I can appreciate members of this board asking why some of us want to do this fundraiser and wanting some info on the MBBA Legal fund. Information can be taken directly from
www.mbba.net and the Presidents letter regarding the ongoing actions. For those who need more than this regarding the actual issue, please attend the next MBBA BOD meeting in Lakeville MA or the next MSBA meeting in Braintree MA, or e-mail an officer of one of these two longstanding representatives of our MA recreational fishing community.
From the MBBA Web Site:
"Special Notices Lower Cape Beach Access Issues
Hello to all, I would like to bring everyone up to date on what actions the MBBA has been pursuing since July of this year. I wrote the USF&W and recieved a reply, and we met with them in October in Chatham. We had a productive meeting and came up with some goals and an understanding to work with the towns of Chatham and Orleans and the State of Mass to try to get a viable section ten permit in place for the upcoming season. The terms of this setion ten will be evaluated and hopefully made into a management process that will work in these type of situations. We are in the process of making that happen as we speak. Our Nauset Beach Rep has been attending numerous amounts of meetings and we hope to make further progress on this issue as we near the holidays. We are also working on the CCNS and its Off Road Sub Committee. We would like to try and see if we can do the same things at the CCNS that we are trying for in Nauset. Since neither myself or any of the board are Environmental Lawyers,
the MBBA has engaged the services of Holland & Knight out of Washington DC. This is the best top notch Law firm, which specialises in environmental law. They will help us and all involved with the wording of these permits, show us the ins and outs of how Federal agencies can negociate with each other, and they are looking over all the State and Federal Laws and Acts to see if there is any other relief that is available to us in these instances. This does not come without a hefty price tag! 7k - 9K just for the review phase. I have contacted all the lower cape Boards of Selectman and the Chambers of Commerce, and the local business associations, everyone has backed the MBBA in its efforts to try and come up with a balenced approach to the access problems we had last season, and the work has started to try and not have a reply of last year. BUT, I need everyones help! This year when it comes time to renew your dues, I will be asking for a doanation to the MBBA Legal Fund. To anyone who wishes to make a doanation to the MBBA Legal Fund, we will be posting a form and address on the Home Page to make it easy for you to do so. Please lend us a hand and help us strike a balence to help keep our access. As always, you can contact me directly at
mbba201@adelphia.net, thanks for everyones help! Don"
Back to my answers:
It is my opinion that MBBA should not be the only group funding this effort. The right people are in place to execute this plan and have been for many years. The people that truely repaired the sticker sales, went through the negotiated rulemaking that ensured our accdess to begin with, won the Critical Wintering Habitat Law suit on Cape Hatteras, and already have the correct relationship with beach managers are the "who" in this issue.
All MA clubs shoule feel they have a responsibility to the members they claim to represent by putting on fundraisers to help pay the lawyers fees on this issue and trust me we will not raise any more money in this fundraiser than to assist a little bit in paying the lawyers bill.
The money is going through the MBBA Legal fund because:
1)MBBA Board of Directors is the "formal client" of the lawyers and are our MA experts in this area. This group had the courage to begin this endeavour and has the political connections to get somethign accomplished.
2)The MBBA legal fund has been in existance for many years (over 25years that I know of) and is administered in the public's eye at the monthly MBBA BOD meetings in Lakeville, MA.
3)The MBBA is a completely legal entity registered both in the Commonwealth of MA and with the Federal Government and is subect to and meets the audit and financial reporting requirements (I know for a fact that most fishing clubs can not make this claim).
Running a S-B fundraiser should not be a big deal. We (S-B) have run many raffles that have not been a big deal and this should not be either. Trust is the issue and to be honest, If members here can not give up some trust then we all should be very worried as thesekind of efforts are going to be the norm under the current state of political affairs in this county.
The plan is simple
A)Get a few trusted members together to run the fundraiser
b)That group will plan the specifics of the raffle & post them on the site
c)Solicit prize donations from the members & sponsors
d)Sell raffle tickets over the month of January so we are done before TFCTFN activities ramp up
e)E-mail ticket numbers or mail tickets to those donating the set amount via the site.
f)Have the drawing at a public location
g)Send prizes to winners & post results
h)Send a check to the MBBA legal fund
d)Game Over
This is simple and over complicating small things like this is why we as a recreational community frequently loose. Lets come together, raise some money and support our representives by helping pay the bills.
It's time to do our part
I hope this answered most of the questions and look forward to hearing from those that want more info.