Mar 2 2024

Mar 2 2024 meeting notes:

We had a lively conversation for almost exactly an hour this morning. Notes follow:

• Round table of individual interests/concerns

  • Many people mentioned their history with Magens: Walking to Magens, going to Magens for decades, married on the beach, kids growing up on the beach, taught swim classes at the beach, growing up at the beach, practically born at Magens, heart is here, kids participated in triathlon

  • Many people mentioned Fairchild and his vision: Growing up with a photo of Fairchild giving the beach to the people, friends with Wheaton’s (Fairchild’s heirs), preserving his vision, Magens being special in being deeded to the people of the VI (not the government, not the tourists)

  • Many people mentioned preservation/conservation, environmental issues, and avoiding overtourism: seen some decline & want it preserved for family/future generations, keep the park for the people, care for ecosystem

  • Here to help MBA, and to watch

  • Loud music

  • Herbalism, labeling the trees

  • Reduce trash on the beach

  • Treatment of employees, raises

  • Long lines at the entrance because of taxis collecting fares

  • Chairs

  • Make sure VIers get a cut of the pie

  • Get local kids to Magens, swimming, on the water

  • Beach bar named after Fairchild is not what he had in mind, probably rolling in his grave

  • Want a 5/10/20 year plan

  • Local fishermen

  • No yachts

  • Tinder box of tree debris

• Might be able to offer

  • Backgrounds in: finance, accounting, social media, brokered Wheaton land deal, Trust for VI Lands

  • Beach cleanups

  • Label the trees, teach people about their uses

  • Make/sell/teach crafts using nature

  • Activities for kids, and transportation for them to get to the beach

  • Pursue grants

  • Rally community

  • Research, sharing our history

  • Watchdog

  • Be proactive

  • Community programming & engagement

  • Conservation outreach, marketing

• Mac Davis’ Friends proposal doc

  • Raising money.

  • Soliciting donations of land or direct financial contributions to conserve and protect lands.

  • Assist with special projects and events.

  • Becoming a constituency for MBA parks and promoting the park to all through publications and special events.

  • Lending expertise and knowledge to educational and interpretive programs. Providing volunteer services.

  • Maintaining good community relations.

• Similar groups

  • Friends of VI National Parks

  • Territorial Parks system, and they are in the process of forming a Friends group

• We voted unanimously to form a group following Mac’s docs, with the scope of lands under MBA’s care (Magens, Smith Bay, Fairchild Park, Drake’s Seat), and to defer identifying ~5+ board members/officers until we can get the word out to more people.

• The next Friends meeting will be Tue Mar 19 at/just after 5:30PM (4 days after the next MBA Board meeting). Invite people who you think should attend, especially if they can contribute expertise to the board (legal, grant writing, etc). We expect to continue varying the meeting times to give more people the opportunity to attend.