I think some of the money should have went to Digger… he built Cypress Bike Park for less and his work speaks for itself.
I agree that Digger should be on the DNV payrole. It's unfortunate that the DNV decided not to use Digger in their efforts. Leaving him out seems disrespectful to the heritage of our sport. His input still could be very valuable to the young diggers the DNV has hired on.
Digger has some of the best building styles and techniques of anyone I've met and worked with, and he could share a lot of knowledge with the building community, but I disagree with him receiving any of the DNV grant money.
I think it opens up a big can of worms. First of all, why Digger? He returned to Fromme this year and did an amazing job on Ladies Only, but what about all the other builders? Each of them have put in thousands of hours on trails like Natural High, Immonator, Pipeline, Oilcan, Boundary, Digger, Crippler. Do we cut them all a cheque as well? How about NSMBA execs? I know I've put in at least 500hrs this year. Sharon's in for a couple years worth of salary as well!
People don't volunteer on trails because of money. They do it cause they love to build trails. If Digger had wanted to be on the District payroll, he would have applied for the job.
Now . . . if a new project comes up where an organization has money to build or repair trails, and Digger was interested in participating, I'm sure his application would be at the top of the list!