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Journal 30; March 2007
From the Editor's Desk:
"We are all familiar with poet Robert Frost's famous line that 'good fences make good neighbors.' But in 'Mending Wall', the line is spoken not by the narrator but by his neighbor, a farmer, and it is the only thing his neighbor says in the entire poem. It's left to the narrator to muse over its meaning, as well as over the stone wall that separates them, noting 'Something there is that doesn't love a wall.'
"For Frost, 'mending' is the issue, not the wall. If we choose to erect walls between us then we assign ourselves the perpetual job of mending them, including the relationships between neighbors. Nature tugs, people mend.
"In this issue of our Journal, we examine a topic that has been a main focus of The Quivira Coalition since its founding ten years ago: bridging divides and mending relationships. Finding a way across the variety of walls - economic, social, historical, and political - that divide us is the key to a prosperous and healthy future.
"Historian Curt Meine leads off by tackling the daunting task of bridging the urban-rural divide - a divide that has grown substantially in recent decades. Curt says one way to do this is to work in the radical center, where people come to 'build up the foundations of trust' necessary for progress.
"Next, anthropologist Nathan Sayre examines the historical divide between the 'old' concept of the Western Range - the collection of laws and attitudes that dominated the arid West for more than a century and which resulted in widespread conflict - and the emerging New Western Range, which offers more hope.
"Next up is Linda Decker, who recounts the tribulations and successes her ranch family went through as the Next Generation struggled to cross the inheritance divide.
"Then poet and essayist Linda Hasslestrom offers two visions of bridges - both missing and existing.
"In 'A View From Malta,' yours truly takes a look at the divide that separates the 20th century from the 21st.
"Lastly, in our research contribution, Colin Talbert and Richard Knight, of Colorado State University, analyze the relationship between public lands grazing and private land ownership, with an emphasis on biological values, reminding us that both halves of the American West, public and private, are inextricably linked.
"They conclude with a quote from Wendell Berry that sums up our collective goal: 'There is no irresolvable conflict here, but the conflict that exists can be resolved only on the basis of a common understanding of good practice.'
"Thanks for reading" -Courtney White
Contents:
Front Cover Photo: the Dry Cimarron River, Rainbow Ranch, Folsom, NM August, 2005. Photo by Tamara Gadzia.
"We are all familiar with poet Robert Frost's famous line that 'good fences make good neighbors.' But in 'Mending Wall', the line is spoken not by the narrator but by his neighbor, a farmer, and it is the only thing his neighbor says in the entire poem. It's left to the narrator to muse over its meaning, as well as over the stone wall that separates them, noting 'Something there is that doesn't love a wall.'
"For Frost, 'mending' is the issue, not the wall. If we choose to erect walls between us then we assign ourselves the perpetual job of mending them, including the relationships between neighbors. Nature tugs, people mend.
"In this issue of our Journal, we examine a topic that has been a main focus of The Quivira Coalition since its founding ten years ago: bridging divides and mending relationships. Finding a way across the variety of walls - economic, social, historical, and political - that divide us is the key to a prosperous and healthy future.
"Historian Curt Meine leads off by tackling the daunting task of bridging the urban-rural divide - a divide that has grown substantially in recent decades. Curt says one way to do this is to work in the radical center, where people come to 'build up the foundations of trust' necessary for progress.
"Next, anthropologist Nathan Sayre examines the historical divide between the 'old' concept of the Western Range - the collection of laws and attitudes that dominated the arid West for more than a century and which resulted in widespread conflict - and the emerging New Western Range, which offers more hope.
"Next up is Linda Decker, who recounts the tribulations and successes her ranch family went through as the Next Generation struggled to cross the inheritance divide.
"Then poet and essayist Linda Hasslestrom offers two visions of bridges - both missing and existing.
"In 'A View From Malta,' yours truly takes a look at the divide that separates the 20th century from the 21st.
"Lastly, in our research contribution, Colin Talbert and Richard Knight, of Colorado State University, analyze the relationship between public lands grazing and private land ownership, with an emphasis on biological values, reminding us that both halves of the American West, public and private, are inextricably linked.
"They conclude with a quote from Wendell Berry that sums up our collective goal: 'There is no irresolvable conflict here, but the conflict that exists can be resolved only on the basis of a common understanding of good practice.'
"Thanks for reading" -Courtney White
Contents:
- Feature: Crossing the Great Divide -Curt Meine
- Colloquium: The New Western Range -Nathan Sayre
- A West that Works: Crossing the Generational Divide: the Trigg Experience -Linda Decker
- A View from the Field: Shopping in Walsenberg -Linda Hasslestrom
- The Break of Day: A View from Malta -Courtney White
- Research: Private Ranchlands and Public-land Grazing in the Southern Rocky Mountains -Colin Talbert and Richard Knight
Front Cover Photo: the Dry Cimarron River, Rainbow Ranch, Folsom, NM August, 2005. Photo by Tamara Gadzia.
Journal 30 pdf size: 4.43mb