Fund Raiser to support Goatpacking!!!

[vigilguy]

Dear friends and fellow goat packers-

Below is a link to share on your FaceBook page, Twitter Account, Email lists, etc, to support goatpacking. I have organized a fundraiser in behalf of NAPGA and all goatpackers in order to raise funds in order to provide enough money for Court costs in an effort to keep our National Forests open for us.

Please consider donating! We estimate $80K in legal fees for litigation purposes to defend our rights to access the National Forests!

http://www.gofundme.com/7s4z5g

[Nanno]

Oh that's cool! How many days do you have to raise the money, or is it open-ended? I'll definitely put this info out at the Goat Extravaganza in a few weeks!

[vigilguy]

Nanno - It is open-ended, but we prefer to reach the goal by July 4th. That is 90 days away. It has been my experience that fund-raisers, or ANY goal for that matter, work better with a deadline.

I am new to this type of social-media-geared fundraising, but the GOFUNDME site is kinda fun and super easy and straight forward! Thanks for your support! A lot of us are very passionate about this cause.

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NAPgA wants to have the funds in place so that we are fully prepared to take this all the way....and WIN.

[ledel]

Oh no! My goat and I's favorite hiking spot is in a national forest. I had no idea about this thanks for bringing it up and ill do whatever I can to help. LETS WIN!!!

[Nanno]

Oh wow! We did a Kickstarter project a little over a year ago and raised just over $25,000 in a month (Our goal was $23,099). It was a lot of fun, but it was also a lot of work! Are you allowed to announce this at TheGoatSpot.net as well? I'm not sure if they have any kind of rules about advertising stuff like this, but if it's ok with them then it would be great if you could reach that audience as well.

[vigilguy]

Oh no! My goat and I's favorite hiking spot is in a national forest. I had no idea about this thanks for bringing it up and ill do whatever I can to help. LETS WIN!!!

Thank you! NAPgA has been blown away by the number of National Forests in the past year that are attempting to include BANNING of Domestic Goats from their Forests in their revised Forest Plans. This is a very REAL CONCERN.

You and your friends and family can help NOW by donating. Please consider posting our link to all of your social media sites.

We have an outstanding attorney who has a ton of experience in this area. We are very confident that we can win, but we have to have the funds to back us up.

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Oh wow! We did a Kickstarter project a little over a year ago and raised just over $25,000 in a month (Our goal was $23,099). It was a lot of fun, but it was also a lot of work! Are you allowed to announce this at TheGoatSpot.net as well? I'm not sure if they have any kind of rules about advertising stuff like this, but if it's ok with them then it would be great if you could reach that audience as well.

I just posted it! Thanks for the suggestion though!

[Jake Levi]

This is great ! And so needed.

I will see what I can scrape up, its a very needy cause. Larry feels like he has been the lone stranger on this, so I am really glad to see this starting.

I'll chime in on your goat spot post.

As a biologist it does piss me on the knee jerk reactions of the fed and state agencies to hop on the ban wagon without havng a clue as to what the real effects of pack goats on BHs are, or if they even could have an effect. For sure NO studies have been done with the Mt Goats that are already in the new or proposed BH habitats. Is there any cross contagion from them?? Its for sure not remotely similar as having a herd of domestic goats grazing in an area that MIGHT be BH habitat. If they can get this ban through watch them broaden their ban targetting to hikers and campers.

[vigilguy]

Thanks so much, Jake!
Both Larry and I have been working on this Land Use stuff for the past 6 years.
We found out from the Llama folks (Lander Llama company out of Lander Wyoming) that there was an attempt to ban Llamas back in the '80's, they threatened with a lawsuit, and the Forest Service compromised with them. So they understand our plight.

I remember reading a USAHA document which advised careful management between goats and BH sheep. I am totally okay with that. But the propaganda from WAFWA pushing their agenda of a total Ban a "over the top" and extreme. They are not at all using sound science which relates specifically to goats to support their proposals.

I re-read the rejection letter from the Wyoming Game and Fish Office in Wyoming to the Whiskey Mountain Bighorn Sheep Advisory Committee, rejecting the use of packgoats...they referenced the Woolever BH Sheep document....and THAT DOCUMENT was retracted by the Deputy of the US Forest Service in Washington!!!! So they are attempting to use documents that are not allowed to be used in their decisions, which is a violation. So they have lost my trust due to their shoddy research and referencing of illegal documents.

Thanks so much for your support!

[Nanno]

I have another question. Are donations to this campaign tax deductible? I always hate to ask questions like that, but it can really make a difference to people/businesses who are considering a sizable donation. I don't even know if direct donations to NAPgA are tax deductible. I wonder if Larry could chime in on that if no one here knows.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Put a couple of links on my website. Dont get but maybe 30-50 visitors a day, but every little bit will help.