The Personal Sideof

Natural Resource Issues

Randy R. Weigel, Ph.D. Professor & Extension Specialist

Department of Family & Consumer SciencesUniversity of Wyoming

“Geo-conflicts”

Conflicts over the natural resourcesand geography of the West.

“The struggle to secure ample high-qualitywater has fostered mistrust, mis-understanding and has created disharmony.Water conflicts have driven wedges between:neighbors, states, nations, cultures.”

Ingram, H. (1998).Place humanists at the head gatesReopening the American West

“I told the Elko County commissioners, ‘The days are gone when you’ll come in here and pound on the district ranger’s table and he’ll piss in his pants and you’ll get your way.’”

Jim Nelson, supervisor Toiyabe & Humboldt National Forests, Nevada

“We are outraged and demand accountabilityof the actions taken by the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service surrounding the incident,”(FWS worker with wolves on private property)

Park County CommissionersPark County (Cody), Wyoming

Life at the Edge

“The lives of urban and rural dwellers arebecoming increasingly intertwined, and oftentangled. This entanglement can be found atthe urban wildland interface.”

Huntsinger & Hopkins (1996).

Viewpoint: Sustaining rangeland landscapes: Asocial and ecological process.

Journal of Range Management

“Kent Knudson picked up a rifle andopened fire, defending his 40 acres inArizona, and got handcuffed and hauled to jail.”

High Country NewsMarch 1, 2004vol. 36, no. 4

Ranch Preservationism

A term that describes an attitude that being a rancher leads to a higher well-being than other methods of making a living.

“What’s it going to take – me sitting onmy front porch shooting the next son of a bitch that tells me when I can and can’t move my cows?”

New Mexico RancherHigh Country Newsretrieved, 2/4/2004 from:http://www.hcn.org/

Ethno-ecology of Ranchland

Ethno-ecology is a field of Anthropology that refers to the study of how people interact with all aspects of the natural environment including plants and wildlife, land forms, vegetation and soils (among other things).

Source: PowderRiverBasin.org

Photo: PowderRiverBasin.org

Three concepts of the human-land relationship

human as generator of impact

human as receiver of “information”

human as participant in the landscape

Zube, E. H. (1987)Perceived land use patterns and landscape valuesLandscape Ecology, vol. 1, no. 1

* We have a world-class supply of gas in the Powder River Basin Billings Gazette 01/07/04

* …The methane play is about short-term profits, not long- term security. A deal gets done, and soon you no longer recognize the country you live in.

New York Times ed. 12/01/03

* Some ranchers are trying to keep track of new roads, waterdischarge, pipelines…and other items associated with coalbedmethane on their land. They also worry about what the land will look like once the coalbed methane drive is over.

Billings Gazette 01/08/04Photo: PowderRiverBasin.org

Loss of “Country-Dominance”

Superiority of rural life…

Country life is more productive, morecherished, more respected, more powerfulthan city life.

Urban Viewpoint

Increasingly, urban people ask why theyshould bail out farmers suffering misfortunewhen other businesses in the same situationare not. After all, farmers choose a rurallife and participation in an industry subjectto the whims of nature.

ABC Western Queensland, AU19 November 2002

Sense of loss is manifested in:

* Disenfranchised grief

* Ambiguous loss

“You see farmers along the country-side standing in piles of their livelihood,in piles of dead animals and the stressis just immense.”

David Hambley, a farmer from South WalesABC News.com (March 19, 2001)

explorationresistance

denial commitment

Future statePast state

External event

Internal/self

Dynamics of Change: Transition Curve

Characteristics of Change:

Pressure for Status Quo

Impatience

Conflict

Forward & Backward

Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes Wm. Bridges

• Ending

• Neutral Zone

• Beginning

Fall

Winter

Spring

Strengths of Survivors

Sense of Control Positive Outlook

Flexibility

Self Management

Perseverance

http://www.uwyo.edu/ces/LIFE/Personal_Nature_Main.html

Recovering from Natural Disasters B-1103 Men and Depression B-1104

Agriculture and Skin Cancer: What You Should Know B-1105 Lenders and Angry Customers B-1113

Surviving Tragedy B-1117

Men Seeking Help B-1134

http://www.uwyo.edu/ces/LIFE/Personal_Nature_Main.html

Agricultural Producers and Stress Series The Importance of a Healthy Attitude

When Do You Need a Counselor? Eating and Activity for Health and Pleasure Identifying Stress on the Ranch and Farm

Learning to Relax Finding Your Team of Experts

Anyone can give up…

But only the strong will continueto battle!