Rednecks, Wild Horses, and Civil Conversations
By Wayne Hare
A few years ago while patrolling a large swath of federally protected BLM land in western Colorado as a park ranger, I encountered a group of 6 or 7 men camped at a designated, but primitive site. There was a post and cable fence surrounding the area where they were allowed to have their vehicles. But they’d managed to get all of their trucks on the wrong side of my fence. In addition they had a fire going within an impromptu fire ring of rocks and there was toilet paper visible on the hillside. Regulations required that all fires be contained within a metal fire ring and that all ashes be removed. Regulations further required a container to deposit and remove all solid human waste. These guys weren’t in compliance with anything.
I approached the group of what I think can be rightly termed “proud rednecks” and began The Conversation. The one that I’d had many times with many visitors. I asked them to move their trucks onto the correct side of the fence. I explained the rules that they were required to abide by. And as I always did, I wove into the conversation the reasoning behind the rules. If those rules were not in affect, then in the blink of an eye, this beautiful piece of public land would quickly become a trash heap that would not have been worthy of their 10 hour round trip from Salt Lake City. In response to their inquiry where they could go four-wheeling in the area, I told them that they had to keep their vehicles on the road. And in answer to their questions of shooting their many and varied firearms, I had to let them know that target shooting was prohibited on all 123,000 acres of this National Conservation Area.
There’s a concept in public land management called The Authority of the Resource - the public land - vs The Authority of the Agency - the Bureau of Land Management. I always tried to help visitors understand the needs of the land and the flora and fauna that called the place home, as well as the needs of the visitors to shrug off the stresses of daily life to enjoy quiet and beauty.
This group of men seemed a bit confused, or perhaps inexperienced with federal land management. But my first impressions notwithstanding, they seemed like decent sorts. As I’ve found with most visitors, given the education and the opportunity, they kinda wanted to do the right thing. They continued to camp there and for the next three days I continued to stop by to check their compliance and further their education. They’d driven into town to buy a porta-potty and an oil change pan to act as a fire pan. At each visit we continued to have a civil conversation. On their third day, as I was passing by, they were preparing to leave and head home. Several of them were holding plastic shopping bags and were scouring the area for even the smallest pieces of trash. I mentally patted both them and myself on the back. Success!
For about two years now I’ve been engaged in a writing and filming project with High Country News called Civil Conversations. We’re talking about that most taboo and most difficult to discuss of all subjects…race! Talking about race is a lot like talking about wolf reintroduction, or abortion, or wild horses. People instantly take sides and get defensive. Or at a minimum, they get uncomfortable. I’ve hardly ever had a conversation with white people where soon enough somebody isn’t trying to say, “It’s not about race, it’s about class” to steer the conversation away from race. I call it the ABR syndrome. Anything But Race. But I’m trying to break through that barrier. Race is such an issue in this country that I love. It’s the undercurrent that flows through everything. Or at least everything that’s a problem.
In the Civil Conversations project, or maybe I should call it the Civil Conversations ‘Experiment’, we’re trying to accomplish with our readership what I think was accomplished with those uneducated visitors. Through education and information, I’m confident that we can move people into civil, knowledge-based conversations on race in the west, and in so doing …move the dial on race.
The last few years have been difficult to watch and experience in matters of race relations. So many of our politicians seem to want to use race as a wedge. Let’s not let them. We’re better than that.