Earl Miller has been chairman of the BFA Landowner Relations Committee for not quite one year. His quiet country manner often serves to hide his true passion for ballooning from those who do not know him well. He was not approached to take on this committee, he volunteered. When asked to what kind of budget he would need his response was an honest, "I don’t know." His offer to fund his committee’s needs for the first year of his tenure was also an honest one. That’s the way Earl Miller operates...straightforward and to the point. His secret to successful landowner relations is simple, good manners. He recently spoke to Balloon Life about his duties with this committee and his pet project-an instructional video to be offered as a teaching tool at future safety seminars...
Balloon Life: Let’s start at the beginning. Why did you come forward to chair
this committee?
Earl Miller: Well, looking around the country it appeared to me there were
problems popping up, and looking at my record wherein through 18 years of flying all
over the world, I’ve only run into two people who weren’t very happy with us and both
times I was able to talk my way out of any difficulty. In fact, by the time my crew left the
property we were shaking hands, laughing and that sort of stuff. So, I figured I had
some sort of a knack for [landowner relations].
BL: What was the state of landowner relations when you took over?
EM: At that time I think Tommy Thompson had done a wonderful job but had
just grown tired of it. No one else appeared willing to step out and do anything, so I
figured this is the one part of ballooning I’m good at so I’ll be happy to do it.
BL: What if any direction did you get at that point? What role did you see
yourself fulfilling?
EM: I didn’t receive a lot of direction, but it really was more a point of my
saying to the BFA Board, "I think I have some good ideas that I’d like to put to work if
you’ll let me."
BL: One of those ideas was an instructional video?
EM: Yes, and it’s something we’re working on right now. We had hoped to
debut it this month (June) but because of some personal setbacks I’ve suffered recently
it now appears the video may not be ready until July or later.
We’re about 85 to 90 percent complete on the project and what we have found out
is that some people just really don’t know how to approach other people. So we’ve
taken things back to basics, explaining that from the time you even drive onto a
person’s property to ask permission to retrieve a balloon, you are trespassing.
As balloonists we seem to think this is the landowner’s luckiest day in the world,
after all it’s not everyday you have a balloon land in your south 40. What balloonists
have to learn is that for the landowner this may not be such a big deal. In fact, it may be
one unwelcome headache.
Good landowner relations is not rocket science. Good manners, respect and a polite
approach are all that’s really needed so the video will feature a series of role playing
situations showing the good, the bad and the ugly of landowner situations.
BL: If the video was your first idea and was widely approved of, you must have
been disappointed at the reaction to your second idea, that of serving as a
clearinghouse of information regarding landowner problems and solutions from across
the country?
EM: Yes, I thought that would have been a natural role for us to take on. You
know we all have different problems in different regions of the country and we all have
different ideas about how best to approach and solve them. It just seemed to me that
we should be gathering those ideas and sharing them better because what works in
one corner of the world might well work in the other, but it can’t if you don’t know about
it.
What I see as a growing problem for more and more of the country is the EMU’s,
ostriches and rheas. However, we have just made contact with their national
association, in fact they approached me and asked about our doing an informational
video to educate them about the workings and practices of balloons and their effect on
these animals. It’s still early but it appears we might have opened door of
communication here.
We’ve also given thought to preparation of a generic crop identification video so
people can learn that what looks like a nice green pasture just might be a $50,000 field
of spearmint.
And I had plans to appear and speak at as many safety seminars as possible, to talk
about the video project, and show people how to approach and handle various
landowner situations.
Unfortunately what I have found generally is that I have to take it upon myself to call
people up and offer my services. Very few folks have come forward wanting help or
advice, or even just to share their ideas.
BL: But there have been some exceptions...
EM: Absolutely. One young woman called from California with an idea we’re
looking into and that would be the creation of a universal plastic placard, showing a
balloon with the international slashed circle (no balloons). The farmer or landowner
could then display this on their fences or gates. While pilot in the air might not be able
to see them, the crew certainly can.
Another idea someone contributed was to develop a PZ or red zone update of your
local flying area by visiting with each landowner annually. This not only offers a chance
to perhaps turn around an anti-balloon landowner, but gives you an opportunity to
reaffirm your relationship with pro-balloon landowners.
BL: I know you might not want it known, but you are funding your committee
expenses from your own pocket aren’t you?
EM: Yes, but the way it happened was the Board (BFA) asked me to prepare a
budget and I told them I had no idea how much money would be needed, so I
volunteered to fund my expenses for the first year so that we all could get an idea of
what type of budget to prepare in the future.
BL: And what do you see as the future in landowner relations?
EM: I think we as balloonists have to become better able to understand the
landowner’s perspective in these situations. You know, that farmer does the very best
job he can to plant his crop in nice straight rows. Let a balloon land there and from then
on everytime he rides by that spot and sees a blemish in his field, he’s gonna
remember where it came from, who did it and why. That memory might be a good one,
or it might be a bad one, it’s all dependent on how we as pilots and crew perform our
duties to the landowner.
