The Sound of Silence

You may have noticed things have been a little quiet here on our new GCC blog. If you haven’t heard already, then allow me to break the news to you: we have hit some funding snags and we’ve had to cut our education/outreach program, and the remaining staff has been cut to 4 days a week. I know. It’s been tough around here.

 

It’s always hard to lose a staff member. As most people who do education and outreach know, it’s a difficult program to fund. In the past we’ve been lucky enough to receive quite a bit of “loose” funding from various government sources, but with the drying up of government coffers and the market downturn causing foundations to reduce or sometimes cancel grant cycles, the tides have changed. It’s a shame because a recent push in outreach and communications has brought the public’s awareness of us, what we do and grasslands in general to an all-time high. Our recent 10 year celebration event brought in dozens of new members – but unfortunately, tough choices had to be made and that program had to go. Our Executive Director has had to make a few tough choices in the last few months, and we all support him, because these tough choices have given us more time to put our heads together and come up with solutions.

 

And really, that’s what this is all about. We are all working hard, taking stock of what we have done well and what we could have done better, and looked hard at the way we do things around here. Ultimately, this downturn is giving the GCC a chance to reflect on its successes and not-so-successes and focus on necessary changes and high priorities for the next little while. We are looking at some exciting things, like carbon offsets for grasslands, certification for sustainable grass-fed beef and education for kids (and the public!) about how important ecologically sustainable ranching is to both our economy and our environment. (How, you wonder? Well, that’s another blog post…stay tuned.) We will not go to funders with our hands out asking for a reprieve – we will go in with well thought out projects that will really have an impact on grasslands conservation in BC.

 

This doesn’t mean we don’t need all the support we can get. If you aren’t already a member, why not become one? Sure, your membership fee won’t fill our funding holes, but it will add your voice to the growing list of people who are saying hey, Grasslands are important. Whatever your reason is – maybe you’re a rancher, maybe you’re a naturalist, maybe you just enjoy the way a meadowlark sounds when it’s singing from a sage brush, you care.

 

Please visit www.bcgrasslands.org and become a member today.

 

Tasha.