Our First Year
The founding board of Together We Van has spent our first year talking with our community – at events, through our surveys and informal discussions with vanlifers and nomads around the country about our mission and where we should begin.
We have also been lucky to partner with Peace Love & Vans as a way to jump start our fundraising. Although still very humble, the proceeds of the raffle/sweepstakes at those events as well as profits from operating the (very fun) Tiki Bar have helped us get off the ground. We welcome similar partnerships with other events or organizations. Please get in touch if you know of opportunities. And, of course, we encourage anyone of means to make a tax deductible donation.
The feedback has been fairly consistent. Our initial efforts should be focused on ensuring access to public lands for our community. But how! We are a tiny non-profit organization facing a monumental challenge. A few people with busy schedules up against armies of bureaucrats who seem determined to keep the public out of public spaces – particularly overnight – and operate them as if they were private property that could only have one purpose of conservation (and their paycheck).
After many discussions and brainstorming sessions we recognized that our long-term ambitions were considerably bigger than our scale and our budget and that the most impactful thing we can do is to identify public spaces at risk of transitioning from having a history of being available to the public to one that is closed or limited to the public. We hope that we can successfully revert areas that have been closed or restricted in the future, but we reckon at our stage and scale, it’s easier to keep the toothpaste inside the tube than trying to put it back in.
The idea for Project Hold the Line is simple. Ask our community to keep an eye out for anything concerning, engage as many people to show up in opposition and provide those people with the resources and education they need to be effective.
Here’s an example. I grew up in Northern Colorado and my family went camping often each summer up in the Poudre River canyon where we could always find many dirt roads winding their way into the national forest that were full of incredible dispersed camping near rivers, creeks and lakes. Over the years myself and my family noticed “no camping” signs appear along these roads where folks have been camping for decades. Then we noticed gates being installed. Then the gates would close some roads for periods of time. Eventually the gates were locked permanently closing roads. It was a slow but effective theft of spaces that were beloved by locals and tourists alike with no explanation. What if our family had pushed back along with the others who we camped nearby? What if we had asked for a justification? What if 50 people showed up at the forest service office?
Our belief is that the bureaucrats who perpetrate these kind of thefts get away with it not because there is any legitimate reason to treat public property like their own, private property, but rather, because there isn’t any organized opposition, and that even a modest group of citizens, with the right resources and understanding of the processes at work, can prevent or minimize this slipping away of public lands
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
– Margaret Mead
We Need Your Help!
In order to begin this project, we need to recruit people like yourself that are passionate about keeping public spaces public. Below is an outline of the four groups we’re looking for and how to get involved.
Guardians
Guardians will be the folks out there on the road, paying attention and looking for at-risk areas. Maybe you’re someone like my family in the example above who frequent specific areas so you are the perfect person to notice changes to access. Or, maybe you’re a vanlifer who cares to notice signs being posted announcing proposed changes to access or a meeting scheduled about potential land-use modifications. We’re looking for Guardians to serve as our eyes on the ground, constantly on the search for signs, abuses and imminent closures. It’s easy to help as a Guardian, simply report anything you see through our online form!
Organizers
Organizers will respond to reports from Guardians to get the right people involved. So, if you’re a well, organized person and want to help coordinate the efforts of the Advocates and Advisors, we need your help! Organizers will also be able to request financial resources from Together We Van to support the efforts of the Advocates or Advisors for expenses such as travel or other resources. Interested? Please complete this form so we can learn more about you! Eventually, if we can fundraise enough, it’s possible that this role becomes a paid executive director of the organization.
Advocates
Advocates will be the folks the Organizers can mobilize to respond. For our efforts to succeed, this will need to be the largest and most geographically diverse group since these people will be asked to attend meetings, write letters and show up in their communities to advocate for our efforts. Think about the “land use change” signs that our Guardians might report that are a required public posting of a meeting on a random Tuesday at the City Hall in a random town that nobody every attends. What if 15 of our advocates went? Often times, any public participation can have an outsized impact simply because they show up in an context where apathy is the norm. If you’re willing to be an advocate for us, please complete this form.
Advisors
Advisors may be the hardest to find but they are essential to our efforts. We need people who understand how these processes work from the “inside”. Perhaps you’re someone who worked for a city, county or the forest service? Or, perhaps you’re an attorney or legal expert? Maybe you’ve worked in other non-profits or organizations that have expertise in the types of public land policy we’re dealing with? We need advisors who can work with our Organizers and Advocates to give them the knowledge, background, context and “insider” information they need to be as impactful as possible. Please complete this form if you can help us as an Advisor.
Next Steps
If we are able to recruit enough people into our groups, we can test the approach, learn from the process and adjust over time with the goal of creating a playbook that not only we can use, but that we can share with anyone who can use it.
