In it for the long haul

A letter from the Executive Director

This July, ACRES Executive Director Jason Kissel spent the month riding his bicycle from the Mexican border in Texas to the Canadian border in North Dakota. During his 1,900-mile ride, he reflected on the importance of another long-term goal: our mission to protect local land forever.

Dear ACRES Members,

This summer I spent about a month riding my bicycle 1,900 miles from the Mexican border in Texas to the Canadian border in North Dakota. It’s the second long ride I’ve taken—the first being from California to Florida in 2011.

I’m not an avid bicyclist. In a typical year, I ride fewer than 50 miles. But these long trips have great appeal to me. They help me exercise a core value—investing in things that require considerable effort over time and yield lasting results. I’m motivated by long-term rewards much more than short-term ones.

That’s what drew me to ACRES and has kept me motivated to support ACRES the past 15 years. There is tremendous value in preserving land today. And even greater value in preserving land forever. It takes past effort, effort today and sustained effort over an unbroken string of tomorrows, to achieve our goal of forever-protected land.

We cannot achieve forever today. Conversely, forever-protection of land cannot occur absent today’s effort. As ACRES members, we can revel in today’s benefits (short-term rewards), and we can also dream about the benefits our efforts will help achieve in hundreds of years (long-term rewards).

As an organization, we have a long goal in front of us. It’s a goal we didn’t start, and it’s a goal we can’t finish. However, it’s a goal that requires our efforts now. We must not only do our part, but also inspire younger people to do their part, so the effort continues.

Jason Kissel
[email protected]
260-637-2273 ext. 102