Point taken, and writing the op-ed was perhaps a mistake. It is the one and only time any of us have ever done so, and I only did because there was both a news story and an editorial that seemed to give only one side of the story. There was even a suggestion that a DG course be installed at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve! As an occasional visitor there, that seemed so outrageous that I felt I had to speak my mind. Furthermore, the original editorial I sent was much longer with links to supporting information, and the paper shorted it quite a bit and left out the links, missing a lot of context that I intended to convey.
I can tell you now that I'll never do it again. But in the lemons to lemonade category, this whole thread has been enlightening on several fronts, and actually very encouraging to see that there are many disc golfers out there with a more balanced view of the sport.
As for the "propaganda" on our web page, you must understand that when our group formed in 2010, despite PeterB's protestations, it was in every way presented as a done deal, with no public process other than an "informational meeting" to let us know what was going to happen, and with very underhanded dealings from RPD among others (some of which continues to the present). If we hadn't yelled and shouted and screamed, it would have been jammed down our throats with precious little input from the community, no question about it whatsoever. There's plenty of documentation of this in the timeline I linked to.....
Thanks for the response, and for admitting that you (or your group, the two seem somewhat interchangable) do/did indeed oppose disc golf in other communities. Similarly, the anti-disc golf sections of your website are definitely extremely one-sided, and in my opinion do represent propoganda. You have a "disc golf news" section which ONLY displays negative stories and that is utterly misleading. I've searched google.com/news for "disc golf" every week for several years and I can assure you that the successful installation and positive stories far outnumber the ones you display on your website. It's dishonest at best to display those stories in that way.
I understand why you do it that way, but you have to understand the reaction you are inviting from disc golf advocates. For all intents and purposes, it certianly does and will appear to many of us that your group has mounted and is operating a campaign to prevent disc golf courses from being established not only in your neighborhood, but regionally, and given the scope of the internet, anywhere. And that's just kind of sad, really. It seems pretty clear to me that disc golf is not going to be developed in McLaren park due to your groups opposition. I may be wrong, as I am not at all invested in the issue and have only done some reading over the last few months. But I doubt that the local disc golfers are going to be able to match your organization or will have the stomach to deal with the hurdles and ongoing opposition. I'm also not convinced disc golf really belongs there - from an outsiders perspective it seems doubtful, both because of the poliitical climate and the on the ground situation with the park and land.
The problem with this kind of escalated and emotional issue is that it causes a lot more conflict than is necessary or useful. You felt threatened and in your reaction you are now making other well-intentioned people feel threatened. You've built an entire movement, website, organization, and now a media campaign on preventing disc golf devlopment. You don't see it that way, I know. But that IS how others see it and will continue to see it. It seems like you've built a nice little community group for McLaren Park. It's just kind of sad that your group got so pissed off about disc golf that you've decided to exaggerate the problems that disc golf courses have nationwide. You now villify a lot of really good people who want to develop more places to engage in what is a very fun, healthy activity that IS on a relative scale of developed recreation very eco-friendly and which fundamentally embraces and appreciates the natural landscape.
Disc golfers don't want to build disc golf courses because they want to trash sensitive natural areas. Some sites are not appropriate for disc golf, and some sites will experience heavy opposition from neighbor groups such as yours who don't want to see changes. It's really on us as disc golfers to do the homework in choosing sites. Even the governing agencies can't be relied upon to perform the due diligence to figure out what will work and what will be a huge ****storm. Case in point, McLaren park and this thread.
For the record, I'm an environmentalist and I've been working in conservation and ecological land management professionally for over 20 years. I really hate to see this issue portrayed as disc golf versus the environment. I'm really disappointed to see some disc golfers portraying "environmentalists" as the opposition. Ken doesn't have to account for his carbon footprint in order to oppose this course, anymore than you or I do to live our lives. That kind of rhetoric and the stereotyping of environmentalists as whackos is not going to help us develop disc golf. We are much more allied with conservation than almost any other developed recreation and we should be bridging those worlds, not lining up to bash anyone who cares about the environment.
From my admittedly limited outsider perspective, McLaren seems like a lot more of a neighbor opposition issue than an ecologically sensitive issue. In either situation, we as disc golf organizers and groups need to recognize that we are only going to face this kind of opposition more and more as time goes on. Park space and green space is limited, parks and rec budgets are tight, and disc golf is still a relatively unknown activity compared to tennis courts, hiking trails and ball golf. There is a huge lesson to be learned here in choosing where to try and develop disc golf. I am not pointing fingers in this case, but there is a lot to learn here.
I, for one, look forward to pay-to-play disc golf developing more and releiveing the pressure of some of these situations. Not a complete solution, but it will help.
Ken, you might consider your organization's mission and whether you are drifting from it somewhat with things like that op-ed and some parts of your website. I hope you can all find a way to work together in your community.
