View Full Version : ATC or ALDHA
Since there is a poll asking which one you belong to I thought I would ask this question.
If you don't belong to either organization which one would folks recommend. Pros and Cons on both groups
ALDHA is a given, it's family.
As I said in a previous post, I always join the .org from the trail I'm hiking. I'll stay a member if I have the extra cash, but as it is now, I already belong to a few trail/environmental groups. Some years, I'll try to spread the wealth and drop one and sign with another.
Many times, I'll wait a few months/years after lasping to join again
max patch
10-22-2006, 13:51
With NO disrespect to ALDHA, if you can only afford one then the choice is obvious.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
10-22-2006, 13:59
ALDHA would be my first choice. The ATC has moved in directions I feel detract from the trail so I support a few of the trail groups that work on the trail instead of the ATC itself. While it is important to give back, it is also important to be true to your own beliefs.
With NO disrespect to ALDHA, if you can only afford one then the choice is obvious.
If the member ships were equal, I'd accept your logic (not disagreeing with your opinion) but ALDHA's only $7, the ATC $35.
ATC was created to organize maintaining clubs and to oversee the construction of the Appalachian Trail. It continues as the only group to set unified standards and to keep alive the volunteer nature of the trail.
Without ATC the trail as we know it would cease to exist, replaced by the chaos of 36 maintaining clubs all going in different directions. Eventually, bureaucrats from the National Park Service would take over with all the political machinations that would entail.
ALDHA is a great group. It provides communication among hikers and eases the difficulty of long distant AT hiking with its Companion, and its annual workshops. But its role is totally different from that of ATC, whose primary function is to keep the Appalachian TRail a volunteer maintained trail.
The trail would continue without ALDHA. It would quickly die without ATC -- at least as a unified National Trail dedicated to foot travel between Georgia and Maine.
Weary
Hammock Hanger
10-22-2006, 16:04
I maintain a membership with both. I feel that in someway they both give back to the AT. -- When I hiked I gave small donations to each state group, the better the trail was maintained the bigger the donation. (I felt it showed that the money was going to the right place if the trail was maintained.)
Pokey2006
10-22-2006, 16:35
I've never been big on memberships to any organization. I'd be more inclined to donate my money -- or my time -- to a local maintaining club. Or put my money toward a specific project, such as the construction of a new shelter or something like that.
For example, even though I'm broke, I'd still cough up a few bucks if someone told me they were raising money for a bridge over the Pallisades Parkway.
Both organizations have their role and purpose. Why not join both?
I currently belong to both. They both serve the AT community well.
But if I had to chose between them:
well ATC (35 per year) gives me several informative magazines a year
contributes to trail maintenance of local clubs
lobbies for land protection on and near the AT
ALDHA (7 per ear) gives us a once a year gathering with hiking related workshops. and 4 newsletters.
I would go with ATC in a heart beat. Costs more but also does lots more.
David
TJ aka Teej
10-22-2006, 17:58
ATC supports the Trail. ALDHA is about the Hikers. I like them both for what they are!
Frolicking Dinosaurs
10-22-2006, 18:51
ATC supports the Trail. ALDHA is about the Hikers. I like them both for what they are!Excellent synposis
Ewker, if money is the problem, join the ATC. I'll lend you the money for ALDHA, that's what family and friends are for!
ATC supports the Trail. ALDHA is about the Hikers. I like them both for what they are!
Kudos!
Without the trail (ATC) there would not be hikers, hence ALDHA. If you cannot afford to join the memberships, but can volunteer, both actions are equally appreciated and respected by all parties involved. We are all one large family, some just more finacially endowed than others.
Kudos!
Without the trail (ATC) there would not be hikers, hence ALDHA. If you cannot afford to join the memberships, but can volunteer, both actions are equally appreciated and respected by all parties involved. We are all one large family, some just more finacially endowed than others.
I've never been wealthy. And I've struggled at times to pay my bills and support my family. I also know that many people survive on less than I have in the past, or do now.
But I continue to doubt that many on WhiteBlaze really can't afford $35 in ATC dues. Come on. $35 is less than a dime a day. We all make judgments about how to spend our money -- and properly so.
But I suspect that being able to come up with $35 ATC annual dues for most of us is more a matter of priorities than of what we can afford.
Weary
But I continue to doubt that many on WhiteBlaze really can't afford $35 in ATC dues. Come on. $35 is less than a dime a day. We all make judgments about how to spend our money -- and properly so.
But I suspect that being able to come up with $35 ATC annual dues for most of us is more a matter of priorities than of what we can afford.
You'd make a good saleman. "Only $.10 a day" "OK, come back in a year when I have the money."
As I said, the $35 isn't much, but the ATC isn't the only trail or outdoor org.
No brainer for me, be a part of both. I've been a member of the ATC for about 30 years, ALDHA about 5.
Weary and Teej are exactly right. You directly help and support the AT by belonging to the ATC.
Join ALDHA to be with your friends and peers who support the AT and the ATC.
If you have CFC or the United Way at work, you can join the ATC by putting the ATC code in the block, give your money to your local CFC or UW. Then send in your copy of the form along with the ATC regerstration form. In a few weeks you will get you membership in the mail. I did this last year and there was no problem in doing so. Look up the code and use it.
There is an additional plus side to doing this,
When the CFC/UW fund drive is over, all undesignated money is split up amoung only the agencys that have recived designated funds from the local population. This is done by the local chapters so that the local funds will get a larger 'cut' of money.
SO if no one from your local fund drive gives money to the ATC then the local chapter will not give the ATC any of the undesignated funds.
