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Originally Posted by KenP
Thanks J.
Greg, thanks for joining and I hope you can clear up the issues we've brought forth as laid out.
What involvement does your organization have in reopening mining roads and timber roads not for personal outdoor enjoyment, but for businesses to make their way back to the cut off/protected lands?
Who's your top Washington lobbyist and who else does that person and their firm represent?
Who are the 20 top individual and corporate donors and what percentage of your total donations come from them as a group (you don't have to individually post each donor with each dollar amount).
Thanks again and I look forward to having you clear up my concerns that people I know may be taken advantage of.
Ken
BTW, I reserve the right to ask more questions, such as why is this info not on your website? Or is it I just can't find it?
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I?m not sure what kind of question it is other than preloaded with insinuation but, for the record: Even for recreational purpose, it is a very rare occasion that anyone is able to open up any roads and trails that have gone through a legitimate Administrative process. We are more often in the position of trying to prevent access closures that have no legitimate reasoning. It isn?t our job to open roads for business. We represent recreationalists not business. If we have protected access along some corridor to benefit recreation that at some point also provided access for a business or a landowner for example, that is a byproduct and not the point.
The amount of money we spend on lobbying is also listed on our 990. You have to understand what lobbying means in order to understand what you are trying to get to with this question. If I go to DC or to a state and try to influence some piece of legislation, it is lobbying. If I ask you to send a letter to your congressman/woman/person, it is grassroots lobbying. As a 501 (c)(3) we are governed very strictly as to how much lobbying we can or cannot do. We adhere very strictly to those guidelines. You say in your question ?top Washington lobbyist? as if we have a bunch of lobbyists. We don?t. You can see that from our 990 the amount of money spent isn?t what others would have you believe. We work with a firm DC, Birch, Horton, Bittner & Cherot, P.C., as do others although the extent of who those others are, I couldn?t really say. Mostly they would be multiple-use concerns as that is the realm we operate in.
With regard to the top donors, you are asking the wrong question if you are trying to identify who holds the reins of BRC. The right question is who gives you the most money? The answer to that I have already posted here. It is our collective grassroots contingent which represents 85-90% of our budget less advertising dollars. That is who holds the reins. The remainder comes from various other sources. Thank you for not requesting that I individually post each donor with each dollar amount. As I said in my previous comments, it is not my wish to name names and subject those folks to more attacks. It is important that you note that we are not talking big numbers here. Top 20 donors would include individuals and clubs that have donated $1000-$5000. The majority of our funding comes in the range of $5 to $1000 increments.
Some of this information is on our website. If you don?t find it there it is because we spend our time and media efforts on preserving access and not in some defensive posture trying to prove allegations wrong about who we are and what we do. If we did that, we would never get anything done.
Also, I would add that I don't understand the comment that you think people you know have been taken advantage of? Are you saying you think BRC has taken advantage of people you know? Could you give some instances of that so I can look into them?
Greg