Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Vote today!!!!

I probably haven't felt this excited about voting since the first time I voted 12 years ago. What a great feeling to know we can really stand behind our candidate.

http://www.canivote.org/

Leaving shortly to make some history. . .

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Mom and Dad Visit

Dad just shared these. I can't believe how big the girls are. They've grown a foot in 2 months. I'll be down for a visit before too long.
200810_MomDad

WV Weekend

Brian's photos

Becky and Kris Wedding

Brian's photos

Monday, September 22, 2008

Entrepreneurship and the Environment

Stealing this post from our work wiki.

Mountain Sky Guest Ranch, Emigrant, Montana
Co-sponsored by PERC (Property and Environment Research Center) and Liberty Fund
9/18 – 9/21/2008
Jessica L. Dorr

Thursday, 9/18
Arrived Bozeman, MT in the afternoon and met first conference attendee while waiting for our ride.
Jeff Masten, Triangle Land Conservancy, Durham, NC, jeff@tlc-nc.org – Recently acquired a farm that they are considering implementing many similar initiatives as we are on the Catawba Farm. Education, leasing farm space, community gardens, community supported agriculture, financially self supported, low overhead, etc. Jeff was on his way to a community farm in Missoula after the conference to look at how they operate:
http://www.gardencityharvest.org/programs/farm.html

Throughout the afternoon and evening I caught up with past faculty and coordinators from my month stint with PERC in 2003. I met several new conservation/environmental professionals that work in many different areas, all across the country and abroad. I talked with most everyone at the conference, but I will highlight important interactions in this document.

Friday, 9/19
We discussed “Entrepreneurs and Economic Growth”, “Theories of Entrepreneurship”, and “Institutions and Entrepreneurship”. These sessions were based on the Socratic method of discussion and we examined some big questions without having a pure goal or ending point. Several questions were tackled, including:
Why do we have the expectation that all can be rich?
How did the gradual growth of western society help with its accumulation of wealth?
What is the recipe for creating entrepreneurs?
What are the differences between an institutional entrepreneur and a market entrepreneur?

Institutions were said to be anything that defines the rules of how we operate. As an example, we have to work within the rules of Virginia Tech and the CMI mission. It is however possible to be an institutional entrepreneur and not just a market entrepreneur.

I will attempt to write a more concise and easy to read article for the CMI Bulletin or other pub to more closely examine the role of Free Market Environmentalism and Entrepreneurship within the context of our projects and the Virginia Tech and CMI mission.

In the evening we had an excellent presentation by John Tomlin of Conservation Forestry LLC:
http://www.conservationforestry.net/

Saturday, 9/20{BR}
Discussions on this day included “The Myth of the Robber Barons” and “The State and Enviropreneurs”. One of the main themes of this day was, is it possible and how can we “do good (for the environment) while doing well (for ourselves, making money, paying bills, etc.)” Conservation easements, limiting development, capitalizing on the desire for natural and well managed properties, property rights, carbon trading, and mutual benefit, were some of the examples given and discussed.

In addition, there was a panel session of Enviropreneurs in action that we were able to ask questions of. The PERC board was involved with this discussion and I spoke with several of the board members on this day. I met one of the owners of TFO (Temple Fork Outfitters) fly rods, Frank-Paul King:
http://templeforkflyrods.com/
He and other board members are very excited about the prospect of “doing good while doing well”. They seem to all have had positive outdoor, natural experiences that have shaped their conservation ethic.

Sunday, 9/21
After breakfast and last conversations and goodbyes, left the ranch at 10am and arrived back in Bburg at 1215am (after midnight).

Conference director and PERC Senior Fellow, Bobby McCormick, recommended contacting Steve Bick, VT Forestry Grad, who was a PERC Fellow and recently left Bozeman to continue his work in the NE.
http://www.northeastforests.com/Vita of Steven Bick.htm
http://www.perc.org/articles/article1053.php
He may be a good contact as CMI moves in the direction of assisting private landowners manage their property for conservation benefit and profitability.

On a side note, all my stuff smells like smoke because the Forest Service was performing controlled burns on their property adjacent to the ranch:
http://www.mtnsky.com/
Google map
Oh, and did I mention I went on a horse-back ride and learned some fly-fishing skills. Thanks PERC, Liberty Fund, and CMI:

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Mount Rogers Backpacking

Brian's photos


A view from near the highest point in Virginia.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Triathlon time again

A great triathlon in Luray, VA. The best part was the surprise of Bylle, Allan, Jacob, and Mom in the crowd. I saw them after my bike transition as I started the run. The bike ride around the valley was super beautiful too.

The breakdown:
750m swim - 14:37
17 mile (27km) bike - 1:08:12
5K run - 32.36

Thanks for your support! Especially Brian for taking time out of his busy prelim schedule.

Allan's photos and his video, below.

Triathlon Video

Sunday, August 10, 2008

The Dorr Family campout was a great success:
200808_DorrCampout
Last weekend my parents with San Francisco brother (Allan) and Hamburg, Germany nephew (Jacob) met up with my Atlanta brother and family (Dave, Crystal, Catherine, and Sarah) at a beautiful campsite on Claytor Lake. Brian and I provided some camping gear and we all had a great time.
We spent a little time in Blacksburg on Saturday when some rain wouldn't let up. A 5 minute tour of my condo, lunch at Backstreets, and a quick walk around Steppin' Out.
Highlights at the lake were the nice diving platform at the swimming area, a try at fishing for the kids with Brian, and some silly group stories. Mom, Dad, and I had a nice loop hike into the woods and down to the water while the kids went out in Brian's canoe.
Thanks for coming out. I had a wonderful time!