User talk:NWWMF

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Hello and welcome to Wikipedia. We appreciate encyclopedic contributions, but some of your recent contributions seem to be advertising or for promotional purposes. Wikipedia does not allow advertising. For more information on this, see: If you still have questions, there is a new contributor's help page, or you can write   below this message along with a question and someone will be along to answer it shortly. You may also find the following pages useful for a general introduction to Wikipedia: I hope you enjoy editing Wikipedia! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes ( ~ ); this will automatically produce your name and the date. Feel free to write a note on the bottom of if you want to get in touch with me. Again, welcome! MLauba (talk) 14:00, 27 March 2009 (UTC)
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March 2009
Welcome to Wikipedia. A page you recently created may not conform to some of Wikipedia's guidelines for new pages, so it will shortly be removed (if it hasn't been already). Please use the sandbox for any tests. For more information about creating articles, you may want to read Your first article. You may also want to read our introduction page to learn more about contributing. ''Please stop creating dozens of versions of the same page. This is akin to spam and will be treated as vandalism.'' MLauba (talk) 14:03, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

RfD nomination of Nature Walks
I have nominated for discussion. Your opinions on the matter are welcome; please participate in the discussion by adding your comments at the discussion page. Thank you. MLauba (talk) 14:07, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

WP:COI banner
As was mentioned at RfD, your user name would seem to imply that you are either Mr. Fraser himself or someone personally involved in the show. Wikipedia discourages editing articles in which you may have a conflict of interest in order to avoid even the appearance of bias, as all articles must be written from a neutral point of view. However, Wikipedia editors are also encouraged to assume good faith, especially with new users such as yourself. So, I suppose the thing to do is just to ask you outright: are you personally affiliated with this program? Beeblebrox (talk) 00:04, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

NWWMF (talk) 20:47, 4 April 2009 (UTC)NWWMF  04-03-09 Hi folks, sorry for the delayed response, I've been multitasking. Let me be 100% crystal clear. "Yes" I am affiliated with NatureWalks. There is no ambiguity, so I want to make that clear. Before you dismiss the article due to the pillar you sight (which I have since read per your advice)please consider the following; The article written is very much a factual piece without bias about a verifiable subject matter. If you feel being affiliated with NatureWalks makes this article fall outside the rules of Wikipedia "pillars" and therefore must be removed then I certainly understand and will reluctantly use another web based Encyclopedia type application. If that is your decision I would respectfully ask how one would go about having the article submitted in this "particular", articles case as I feel very strongly it is a "factual" and "worthy" piece. I am also feeling after reading the Wikipedia rules, I do see some level of ambiguity. I submit to you the second bullet of the following page "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:What_%22Ignore_all_rules%22_means" It clearly states "Don't follow written instructions mindlessly, but rather, consider how the encyclopedia is improved or damaged by each edit. (See also Wikipedia:Use common sense.)" That is a language I respect and appreciate. It tells me the creators of Wikipedia do not wish to button hole their product so that when an article has an importance, relevance or reasoning that "does" enhance Wikipedia then following the letter of a different pillar might not be in the best interests of the original design of the sight. On the final bullet of the same page it states the following "Following the rules is less important than using good judgment and being thoughtful and considerate, always bearing in mind that good judgment is not displayed only by those who agree with you. (See also Wikipedia:Civility.)" So I ask you as editing authors to please consider that this article is 100% accurate and verifiable in fact posted with the article are links indicating the same from published news articles. As I was not, and now am, aware of the Wikipedia pillar you are sighting, please help me to simply post. If that can not be done then I apologize for wasting your and my own effort to post this worthy piece on Wikipedia.

Best regards,

NWWMF

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Be_bold"
 * Nothing does directly prevent you from writing the article but it will be subjected to extra scrutiny for neutrality. I'd say at present the article's main problem is its lack of reliable sources, the only qualifying one is the Lowell Sun (the trading post is a straight reprint of the former), and that's normally just plain not enough. This generates a second problem, the less sources there are the less the content can be verified and the higher the wariness about a COI, if you follow my reasoning. In short, the best thing you can do at this stage is add more reliable sources, that will do immensely more than explaining your position. At least that's how I see it. MLauba (talk) 22:15, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

NWWMF (talk) 01:34, 5 April 2009 (UTC)NWWMF Thank you Mlauba, that sounds helpful. I do have some other publicly posted resource material. Infact, another Newspaper article (this one from 3 years earlier in 2006) As well as a posted appreciation letter from a Massachsetts State Senator about the effort. I am not sure how to post other then the link to the web site (then you would need to scroll down). The 2006 article is now archived at the lowell Sun (I have posted below) and the link to the letter is (http://www.naturewalkswithmark.org/current_naturewalks_news). Not sure how to link this properly in the article. Would it make sense to post the information or perhaps link to the http://www.naturewalkswithmark.org/current_naturewalks_news ?

