Lofty Goals and Notable Achievements

July is AFC’s planning month, board members get together and lay out a list of goals we want to accomplish in the upcoming year. It is all about doing Hook Kids on Fishing (HKOF) events, working with partners to reduce runoff and bringing groups with different views about our water resources together to work on common goals. These are big picture ideas and goals that we work towards. To achieve them there are numerous details that must be strung together to promote the overall success of our mission. What started out 10 years ago as afternoon events hanging with kids teaching angling basics, now is more like sitting in front of a computer and talking on the phone.

One agenda item I enjoy is going back comparing our goals last year to our achievements and we did pretty good. We’ve standardized the HKOF program and developing a training manual. Working with partners such as Pure Ocean Productions and Marine Resource Council we’ve raised awareness of our waterways. We notice an attitude shift on a local level; “the rocks” off Satellite Beach is now correctly called “the reef” indicating an increased awareness of the ecosystem it supports. Thanks to our editor, Paul MacInnis, we have The Conservation Angler, this e-zine, which is our way to inform and stay connected with folks who are interested in being part of the solution. Laura Kelly has revamped our website – anglersforconservation.org – and keeps it looking spiffy and informative. As a team we feel pretty good about what we accomplished; we enjoy working with the like-minded volunteers and partners that have helped us with these events. We have been fortunate enough to have mentors who have introduced us on the world of grants, and are enhancing our skills there also.

As we look forward for our continued success, we see the need to “tighten” up our administrative aspects of running our organization with an eye for sustainability. Our projects, events, relationships and mission statement have demanded more time just keeping things organized. We see the need for professional help with a focus on not only expanding our reach to tomorrow’s marine stewards but also to ensure that the AFC will be here in the future to continue teaching about our most valuable resource, our natural waterways. The year of 2014 will prove to be an exciting year.