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Mark Wood vs the NSMBA

Dec. 21, 2016, 9:16 a.m.
Posts: 63
Joined: Nov. 12, 2010

You would not like duck.

Duck fat does not taste good.

Now, goose fat, or more precisely, the liver of a goose that has been fattened, is foie gras and it is very tasty for those people who eat meat.

Species, breeds and sex used

Geese
Traditionally, foie gras was produced from special breeds of geese. However, by 2004, geese accounted for less than 10% of the total global foie gras production[55] and by 2014 only 5% of total French production.[56] Goose breeds used in modern foie gras production are primarily the grey Landes goose (Anser anser)[56] and the Toulouse goose.[57][58][better source needed]

Ducks
In 2014, ducks accounted for 95% of foie gras production.[56] The breeds primarily used are the Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata)[56] (also called the Barbary duck) and the hybrid cross of a male Muscovy duck and a female Pekin duck (Anas platyrhynchos domestica) called the Mulard duck.[56] This hybrid is sterile and is therefore sometimes referred to as a "mule" duck. Mulards are estimated to account for about 35% of all foie gras consumed in the US.[59] About 95% of duck foie gras production from France comes from force fed Mulards and the remaining 5% from the Muscovy duck.[60]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras

Breanne, maybe it will help to think of the duck fat like butter, or shortening, or lard, or any other fat you cook with. It's a wonderful delicacy, too - better than any of the abovementioned fats! It crisps food up with a deliciously golden color and rich taste.

http://www.thekitchn.com/good-question-what-to-do-with-3-74578

Dec. 21, 2016, 9:34 a.m.
Posts: 228
Joined: Nov. 28, 2010

I am alive. Here me roar

YES!!! HorseC0ck! Out of the stable and straight into the Belmont Stakes!

Dec. 21, 2016, 9:48 a.m.
Posts: 207
Joined: Oct. 29, 2003

I am alive. Here me roar

We here you. Loud and clere

Dec. 21, 2016, 10:07 a.m.
Posts: 2170
Joined: Aug. 28, 2006

The NSMBA spent $3,172 on food and beverages for volunteers during trail building and maintenance days. Assuming $10 per person, that is 300 volunteer trail days in 2016.

Scrooge McDuck MBA CFA

How do you figure? If 25 volunteers show up to a trail day, at $10 per person, that equals 12 trail days. while the total might be 300 person days, that paints a very different picture than what you said in your post.

Dec. 21, 2016, 10:37 a.m.
Posts: 2100
Joined: April 22, 2006

The DNV funded the NSMBA with $100,000 for trail maintenance on Fromme for those 300 days. That is about $334 per per person per day. Assuming an 8-hour day, that works out to $41.62 per hour per trail day

FYP

As most trail days have at least 10 people and some trail days have as many as 50 people I think a safe average would be to say that 15 people come to each one of those trail days. $41.62/15 = $2.78 per hour. Not even provincial minimum wage. I would say that's some cheap labour. Compared to if the trails were maintained by a union crew from the DNV who probably make $25/hour plus benefits. 15 district workers making $25 per hour for 8 hours would require an income of $3000 per day which would mean a maximum of 33.33 trail days per year for $100,000. So you can see what a great ROI the NSMBA is as a public organization which helps maintain something which generates more than $100,000 in tax revenue per year for the DNV.

Dec. 21, 2016, 10:45 a.m.
Posts: 2170
Joined: Aug. 28, 2006

Why is the NSMBA spending almost 300% more on legal fees than trail supplies? That is a fair question for an organization that claims to be doing trail building and maintenance as its core activty.

Please do not respond with, "Come to the AGM and ask," I was threatened with extinction if I attended the AGM.

Scrooge McDuck

I am unable to answer that, other than to say an attorney costs more per hour than a chainsaw . I do not have a dog in this fight. I have attended 1 trail day, 0 AGMs and am not a NSMBA member. I just think that, when presenting an arguement, you should be honest in your calculations and representations. As an outsider, it seems to me that $100k to operate and manage an organization that benefits everyone choosing to recreate on the North Shore, as well as associated local businesses, is a screaming bargain.

Anyways, I am in Hawaii and do not do e-fights. I am going snorkelling. Aloha!

Dec. 21, 2016, 10:50 a.m.
Posts: 14922
Joined: Feb. 19, 2003

No wonder there are calls for a forensic audit of the NSMBA.

One failed political hack (you) ranting online is not the same as "there are calls".

Dec. 21, 2016, 11:13 a.m.
Posts: 14922
Joined: Feb. 19, 2003

Tax revenue???? The NSMBA generates absolutely NO provable revenue for anyone except itself!

The trail networks. People visiting the legendary North Shore buying gas, hotels, food etc…

If you don't even understand these fundamentals, I doubt you're smart enough to handle an audit.

Dec. 21, 2016, 11:40 a.m.
Posts: 18790
Joined: Oct. 28, 2003

Assuming $10 per person, that is 300 volunteer trail days in 2016.

The 2016 Annual Report that just came out to members shows 100+ trail days on 2 mountains, more than 10,000 volunteer hours and 16 paid TAP/trail crew and 2 paid staff positions.