Thanks for your help with this.

(Here the 2006 article) Sun, The (Lowell, MA)

October 16, 2006 Section: Local

News

Loving the Earth, it's just in his nature

CHRIS CAMIRE, Sun Staff

TYNGSBORO -- "Let me show you something," Mark Fraser says, a speck of mischievousness lingering in his voice. He unlocks the trunk of his car, revealing a taxidermy fisher perched on a log. The animal was hit by a car.

"Most people don't know what a fisher is, but they're everywhere," he continues. "It's the only animal whose main food source is porcupine."

Fraser is standing on the rim of the Sherburne Estate in Tyngsboro, an 85-acre preserve through which he leads nature walks.

Fraser explains why people need to be aware of the harm they are inflicting upon the earth.

"I think as a society America has become so focused on money that a lot of us have forgotten to take the time and look at what's going on around us," said Fraser. "We have to put our differences aside. We have to put our politics aside and start focusing on the earth, because she needs our help."

It would be easy to mistake Fraser for a hipster activist out to champion whatever cause is in vogue. The truth is that he has dedicated his life to preaching the word of ecology.

"Kids love talks about nature. Just give it to them," said Fraser. "But if we teach them it's OK to throw a beer can into the river or a cigarette butt out the window, they will never learn to respect the earth, to respect their mother."

Fraser, an American Indian, has a fast and charismatic, yet meticulously measured speaking pattern. He makes no secret that he has rehearsed his message on countless audiences.

"I'll be out in a shopping mall somewhere, and I'll start blabbing about the environment. I can't stop," he says.

The knowledge he spews does not come from a classroom, he boasts. Fraser says it is the result of years spent in the forest, observing the natural world around him.

"The Earth has been destroyed many times. Comets have wiped out all of the life," said Fraser. "She'll heal, but we won't be here. We're sawing a branch off a tree that we're sitting on. We're going to break our branch."

Fraser, 36, is of Mohawk and Abenaki descent. He lives in Dracut with his wife and stepdaughter and has worked for a telecommunications firm in Bedford for the past 11 years. He grew up in Billerica and upstate New York, and was an Army paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division.

Fraser said he is saddened by the lack of attention environmental issues are getting today. He said he gets particularly upset when politicians exploit the environment as a political tool.

"When people talk about the environment and whether it's a Republican or a Democratic thing, I get beside myself," he said. "People talk about patriotism, and then they spit on the ground they walk on. Patriotism to me isn't about a flag. If you want to love the country you live in, get out and learn about the fauna and the biology."

Fraser's nature walks are much more than exercises in identifying plant and animal species. They are big-picture lessons demonstrating how even the smallest plant or critter plays a critical role in the ecosystem.

There is an American Indian tradition called Seven Generations. It says all people should work to leave the world better for the next seven generations. Fraser said he is trying to accomplish that through nature walks, public-speaking engagements and donating money to environmental causes. One day, he said he hopes to produce documentaries on New England and Adirondack fauna.

"Knowledge is like a seed," explains Fraser, looking out at the Sherburne Estate. "If you plant the seed and nurture it, it'll grow, and it could become a whole cornfield. Thought and what we do as a society is the same way. We could nurture it, and we could get more places like this to appreciate from that education."

(c) 2006 The Sun (Lowell, MA). All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc.
 * I added the above link into the article, it doesn't have to be online (though it's always better). Regarding the senatorial letter, ideally this one should have a page of its own to link to, it will however only be listable as an external source - anything hosted on the NNW.org website will be considered a primary source and will only be used to complement the article. As for the current status of the article, I think there is some progress but we still need more sources. MLauba (talk) 07:22, 5 April 2009 (UTC)