BCA President’s Report: Past Year Represents ‘Return to Regular Order’

Quoting the late US Senator John McCain, your BCA board of directors made a great effort over the past year to ‘return to regular order’ after the many disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. We sincerely hope that cancelled annual meetings, cancelled outings, and virtual board meetings via Zoom call will become a thing of the past.

Highlights of the past year include:

Several sessions of strategic planning for BCA board members and staff, generously and graciously facilitated by longtime BCA member Ellen Chaffee.

An annual meeting held in person (also available on Zoom) with newly elected board member Clay Jenkinson as the speaker. Copies of his latest book were gifted to all attendees through the generosity of a special donation by one of BCA’s founding members, Jay Grantier.

BCA received a larger grant from the Tortuga Foundation than we have received in the past ($55,000), thanks in large part to Executive Director Liz Loos, who convinced the board that we needed to professionalize our efforts at fund-raising. Tortuga Foundation managers have been clear that they will only provide more funding when we are able to raise more money from memberships and other sources.

The board contracted with a fund-raising coach and put a significant amount of time into a fund-raising campaign with positive results, including donations from nearly 100 new donors.

In March, the board met in person and now have three new members of the board, Sarah Vogel, Clay Jenkinson, and Darrel Dorgan. Visit BCA’s website for biographies of all board members: badlandsconservationalliance.org. 

The first outing of the season was a great success with 26 people, ranging in age from about six to 76, making the ascent of Bullion Butte on a glorious day in May. See this newsletter for more on the outing.

We have much to celebrate, especially the April decision by the US Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit upholding the right of the US Forest Service to prevent the State of North Dakota or its subdivisions from constructing (or threatening to construct) section-line roads through our precious bits of national grassland that remain unroaded and therefore ‘suitable for Wilderness’ designation by Congress.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed time or money or both this year. Every membership makes us stronger. Every dollar helps to further the mission. Finally, a big thank you to Liz Loos for her work with BCA over the past two years. Liz has made the decision that she needs a break from advocacy work and is moving on to other endeavors. She leaves BCA professionally and administratively stronger than she found it and we wish her well.