Why I Don’t Have Time to Write This Post
This will just be a quick posting to tell you that I am busy writing my capstone paper this week and can’t spend much time on the blog. My capstone paper is a ~50 page report of a research project that I started working on this summer. I’ve been looking into the question of whether land trust mergers result in more effective organizations. This topic was suggested to me by the Land Trust Alliance, an umbrella organization of land trusts that works on issues affecting land trusts and land conservation.
Initially, I thought the topic seemed rather dry, but it’s actually been fascinating. It turns out that bringing small, all-volunteer based organizations together to form a larger, more professional organization can be a very painful and emotionally charged experience. Most of the project has involved interviewing people involved with a particular merger of three land trusts on the west coast (U.S.). People have been very open with me about their frustrations and passions. Their passion and commitment for land conservation and/or their original land trust is impressive and humbling.
In case you are curious, I think the answer is yes, land trust mergers often do result in more effective organizations. Some of the people involved in one of the three original land trusts in my case study, however, have been very alienated by the merger. They regret the loss of local control of the organization and resent what they perceive to be top-down management. I have found it is fascinating to hear different versions of the same story. Everyone seems so reasonable when they tell their side of the story. Fortunately, I don’t need to make any judgments about who is right and who is wrong; I can just listen and report. I also did a web-based survey of other land trusts that underwent mergers to determine if they had similar experiences (some of them did).
I was very interested and absorbed by my capstone this past summer when I was frantically trying to complete all my interviews before we left for France. It has been hard for me to get interested in it here, however, as it is difficult to compete with the attraction of learning French. I have to admit that I am completely obsessed with learning French (more on this after I turn in my capstone paper).
For those of you who don’t know, Marty is arriving in New Hampshire today after spending a week in California. To help ease his transition from France, say “Bonjour”, give him some bisous (kisses) and stuff him with brie and pastries. If you throw in some red wine, he may even demonstrate his French for you. (Warning: usually his French is accompanied by lots of grand, sweeping hand gestures, so don't stand too close.)
Initially, I thought the topic seemed rather dry, but it’s actually been fascinating. It turns out that bringing small, all-volunteer based organizations together to form a larger, more professional organization can be a very painful and emotionally charged experience. Most of the project has involved interviewing people involved with a particular merger of three land trusts on the west coast (U.S.). People have been very open with me about their frustrations and passions. Their passion and commitment for land conservation and/or their original land trust is impressive and humbling.
In case you are curious, I think the answer is yes, land trust mergers often do result in more effective organizations. Some of the people involved in one of the three original land trusts in my case study, however, have been very alienated by the merger. They regret the loss of local control of the organization and resent what they perceive to be top-down management. I have found it is fascinating to hear different versions of the same story. Everyone seems so reasonable when they tell their side of the story. Fortunately, I don’t need to make any judgments about who is right and who is wrong; I can just listen and report. I also did a web-based survey of other land trusts that underwent mergers to determine if they had similar experiences (some of them did).
I was very interested and absorbed by my capstone this past summer when I was frantically trying to complete all my interviews before we left for France. It has been hard for me to get interested in it here, however, as it is difficult to compete with the attraction of learning French. I have to admit that I am completely obsessed with learning French (more on this after I turn in my capstone paper).
For those of you who don’t know, Marty is arriving in New Hampshire today after spending a week in California. To help ease his transition from France, say “Bonjour”, give him some bisous (kisses) and stuff him with brie and pastries. If you throw in some red wine, he may even demonstrate his French for you. (Warning: usually his French is accompanied by lots of grand, sweeping hand gestures, so don't stand too close.)
posted by Nancy at 2:31 AM
1 Comments:
Just read in the paper today that Nature Conservancy sold about 1100 acres in Conway in order to buy more of the Ossipee Pine Barrens. I was surprised and thought it would set the conservation people on their ears until I found out that Tin Mountain Conservancy was the buyer.
Peter
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