President's Perspective
"The problem lies in the inability of aeromodelers to put forth our case in a credible manner to those who are 'experts.'"
Well, the IMS Convention '99 is over, and it was, by all accounts, a huge success. That is not to say it was without a few problems, but they are nothing that we can't fix for next year. Most of the problems were outlined in my last column, so there were very few surprises.
Congratulations to the AMA staff, and particularly to Jay Mealy, for a job well done!
Environmental and wildlife issues are becoming more and more a factor in our ability to get flying sites.
The regional site that was proposed for Visalia, California, was one of the first situations where a potential site was lost. It was the result of all of the hoops we were required to jump through to satisfy the environmental and wildlife restrictions on whatever impact we would have had.
The only real Free Flight site in the northeastern part of the United States is now endangered, if not lost, for the same reason, and we will lose many more opportunities if we fail to act.
I have a strong personal feeling that aeromodeling is an activity that is friendly to the environment and to wildlife. That feeling is based on many years of watching the interaction between these elements and seeing, firsthand, the results.
I've watched with awe as a mother bird hatched and cared for her offspring in the pits during a National Championship. I also watched with pride as the modelers cordoned off that area to protect her and her little ones.
It's not hard to see the natural bond between aeromodelers and birds. In the aforementioned Free Flight site, a large portion of the wildlife moved onto the site only after the aeromodelers cleared the scrub and maintained the area.
I have heard of aeromodelers being moved to another place in a park because of wildlife nesting, only to have the nesting wildlife follow them to the new location. I have seen a lot of evidence that our activity is wildlife- and environmentally friendly, yet we are losing sites for this very reason. Why?
I am convinced that the problem lies in the inability of aeromodelers to put forth our case in a credible manner to those who are "experts" in this field. We have a good case and a good track record, but no credibility in the wildlife and environmental circles. We need to fix this.
Environmental and Wildlife Committee
The first step has been taken. As AMA President, I created a committee to address environmental and wildlife issues, to be chaired by Dr. Sandy Frank, who is our District VIII Vice President.
Sandy is really fired up about this; he has stated that it is his goal to put together a team of committee members that will put this committee on a par with the Education Committee, which is no easy task. I have lauded the work of the Education Committee as being of the highest order.
Sandy will be recruiting help in this area from professionals in these fields among the membership. One of the great things about having a membership of more than 150,000 is that there are few fields in which we can't find a few members. Fortunately, most of those members are willing to volunteer to help the common cause of aeromodeling.
If we are to be successful, we will all have to work together — but what is new about that? It is true of virtually any endeavor. We are all a part of the planet and we share it with all other species.
It is widely accepted that the human race is the most intelligent of the species on earth. Let's prove, by working with the environmentalists and wildlife experts, that our sport and hobby is friendly to their cause, and that we are willing to adapt in those areas in which they might suggest we change.
Dave Brown AMA President dbrown@dbproducts.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
