Limits begin where the vision ends...
When I set out on the tour phase of BRC's Turn the Tide Tour 2012, I wanted to hear three things firsthand from the enthusiast community:
1. Your concerns with management of our public lands and waters
2. What adjustments you feel BRC needs to make to remain relevant into the future
3. How BRC can better unite the enthusiast community across the country
Acting in the self-appointed role of BRC's Chief Listening Officer, I've been on the road for 13 weeks. I've ridden my motorcycle over 14,000 miles, stopping all along the way to meet with enthusiasts--to listen to you. I hope to be home by early December, but I still have a few thousand miles to go and lots of people to meet with.
This tour has been a serious commitment on my part and it has proven to be very worthwhile. In reflection, I've often told my wife that communicating with you via email, Facebook or other written means is good, and telephone calls are better, but there is no substitute for face-to-face meetings with the folks BRC serves. I have heard and learned more from you on this tour than I could ever have expected. I am still learning.
And, it doesn't stop with listening. While listening is good, action is better. Information gathered by listening is only data. It doesn't become intelligence until we do something with it. Phase two of the Turn the Tide Tour 2012 is when that action is coming, and I am looking forward to the challenge.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
1. As promised from the beginning, I am going to DC to make certain that the concerns that I have heard from you are heard by those political and administrative leaders who are in a position to do something about them.
2. Based on what we have heard from you, BRC's leadership will be making changes so we can better serve you and our mission as an organization--that process is already taking place.
Our vision for the future of recreational access is big. What we do begins with you, and I am convinced the best is yet to come. There are no limits to what we can do together.
As I finish this last leg of my Tour, I encourage you to engage with me at www.WeAreBRC.org and on our Facebook page for the Tour at WeAreBRC. Learn more about what we are doing and be part of our effort to become a better BlueRibbon Coalition.
