Let’s face it, our National Parks, wild lands and wildlife are in danger
You can read articles on this site about the $11.6 Bn backlog in funding of maintenance projects at our National Parks. We don’t know how bad it is for other protected lands and wildlife. The good news is, we believe there will be progress in Congress and the states to start clearing this backlog soon, possibly as soon as this year.
“Organizations charged with executing the backlog of project work could be overwhelmed”
There is data to back up our position. A recent Pew-commissioned analysis found that as many as 100,000 new jobs might be created, should funding be released to execute the backlog of projects. The current administration in Washington seems motivated to create as many new jobs possible before mid-term elections, later this year. My personal opinion on Pew’s finding is this: on one hand, I believe the figures are right, but on the other hand, our economy is nearly fully employed at the present time, making it very difficult for employers to find people with the right skills. The forecast: As funds are released, organizations charged with executing the backlog of project work could be overwhelmed.
“…our economy is nearly fully employed at the present time, making it very difficult for employers to find people with the right skills”
At The Conservancy Project, we are researching best practices for engaging the pool of well-qualified talent across the entire USA, who have a few hours each month (or more) available to volunteer in service to our National Parks and other endangered lands and wildlife. We are striving to become the conduit between organizations charged with completing these interesting and rewarding projects and the pool of talent that we believe exists and is ready to make a difference.
Many of us have seen how Congress works. In a prior life, as a US Government civilian employee of the Department of Defense, my organization (USAISAE, a department within US Army, Europe) was funded on an annual basis. We had some fiscal years with relatively low funding requirements, followed by fiscal years with tremendous needs. Seeing the volume of funds increase dramatically at the boundary of low-to-high-need fiscal years was like being hit by a tsunami of cash. In most cases like that, our organization simply could not execute the higher volume of projects due to personnel constraints. Many projects went unfunded until later fiscal years, sometimes several years in the future.
Are you an experienced Designer, Architect, Non-profit Manager, Engineer, Biologist, Lawyer, Project Manager, … [your skill here]?
Will you help us start something great?
We want to personally connect with as many people as possible, in order to
- get new ideas about accelerating project work in endangered lands
- learn more about the potential talent pool
- better understand how to meet the personal needs of our volunteers
To get started, please review Our Mission, then complete our online Contact US information page, then click Send. It’s quick and easy to complete the fields, and there is no obligation or cost to join us. Please help us start something great today!