Short Beach Project- A Conservative Challenge

[rareboy]

So recently, our good friend Kuli brought this project to my attention:

http://www.shortbeachtrail.org/

I read more about it and made a donation. It happened to be in the same week that we contributed to Shelburne Farms conservation projects in Vermont and finalized a donation to the heritage conservancy here in Ontario that I have joined as a director.

So here's my challenge to all my conservative friends out there.

If a 'liberal' 'foreigner' boy from Ontario can make a donation to a conservation project in Oregon...a state I've never visited, and to a Conservation project in Vermont, surely my American friends here who are all about the individual making things happen instead of through government hand-outs.....well. time to demonstrate that you are a Teddy Roosevelt Republican and put up or shut up.

The core of Conservativism is 'Conserve' as in 'Conservation'.

So c'mon.

Make a donation to the Short Beach Project and then post here to tell us about it.

If you make a donation for more than $50.00, I will likely match it.

Chance? Here's your Chance.

Laika? Time to show that you stand for something positive.

Springer? Spring to it and prove to me that you care about your country's resources.

And everyone else?

Throw a little something extra on your credit card.

If we all pitched in a little, I'll bet it would kick-start a re-invigorated interest in the community as well.

Please.

 

[Knucklehead]

But they aren't Teddy Roosevelt republicans.Teddy Roosevelt was a trustbuster who cared about working people and the environment..They'd probably piss on his grave given the chance.

These people are Neocons who don't believe in any government intervention on behalf of working people.Especially if it requires business to pay increased wages,quit polluting the environment or stop using child labor..

Bailouts though for CEO's who earned hundreds of millions of dollars for running companies into the ground,that's a different story..They are too big to fail.

 

[JayHawk]

What a divisive thing to do. Rareboy while I am very happy that you have so much extra you are currently able to donate to the things you love and care for in this world. What I don't get is the desire to feel superior and rub it into peoples faces. A similar thing happened around here prior to me deploying to the gulf last year. Except that was a supporting gay rights issue. I forget the blithering idiot that started it but it was a down right mud slinging shit fest because people didnt "Donate on demand".

It truly is sad that people care more about feelin full of themselves and not about what they seek to improve.

I have completed a bunch of HfH restore projects and my intent when i retire is to "Work Camp" out of an RV in the national parks and land mgt areas doing conservation work. Right now however while supporting two households and the debt of three when only I have a job is difficult to say the least and placing people on the spot simply to pat yourself on the back and make some juvenile point is ridiculous.

Good Day

 

[jackoroe]

Thank you for re-starting this discussion Rareboy. Kuli has an interest in keeping a walkway to the beach near where he lives open and passable. He's taken it upon himself to buy things like timbers, gravel and other items, to make that happen.

He's done so at his own expense and time. It's an admirable endeavor that he's undertaking and it's worthy of our support.

Given Rareboy's generous offer to match donations of $50 or more, I've sent $100 to help Kuli in his work.

So, let's see who is more generous. We've done this before and the libs have proven to be kinda close with a buck. Here's your chance to redeem yourselves. Let's all dig deep and help a fellow Jubber out and improve a natural resource as well!

 

[jackoroe]

What a divisive thing to do. Rareboy while I am very happy that you have so much extra you are currently able to donate to the things you love and care for in this world. What I don't get is the desire to feel superior and rub it into peoples faces. A similar thing happened around here prior to me deploying to the gulf last year. Except that was a supporting gay rights issue. I forget the blithering idiot that started it but it was a down right mud slinging shit fest because people didnt "Donate on demand".

It truly is sad that people care more about feelin full of themselves and not about what they seek to improve.

I have completed a bunch of HfH restore projects and my intent when i retire is to "Work Camp" out of an RV in the national parks and land mgt areas doing conservation work. Right now however while supporting two households and the debt of three when only I have a job is difficult to say the least and placing people on the spot simply to pat yourself on the back and make some juvenile point is ridiculous.

Good Day

I don't think he was intending it to be divisive, but as a friendly challenge. Like I said before, it's a good thing to do if you can. Nobody is here to shame anybody who doesn't have the means. We all understand that things are tough, especially for folks on a serviceman's pay with mouths to feed. You guys don't get paid nearly what you are worth.

I think we all admire and respect what you do for HFH, that's a great program. But Kuli is one of us who could use or support, that's all. Nobody here meant anyone any disrespect.

We good?

 

[JayHawk]

I am good. I just remember the last issue and it started exactly the same. I gave now XX, XX, XX and XX specifically must give or I will donate the rest of the thread to belittling people.

So it sparked a fire in my belly. I have collected thousands for various causes over the years and never once did I see fit to insult those who did not give.

I wish Kuli the best and donated to his cause the 50$ as requested.

