By Frank Young

The Spirit Rules!

Recently, some of the public has asked aloud and speculated about just what or who is the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. A high profile mining lawsuit and a campaign to protect Blackwater Canyon, among other events, have spawned both supportive and critical looks into the

organization. Some speculate that we are well financed. Some that we are out-of-state folks. They wonder where we get our money, and energy. It seems to never occur to most that we have so little money; and that our energy comes from our individual hearts and souls.

We do not have the funds or inclination to hire an "executive director" to tell us what we can (or can't) do, what to think, etc. We just "go with the flow" of what we feel is right.

The officers of the organization provide mostly a minimum level of support for the "platform" we call the Conservancy. They keep the legal structure in place. The treasurer banks what little funds we have, and pays bills when funds are available. The Secretary tells us what we did at our last meeting. Other than that, the energy to work the issues and otherwise run the organization comes almost entirely from rather small groups of individuals within the organization who feel passionately about their particular issue or issues. They (we) are as successful as we are because we go on faith that what we are doing is worth doing , not always because it is doable, but because it is right.

The real power of the Conservancy is not in the officers; it is in the committees, and the general membership. The committees are the power plants of the conservancy, and the individual committee members are the fuel. Our committees- Mining, Highways, Rivers, Public Lands, Blackwater, etc. each wield infinitely more power, in terms of accomplishing tasks, than all the officers. When something gets done or public attention gets focused on the Conservancy, it is the committee people, not the officers, who get quoted in the press. That's because the committees, not the officers, know what's happening -- and why.

After I'd been president for a month or so, I realized that the president didn't make the organization run. Again, it was the committees. The president sets board meeting agendas, conducts the board meetings, tries to encourage folks, smooths ruffled feathers (trying to smooth more than the ruffles) and facilitates communication when called upon. That's about it.

But our members, bless their hearts, send in their modest dues regularly, sometimes sending in a little extra, to boost our spirits. Sometimes they send in a whole lot of extra!! Not very often though, just often enough to keep us excited and optimistic.

And some even remember the Conservancy in their wills. Bless their souls.

The Spirit Rules! Even after it's moved on, it still rules.

Thank you all for sharing your dollars, your energies -- and your spirit.