NYNJTC trifold in the office at WaWay
- Thread starter Patrick
- Start date
it is more about member recruitment and exposure. At a high level, Jorba is working with them in northern nj, with ties to Palisades MTB - https://www.palisadesmtb.org/
@jmanic has some connections, along with @Shepard Grinker. Maybe @pixychick and Art also? Specifically on connections between parks, and the border areas.
I'm sure there is much more that quietly moves the projects forward.
NYNJTC has paid employees (i'm not sure if it is full time) and a very large annual budget - about $2.5MM a year (2019 data)
JORBA is 100% volunteer, and cash from membership isn't where it needs to be (meaning not enough members -
and membership means representation when advocating to elected officials.)
While I do what I can, I've fallen short of my commitment to the non-trail tasks.
Yet a core group keeps moving the organization forward. The redesign of the website, and improving contact management is a great step.
Partnering with organizations that saw mtb as damaging "their" trails is now synergistic.
Relationships with land managers seems to be improving - CR, WC, LM leading the way -
DM and Highbridge getting it done with direct town support is good across the board.
There are a couple of programs in limbo right now for lack of volunteers/coordinators.
The answers are not simple - but it does start with membership (increase and participation)
If only saying something on the internet could make it true.
I forgot The Tourne
Yeah, it sounds like the best way to have a better relationship with a land manager is to get a better land manager.
Karate Monkey
Well-Known Member
Helping so early in the morning. Thanks.
We saw this in Mercer, people retire and the next people coming in don’t necessarily have the same biases.
is this related to the scorpion and the frog?
Yes on membership- increasing and maintaining are always a core mission,
and hopefully the efforts to improve and expand exposure will yield gains.
We do pretty well engaging our base,
but the trick is reaching beyond that core.
With the boom the biking scene has seen over the past year,
there is a lot of opportunity right now.
@Bleeder and all the @KenS do an incredible amount on all fronts, including building those partnerships you talk about,
which are also fostered by all the park leads.
And now @Norm is at the whiteboard helping generate ideas for both MTBNJ and JORBA in these areas.
Stay tuned @Patrick , there will certainly be opportunities for someone with your skill set to contribute as you are able.
Edit: and there is increasing partnership between JORBA and NYNJTC,
reaching across the aisle really does serve both groups well.
Can you count the ways?
I’m not at home right now so I will have to count the Waze.
Karate Monkey
Well-Known Member
There's more, but imgur upload isn't working with the forum, and it sucks to do manually on a phone. Quite relevant to the attitudes present here.
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He isn't wrong.
All of our efforts were wasted on certain parks due to the land managers. New land manager and now we're moving forward with progress.
Not saying NYNJTC is this way, but Morris Parks, or Watchung certainly were/are. The Tourne is a perfect example of good people taking over and us helping to improve the park.
Some of the sentiments posted in this thread are disappointing. Mountain bikers are a new stakeholder in trails, arguably the newest in the grand scheme of things. We got to the table through hard work and wonderful volunteer numbers. We were kind and made friends with other orgs who share the same desire to keep green spaces green while enjoying their form of human powered recreation.
We've made great strides with the NYNJTC over the years and I consider them a key partner in our region. Thankfully negative comments posted here do not reflect the majority of our community, but they are still off-base and can serve to damage reputations. When did we become this way, and how do we change it?
We've made great strides with the NYNJTC over the years and I consider them a key partner in our region. Thankfully negative comments posted here do not reflect the majority of our community, but they are still off-base and can serve to damage reputations. When did we become this way, and how do we change it?
Short-sighted, entitled, inflammatory and uninformed. What do you have against city kids?
In reflection, better advocates