 

[JayHawk]

Okay I decided to donate based off the post here and did so and then after reading up on what is being accomplished out there donated an additional 50 bucks.

So if you can give whatever you can give then please do so to support a worthwhile cause.

I gave up the twinks waxing money for the trails so if I am posting over the next month with a hair in my teeth then please excuse me.

 

[Kulindahr]

They are too big to fail.

I'd like the trail and surrounding ecology to be too big to fail. Estimate is that would take a minimum of $10 million, due to rising sea levels.

Gonna help get it started?

I gave up the twinks waxing money for the trails so if I am posting over the next month with a hair in my teeth then please excuse me.

That is not an image that will be helpful while trying to work on a 65-degree slope.

But I like it.

 

[rareboy]

Trust me Mr. Hawk.

Neither I nor anyone else will be hounding anyone.

I fully appreciate that many won't be in a position to give. Those who can may find this project interesting.

And this isn't about being superior. In the days when I had no money to give, I also had projects that I just provided sweat equity to. All I want to do here is draw the attention of the posters on this forum to a good project and to challenge those who do have the wherewithal and could easily afford to support a fellow Jubber's project.

I am not shy about the causes I donate to or the fact that I do. I'm not shy about asking others for money. It is how fundraising works. And I never ask without making sure that I've contributed something myself.

Those who can't, or don't want to don't need to provide any explanation to anyone here.

 

[JayHawk]

That is cool. I just remember how the last thread went. It actually bled into many other threads where someone would make a point and another would swear what they say is irrelevant because they didn't give to x y or z.

I am very vocal about donating also but the majority of my volunteerism is resulting from lotsa sweat equity. I think I like it better that way. Anyone can give like Bill gate or Warren Buffet and do so without a second thought because it has no effect on them.

"The women in a struggle to feed her kids who gives some of her food to the free store because she knows that it has a great need..... that is giving. " That is a paraphrase but someone very rich said that and I believe it completely.

 

[Kulindahr]

I am very vocal about donating also but the majority of my volunteerism is resulting from lotsa sweat equity. I think I like it better that way.

I've learned in working on this project that sweat only goes so far without funds. We've been in the hole for several years, thanks to vandals and facing more than once the question of spending money that isn't there to fix something, or watch half a year's work crumble into a mess that will take dozens of man hours to clean up.

 

[JayHawk]

I hear ya on that one Kuli. We (the navy) often spend time in disadvantaged neighborhoods doing things they dont have funds for like painting out and clearing a playground or in some other nations painting and cleaning a school or getting running water installed. We usually spread ourselves around to many areas in a region resulting in an area seeing our help maybe once a year. I can not tell you how many times I have been back to the same neighbors to essentially do the same things because of shitty people destroying the work.

Vandalism is another thing that puts a fire in my belly.

Meh... the world according to Hawk...

 

[frankfrank]

I've learned in working on this project that sweat only goes so far without funds.

Sweat equity is the moving parts. Funding is the lubricant which keeps the parts moving well and as smoothly as possible.

I'm thinking of donating again. I put in a donation when I visited with Kuli last fall.

 

[JakeLucas]

I hope this thread isn't limited to conservatives and liberals. Can a dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying Libertarian join in, too?

Kuli has been my JUB buddy and a friend for a long time. I admire him a lot for several reasons, one of which is his Short Beach Trail Project.



Kuli saw a need (access to the beach) and did something about it.

He didn't expect the county or the state to do it.

He didn't call his Congressman.

He didn't wait for someone else to do it.

He did it himself.



No one asked him to do it.

No one helped him do it.

No one pays him to do it.

No tax money pays for it.



He does it because of his love of nature, his love of that beach, and to help his fellow man.

He does it voluntarily, from the goodness of his heart, and by the sweat of his brow.


A mutual JUB friend of Kuli's and mine helped set up the Project's website. I donated to the project a few years ago, and I just donated again. If I lived close-by, I would be out there working on the Trail with him, side-by-side.


Kuli and Bammer love that beach.

(That's not Bammer in the picture.)

See these people enjoying Short Beach?

They probably got to the beach on Kuli's Trail.


It's a beautiful beach, isn't it?

You are free to choose whether or not to donate to Kuli's Project.

If you choose to help, your donation will be greatly appreciated and will be put to good use.

If you choose not to help, no government agent will force you to donate against your will, or send you to prison for not donating.

So, if you love the Earth, if you love natural beauty, if you want to save the planet, if you want to encourage volunteerism, if you believe in altruism, if you want to help your brother to make this world a better place, then this is your chance.

Have the courage of your convictions.

Do a good deed today.

Pay it forward.

Please?

Thank you.

 

[JayHawk]

Awesome pics JakeLucas. Thanks.

