
Finally, I believe that the NSS must work harder and more effectively to
recruit, train, nurture, and retain talented volunteers. The BOG and
officers have had a terrible track record for volunteer management,
alienating both individual volunteers and even entire grottos over the
last decade. We are losing talented people, valuable donors, and
priceless opportunities because of mismanagement, miscommunication, and
just plain misbehavior. It is time for this to end, and for the NSS
leadership to conduct itself in a rational and professional way. I have
personally experienced this, and I believe I can help spearhead the
effort to make the necessary changes.
Please feel free to email me at [email protected] or to call me
at 678-371-4517 to discuss any NSS-related questions or concerns that
you have that I have not addressed here. I will also continue to monitor
the Cavechat forum and other distribution lists and will be happy to
respond to any questions or comments there as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for your consideration.
If my message resonates for you, I would appreciate your write-in vote,
and your help in getting word of my candidacy to all your friends and
fellow NSS members. I need about 1,000 votes to get seated. If I do, I
promise that it will be, at the very least, interesting.
Bill Putnam NSS21117LF
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William Putnam 1865 Eagle Summit Ct Lawrenceville GA 30043-6669
[email protected]
678.371.4517
