Making a Big Leap

After many years in business and donating countless hours to a variety of projects I have decided to formalize my annual contributions. Beginning in 2008 Maine Outdoors will donate ten percent of profits to conservation education. After reviewing 2007 the donation in time and money is significantly over that goal. The donations consist of help in making conservation education possible, trips and money.

As a country we have made great strides in conservation in the last century. Maine has set aside truly amazing amounts of land in the last decade. But we have been less diligent about making sure that the generations coming behind us will share our appreciation for the woods, waters and the wild things that live there. In fact we have not done a very good job of communicating how important those things are to us to the next generation. The kids coming behind us do not have the same personal experiences with the outdoors that we were fortunate to have.

To help combat that trend, I have been serving as the president of the Board of Directors of the Maine Conservation School for the last year. The school is focused on developing an understanding of conservation, hunting, fishing and shooting. My year has been eventful and the last month or so has been frantic, in fact I am pretty sure I put in a full 40-hour week on the school in the last ten days or so. More on that in the coming weeks as the results are announced. I also serve as a trustee at Unity College, a small college about an hour from here that is focused on teaching the next generation of outdoor professionals in a variety of fields.

Maine Outdoors also donates several fishing trips each year to be auctioned or raffled by a variety of non-profit organizations usually with a conservation or education focus. This year trips are being used by Maine Public Broadcasting, Casting for Recovery, Kennebec Valley Trout Unlimited and the Maine Professional Guides Association to generate money for their programs.

I am serving on the board of directors of the Maine Tourism Association primarily to advance the position of Maine’s guides within the tourism industry. I hope to have guides become a valued and respected segment of Maine’s largest industry over the next few years. My participation in the local Union Area Chamber of Commerce has a similar goal. Together with small business seminars for guides I hope to be able to raise the respect and competence of guiding as business.

So there you have it an ambitious plan and a big leap for a small business that I hope makes a difference in my corner of the world. Thank you all for helping to make it possible.