 

[Kulindahr]

Detail:

Jake, your second, third, sixth and seventh pics are actually a different beach, Short Sands beach, about forty-five minutes north of mine (if you go the speed limit, which when tourists are out is rare, so really, at this time of year, it's over an hour north).

Its trail could use some help, too.




FWIW: there's a Wikipedia article about the beach -- the picture in it is in fall or winter, when the storms have taken the sand away.

 

[JakeLucas]

Detail:

Jake, your second, third, sixth and seventh pics are actually a different beach, Short Sands beach, about forty-five minutes north of mine (if you go the speed limit, which when tourists are out is rare, so really, at this time of year, it's over an hour north).

Its trail could use some help, too.

Thanks, Kuli.

I googled Short Beach images. Not having seen it myself...

 

[Kulindahr]

Thanks, Kuli.

I googled Short Beach images. Not having seen it myself...

Don't feel bad -- tourists actually arrive there looking for the big state park.....

Here's the view from the nearby lighthouse:

The trail is almost at the far end in this view, past the big not-quite-offshore rock.

The peak in the background with the finger of land sticking 'way out into the ocean is Cape Lookout -- popular spot for whale watching because the tip is a mile out into the ocean. Of course it's a 2.5 mile hike getting there, through Pac NW rainforest.....


Here's an awesome shot, showing the point that divides Short Beach from the next beach over, Hidden Beach:

That raw-looking face is the result of a slide that dropped about 300 yards of rock a couple of years back -- this pic is almost two years old.
People who know the coast love to see slides like that -- all that new rock on the beach doesn't just help keep the beach "alive" as the sea level rises, it means buckets and buckets of agates!


This is a fun one:

That's a spillway from a dam that the road crosses; the reservoir is part of the local water supply. If you look closely, you'll see a fence up on the spillway. Out as far as the fence, the spillway has a roof of like 6" thick wooden beams. The old fence rusted out a few years back, and after seeing kids playing out on the edges of the spillway, I built a new one, framed of pressure-treated wood and filled out with driftwood, woven around with rope and netting that have washed up on the beach. It's sort of the trail's viewpoint -- and on a hot day, a great place to stand, because the wind whips the spray from the falls back up the hill.

About the fourth year of the project, when the trail was still mostly an erosion gully, I was taking a break on the beach. My peaceful contemplation of the physics of wet sand was interrupted by some screams -- some girls in their early teens had gotten into a sand fight, pouring it on each other, throwing it, dumping it in each other's suits. A few minutes later the screaming changed, and I looked to see what was different: there under the falling water were the girls, peeliong off their suits, washing them out and showering!

On the "people are stupid!" side, three years ago a guy climbed into the spillway and went up it under the road into the reservoir. Not too bright -- the whole inside is covered in slimy algae! He made it back alive, but the idiocy of the escapade inspired modification to the side fence up there: it's now made of old freight pallets with one side ripped off -- the nasty rusty nails sticking out. I haven't seen anyone do more than look over the fence since then.

Just BTW, those big boulders there are the foundation of the dam... coming apart.



I could tell where this was taken from the moment I saw it:

The owners of one of the houses on top the bluff -- it's Radar Road, so named because there was a secret radar station there in World War II -- decided a decade ago that they should have a stairway down to the beach from their house. This is taken from the first landing.
Predictably, since they didn't build it from pressure treated wood, the entire lower half has rotted. The upper half is hanging in there, because it gets salt spray from the ocean.


I'll let this one mostly speak for itself:

That's actually the most common appearance of the sky there.



This is at least four years old -- there hasn't been that much driftwood there in that long:

A lot of the early work on the trail used driftwood out of those piles in huge quantities. I remember hoisting 16' logs 8" thick onto my shoulder and trudging up the rough slope. Most of that isn't even visible now; it made temporary framework of various kinds, and got buried as the real trail advanced.


I could do this all night. The memories, and the feelings -- from furious anger to incredible joy -- of a decade of obsession run deep.

Jake is right -- I do love the place, and I won't be content until the trail itself, with its dozen dozen "human erosion mitigation devices" (commonly called "steps"), various railings, a couple of fences, several windbreaks, pair of rain shelters, and a score of benches (which we did not build for beach-goers; we built new benches when we were tired of hoofing it back up hill to the last one for a break), are complete, the drainage and runoff are controlled, and all the old bare dirt faces of hillsides and the dam are green.

 

[JakeLucas]

Thanks for all the great info and the pictures, Kuli.

I was wondering where this water was coming from. Now I know.

You've done a tremendous amount of work. I hope people who visit the beach appreciate what you've done for them.

 

[White Eagle]

Dang Kuli! How come I've never seen anything about this? I don't know where I've been, but this is beautiful!
I'll try to make a donation soon, but I just can't right now.