[Greg Mumm]

I am here and available if you would like to ask me questions. I will check this for the next couple of days and see if I can't respond to any questions that are thrown at me.

Just a few comments:

Normally, I don't spend a lot of time in forums because it would dominate my time and there is so much to be done. I need to tell you up front that I will not answer any questions that impose on the privacy of our membership.

There is a fine line between lying and spinning the truth and I guess it all boils down to perspective and motive. The BlueRibbon Coalition has this sort of attack on its character happen quite often and generally it is the same sort of attack based in the same typical source articles. Truth be told, I think the smear campaign done by those sources has been amazingly effective and they should be given credit for how well that effort has done over the years. All they have to do is accuse and people blindly believe it as fact. Mostly I think folks believe because they want to believe it... They need to believe it.

I am not here to try to convince someone of anything. I am here only to answer questions. BlueRibbon Coalition doesn't have any hidden agendas. If you want a conspiracy theory to pan out, you will need to look elsewhere. Everything is out there for anyone who wants to to look at. It is on our website. It is on member's websites. It is on other's websites. It is in the media of all sorts all around. Read it and believe what you decide you are going to believe. I only ask that you consider the source. Truth is an elusive thing.

It amazes me sometimes though as is happening in this particular forum thread is that a smear on the character of BRC is given and it is on the back of BRC or others to prove that it is false. That really isn't the way it is supposed to be in America is it? Yet it happens/happened here.

I am the one who, among other things, is ultimately responsible for fundraising for the BlueRibbon Coalition. I can tell you that we ask for every single dollar that we get or it is volunteered willingly by those who believe in our mission. We were not set up by some industry conglomerate as a front. We were set up by a group of individuals just like yourselves (which included Clark Collins) who just wanted to preserve access. Nothing has ever changed in that regard. I belong to a local Land Cruiser Club, go wheeling just like you, enjoy other forms of recreation just like you, and put my pants on just like any of you every day. Well, most days anyway :^)

We are also grateful for every dollar we get. We spend those dollars on a well publicized mission whose focus is on recreational access. We represent, as you can see above, a whole plethora of individuals and organizations who are concerned with the diverse issues of access for recreation.

The truth is, if Exxon came to me tomorrow with an offer for funding, I would likely take it. They would of course have to accept the caveat that they understand we have our own agenda and they do not get any more vote in determining what we do than the guy who spent $20 to become a member. In fact, we have been accused so many times of being funded by Exxon, that we decided we should put an open letter in our magazine next month asking that Exxon actually do fund us.

It is true that we have taken money from Mining companies on occasion and from Timber companies on occasion and from other industry sources as well. Not because we are a front for them. It is because they may have seemed a likely source for a grant to do something for recreational access so we asked them. Never has that been the bulk of funding for BRC. The bulk of funding has always come from the many good folks like you or me who support what we do for recreation... our members.

Because we listed a donor in a magazine who happened to give us a couple hundred dollars or even a couple thousand dollars so we could print a member handbook or hire a NEPA expert to assess a land management plan does not make us an industry lackey. We are simply giving recognition where recognition is due. In that same magazine we also listed a lot of individuals and organizations who donated as well. It is common, rightful and professional to express your gratefulness and recognize what people do to help you along your course.

In doing that however, you open the door to anyone who wants to take that listing and spin it into something it is not. That happens. I will still continue to do the right thing and recognize our supporters none-the-less.

Greg Mumm
Executive Director
BlueRibbon Coalition