RADICAL MIDDLE ... There was a younger time in my life when I was an activist. A radical. I was proud of trying to get to the root of issues and finding solutions ... However, as viable solutions continued to evade my grasp or anyone’s handle, I began to discover my elder self, as ecophilosopher Donna Haraway would say, “staying with the trouble.” Housing. Transportation. Cost of living. The issues haven’t changed much in the 40+ years I’ve lived in San Miguel County ... Once a devotee of Dave Foreman, I refused to compromise and stood firm for what I felt was right. But for the last couple decades, as a county commissioner (emeritus now), I found myself listening to all my constituents, even the ones I fervently disagreed with. And in the process came to realize political solutions have to come from balanced, understandable, out-of-the-box thinking (radical) that a majority can support (middle), not the agendas of the right or left fringes ... Here’s a couple examples of journalists who eschew Fake News and take us into the thickets of issues, raising uncomfortable questions that need resolving before political action can be appropriately taken ... As we’ve learned from the national embarrassment of Rep. George Santos, media (local newspapers in particular) are our first line of defense against lies, deceptions, mis- and dis-information. And, best of all, they can educate the public about complex issues, so citizens can come to a reasonable understanding and take informed action, as needed.
FOUR CORNERS FREE PRESS ... Dr. Janneli Miller did a masterful job educating the regional public about the pros and cons of solar power in general, and in their specific applications being proposed for Montezuma County in the February issue on the newsstands now in Cortez and Dolores. There are tradeoffs, unwelcome impacts and essential mitigations for all our industrialized power systems, solar included. We shouldn’t shy away from addressing them. And we should resist becoming mere boosters for what seems to be the right thing to do without doing the deep research before making complex political decisions.
GUNNISON COUNTRY TIMES ... Publisher Alan Wartes runs my favorite small-town paper on the Western Slope ... The majority of the state’s citizens passed a recent wolf re-introduction ballot measure. The Gunnison region is one of the targets for this year for a program that Colorado Parks & Wildlife is developing, and ranching community there is very concerned ... Whatever your ideological position for or against, they are the ones on the ground who will bear a hefty barrel of impacts to their already close-to-the-bone operations ... Editor Bella Biondini has been doing extensive coverage of the local hearings. But she also penned an op-ed piece, “The debate isn’t just about the science,” describing her strong environmental leanings and support for the gray wolf’s reintroduction, but chronicles her concerns with holes in the CPW’s draft plan for reintroduction in Gunnison country and “the incredible challenge at hand.” She calls for the state agency to listen carefully to the people who will be most impacted by this action ... And to sure the community understood the issue, the Country Times published a strong column by respected rancher/environmentalist Ken Spann outlining the problems the Gunnison County Stockgrowers Association have with the state process. To find out more of this perspective, go HERE.
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| Janice Gould |
TALKING GOURD ... Colorado Springs professor and poet friend Janice Gould passed away in 2019 but has left us many wonderful poems. Here’s an excerpt from The Force of Gratitude (Headmistress Press, Sequim, WA, 2017). Highly recommended.
What Dawn Brings
A solitary raven wings from the piñón
as sky lightens to azure.
Sun warms the kitchen counter and a few ants
venture forth, exploring.
I watch, sipping coffee, intrigued by their industry,
their single-minded purpose.
I wander from room to room, stare out the glass doors,
write a few lines – feeling my way
through stone and mud like the root of a tree,
the smallest tendril
scratching millimeter by millimeter to secure
a place in the world.
-Janice Gould
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