Presidential Ponderings
By Shelley Rose
January 2012
This month marks the start of my second year in service as president of GATC. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with all of you the past year. We can be proud of the work and projects we have undertaken this past year. 199 GATC members and 155 prospective members/guests contributed almost 17,000 volunteer hours through trail and administrative work in 2011. What an amazing accomplishment.
As I write this month’s Presidential Pondering, work on the Blood Mountain Shelter is 99.9% complete!A tremendous amount of work went into this project and more than 75 GATC members volunteered in some way. If you have not hiked up to the shelter recently, the new roof is a beautiful sight to behold. This has been a long and complex project involving many partners – and one we can all benefit from for years to come.
The Georgia legislature reconvenes in January and our goal again this year is to pass legislation to authorize revenue-sharing for the AT license tags. As you may recall, legislation was introduced last year but did not make it out of committee. Sen. Steve Gooch has agreed to take on leadership with the bill and will sponsor SB 130 this year. Your help is needed to urge your state representative and senator to vote in favor of the bill. The bill calls for $10 of each tag to be designated for projects to protect, maintain, and conserve the Georgia portion of the Appalachian Trail and connecting trails, and to promote awareness of wilderness, hiking, and backcountry recreation.
I was sad to learn that longtime GATC member Elmer Butler passed away in early November. Elmer was a member of the club since 1976.
Please get involved with GATC by volunteering on one of the many committees and joining us on the monthly work trips.
See you on the trail,
Shelley Rose, GATC President