I'll get off my soap box
Sandy B
Frolicking Dinosaurs
10-23-2006, 07:33
While I realize this is mainly an AT hiking site, I'm interested in developing and protecting a lot of other trails besides the AT. This is one of the reasons I choose to join / contribute my $$'s to organizations with a less narrow focus than the ATC. Does anyone else feel this way or am I just weird?
Pokey2006
10-23-2006, 08:16
Oh, you're not any weirder than the rest of us AT freaks.
Personally, I think that the wider the focus, the more money which goes to overhead and simply disappears. The narrower the focus, the more likely the money goes exactly where you want it to.
Give me a specific need, and that's where I'll put my money. Give me some big, national organization which gives me a newsletter in exchange for my yearly contribution, and, well, no thanks. No matter how worthy that big, national organization is, my money is always better spent on the local level.
Just my take on it.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
10-23-2006, 08:41
Good points, Pokey. The lower overhead is one reason I give my money to trail groups that maintain the AT rather than ATC. This is link to a site that gives info about how major charities spend their money. (http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm) This is a link to what they have to say about the ATC. (http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/search.summary/orgid/8239.htm) ALDHA is not listed.
But I continue to doubt that many on WhiteBlaze really can't afford $35 in ATC dues. Come on. $35 is less than a dime a day. We all make judgments about how to spend our money -- and properly so.
But I suspect that being able to come up with $35 ATC annual dues for most of us is more a matter of priorities than of what we can afford.
Weary
Perhaps a more pertinent decision is whether to join ATC or a local trail club.
Perhaps a more pertinent decision is whether to join ATC or a local trail club.
Again. You need to join both. But your local maintaining club needs more than your money. It needs your help in actually maintaining their trails.
Keep in mind also while figuring out which groups to participate in, ATC is the funnel through which the National Park Service distributes funds. The Maine Appalachian Trail Club has a $200,000 budget this year -- of which only $10,000 is raised by dues. The rest results from fund drives, and a major contribution from the National Park Service, which relies on ATC to set priorities.
I don't have an MATC budget handy at the moment, but around $50,000 comes from the park service through ATC. The money mostly pays for leaders to help direct volunteers on major trail improvements. Without that contribution the much praised condition of the Maine trail couldn't continue.
Weary
Jack Tarlin
10-23-2006, 14:39
The best comments on this thread have been posted by Weary.
Both organizations are great, but if one is truly interested in preserving, protecting, and ensuring the future of the Appalachian Trail, the single best thing you can do is join, contribute to, and become an active ATC member.
You don't like their magazine? Fine. Go do some trail maintenance instead!
Or better yet, join a local trail maintaining club in adddition to joining the ATC and help the Trail out on a LOCAL level. The Trail exists because of the efforts of thousands of individuals, nearly all of them volunteers.
And they're always looking for new faces.
icemanat95
10-23-2006, 15:34
Since there is a poll asking which one you belong to I thought I would ask this question.
If you don't belong to either organization which one would folks recommend. Pros and Cons on both groups
Join both.
ATC is the organization that oversees the trail and thus anyone who claims to love the AT has a duty to support it and thus the Trail itself. Those who have hiked the trail and thus directly benefitted from the ATC's efforts have an obligation to pay back and to pass along that opportunity.
ALDHA, by contrast, is a hiker's group serving, primarily, the AT long distance hiking community. It does great work putting together the Companion and serving as a family gathering place and info clearing hosue for our community.
If it were to be between one and the other, I'd say you must be a member of ATC and should be a member of ALDHA if you can afford both.
Peer pressure must be a good thing, I sent the ALDHA a two year membership this morning, I had never given joining much thought. So, to all who said join both the ATC and the ALDHA, your words have not gone unheard.
I still think using the United Way or the CFC fund drives is a great way to join or renew your membership for the ATC.
Sandy B
Looks like I will be joining both also
SGT Rock
10-26-2006, 03:04
Outstanding decision for you guys.
Bravo!
sending my membership dues into ALDHA tomorrow
The trail would continue without ALDHA. It would quickly die without ATC --I thought the AT was a National Scenic Trail, established by Congress, along with other National Scenic Trails and National Historic Trails, all of which seem to survive without the ATC.
Or do you mean that trees and brush would fill the footpath without the ATC, or that the Federal/State governments would immediatley build a bunch of narrow strip malls with the land? Or what?
Jack Tarlin
10-28-2006, 14:36
Frosty:
None of the other National Scenic Trails get anywhere near the use that the Appalachian Trail does. Likewise, most of the others are NOT in areas as highly populated or as threatened by development as the A.T.
And the other Trails do indeed have organizations that look out for their welfare and maintenance; they are on a much smaller scale than the ATC.
As to the footpath being filled with trees and brush without the dedicated service of volunteers; without the support of local trail clubs; and without co-ordination, financial support, and state/federal support that the ATC helps to supply, well this is EXACTLY what would happen to the Trail without the ATC.
Cookerhiker
10-28-2006, 22:35
I've been a member of the ATC since 1979 but only signed up for ALDHA last year - I thought you had to be a 2,000 miler to join! Mistake on my part. Join both - it's not an either/or choice. As others have pointed out, their missions differ but both have their place.
I still don't understand the anti-ATC sentiment on this site. Don't you guys realize how hard they work, especially Executive Director Dave Startzell, on battling threats to the Trail from development and Congressional indifference and/or hostility? Just because the Trail exists now doesn't mean it will 50, 100 years from now. Constant vigilence is necessary to ensure our Trail isn't a narrow strip between suburban sprawl, vacation homes, and shopping malls.
ATC member & Carolina Mtn Club member since 1998. Looking to join ALDHA soon. CMC trail maintainer on the AT. ;)