Dear HCN,
Jeffrey St. Clair
complained in the last issue that no “abolitionists’ were included
in the Colorado grazing reform working group. Of course they were
excluded! That decision was deliberate. The sharing of goals is a
necessary preliminary to any successful resolution of conflict, and
the abolitionists declare outright that they don’t share the goal
of maintaining Western ranching culture. The discussions focused on
how to reform public-lands grazing, not on how to eliminate
it.
Abolitionists take the extreme side of the
debate. Their words can serve a productive purpose if they
illuminate the problems and raise the tenor of debate. If they were
to somehow find the political muscle to reach their goal, it would
certainly solve problems, since the source of problems would be
gone.
But abolitionists are essentially
declaring war on Western ranchers and by implication, most rural
communities in the West. In the pursuit of this war, they should
recognize that it will take many more years, cause many harsh
conflicts, create divisiveness and block social healing. It will do
little to inculcate environmental values into the ranching
industry.
The abolitionists must believe that
learning and change in the ranching industry are impossible, and
that ranchers are and will always be ignorant, self-serving bullies
without any genuine care for land community and other cultures.
Therefore, ranchers cannot be reformed, they must be
eliminated.
War is not my style.
Environmentalists should preach and build peace. Our long-term
success depends partly on winning legal and political battles, but
even more on educating everyone about the environmental impacts
accompanying just about every human activity, and the possible
solutions to these problems. We will always need some laws and
rules to force those who refuse to learn and change, but we will
never win until environmental values and knowledge permeate every
aspect of our economy and culture.
Gary
Sprung
Crested Butte,
Colorado
Gary Sprung is
president of the High Country Citizens’
Alliance.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Reformers needed, not abolitionists.
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