Please read the report so you can stop making up numbers.

http://www.nsmba.ca/content/2016-12_nsmba-2016-annual-report

Prior to this funding, there were a maximum of 8 trail days (4 per mountain) per year, organized by 2 volunteers. One year they tried for 10 trail days, but got burned out and went riding instead.

I'm still waiting for your apology for posting porn in reference to a friend. Thanks.

Dec. 21, 2016, 11:40 a.m.
Posts: 737
Joined: Sept. 7, 2005

I think the NSMBA is a fraud and the DNV is corrupt. All of you should be outraged.
Scrooge McDuck MBA CFA

We understand what you are trying to preach. I just don't think anyone here is interested.

IMHO, until a court says that a board member or employee has done something illegal, there isn't a problem. How the NSMBA spends their funds is up to them.

We have the choice of supporting the NSMBA thru donations of time or money. If you like what they're doing then then donate. If you don't, don't.

Dec. 21, 2016, 11:48 a.m.
Posts: 14922
Joined: Feb. 19, 2003

What possible local tax revenue is generated by buying gas?

Food? Really? A local economy based on burgers and french fries. Forget attracting the Cnadian head office of google. Start a food cart.

And hotels? There is ONE hotel in the DNV

Yeah, no one ever makes money from tourism. :rolleyes:

Businesses pay tax, tourists increase business. Its so simple, even you should be able to grasp the concept.

Dec. 21, 2016, 12:21 p.m.
Posts: 44
Joined: Sept. 28, 2013

The NSMBA claims to be a philanthropic organization fueled by an altruistic concern for the environment specifically maintaining trails. As such the NSMBA spent $4,561.74 on trail supplies for 2016.

The NSMBA spent $3,172 on food and beverages for volunteers during trail building and maintenance days. Assuming $10 per person, that is 300 volunteer trail days in 2016.

The DNV funded the NSMBA with $100,000 for trail maintenance on Fromme for those 300 days. That is about $334 per per person per day.Assuming an 8-hour day, that works out to $41.62 per hour per person. . 300 trail days is certainly consistent with $4,561.74 in supplies.

BUT, that is damn expensive trail maintenance expense by the DNV. No wonder there are calls for a forensic audit of the NSMBA. The organization gets over $115,000 a year in public funding after all. Where does it end up? We do not know that because the NSMBA refuses to disclose it's cheque register even with names redacted!

I think the taxpayer and a lot of NSMBA corporate sponsors might want to know where their money is going! I do not think the standards of disclosure by the NSMBA meet the smell test.

I think the taxpayers and the corporate sponsors would be very interested to find that the NSMBA presently has the cash equivalent of about $150,000 sitting in various accounts. Not too many local clubs can make that statement.

Now, it is Little wonder that the NSMBA spent almost $12,000 on legal fees in 2016. Given what can be gleaned from the NSMBA's financial statements as per the above, there are likely a hell-of-a-lot of_ requests of the organization that the directors did not feel qualified to handle without counse_l!!

Rachid, given you have had nothing to do with financial statements since before any of the above, I would say you got of Dodge in the nick of time.

Scrooge McDuck MBA CFA

As an MBA and CFA your ability to rationalize and understand numbers is outstandingly abysmal. It's posts such as this one that clearly show you are in far over your head when trying to understand how these things work; which quite frankly is highly laughable as the information to properly put things together is readily available.

Dec. 21, 2016, 12:30 p.m.
Posts: 227
Joined: Aug. 4, 2009

What possible local tax revenue is generated by buying gas?

Food? Really? A local economy based on burgers and french fries. Forget attracting the Cnadian head office of google. Start a food cart.

And hotels? There is ONE hotel in the DNV

Why not do both? not everyone in north van can work at google, nor would they be qualified. Anyone can be a server though and they still need work. The restaurant industry is a pretty good one.

Our local economy is based on selling real estate but yet I do not work in that industry.

Dec. 21, 2016, 12:51 p.m.
Posts: 2100
Joined: April 22, 2006

Thanks Heckler. I was short on time this morning and didn't have time to fact check all of our friends numbers for myself. Your right HC my math was based on your post and I didn't have time to post the real numbers.

Regarding the value of biking and a strong outdoor lifestyle image to our local economy. Offices for Giant bikes, Ryder's Eyewear and Arc'teryx are a start. These companies would not put these offices in Mississauga or even Langley because the importance of having North Vancouver on their business cards is not lost to them. You may also want to ask how much tax companies like Different, Lynn Valley bikes, Endless bikes, Suspensionwerx (the list goes on) pay. There are even engineering firms with head offices in the DNV because the owners bike. Most of these companies hire local people to work for them. How much of these employees pay cheques do they leave in the DNV? How much property tax do bikers who live in the DNV to be near trails (but are not employed in the biking industry) pay? Selling burgers and gas is chump change compared to the bigger picture here. The head office for Google will never move to the DNV but that's OK. To have a strong local economy we need to embrace what we have and build off that. And what we have is one of the most famous trail networks in the world.

Dec. 21, 2016, 2:53 p.m.
Posts: 296
Joined: Jan. 25, 2011

Big shout out to Woodsy for all he's done for the Shore. He's certainly left a legacy of amazing trails that either wouldn't exist or wouldn't be the same without his vision and hard work. Sorry to hear he's parted ways with Nsmba…

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