by Carissa
Republic County WIFE

March 1, 2002
Horse Creek Ranch

Today again finds me away from home. This time, an early morning drive to Nebraska City, Nebraska to participate in a community-based environmental issues forum training. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided a grant to train some 50 people from Region VII (Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri) as facilitators.

Based on a traditional town meeting, the forum model is designed to build consensus through public discussion, in a manner geared to avoid emotional confrontation when addressing environmental concerns.

Questions a forum may address are whether the assessment is correct, if balance in approaches exists, and is remediation workable? Forum facilitators are trained to lead discussion of any environmental topic, guiding participants to consider various approaches, understand why people hold certain views, develop a clearer picture of the issue, and identify common ground.

The discussion model offers a four choice approach:
Choice One asserts the regulatory process, focusing on government monitoring and enforcement to fulfill legislative mandates.
Choice Two rests on faith that policy should aim to prevent rather than control pollution by forcing fundamental change in our cultural view of resources.
Choice Three holds the view that pollution problems have been overblown, improvements not recognized and incentives work better than punitive action.
Choice Four says efforts to assure a clean environment require integrated localcontrol by natural water basins and watershed districts.

Each approach offers a different assessment of the problem. Trainees were divided into sub-groups and assigned one of the approaches to summarize the choice, clarify one's stance for others to understand, ask what's good about this approach and identify the downside.

A mock forum was conducted at the end of training. The model attempts to avoid oversimplification of environmental issues, but often, debate is too narrowly focused due to individual prejudices. Outdated information, extreme bias against profit-driven enterprise and lack of objectivity limit any discussion. Participants from government entities and non-profit conservation groups tend to reject private property rights and individual choices.

Few businesses are as open to public scrutiny as American agriculture producers who are forced to deal with the mistaken idea that their actions harm everyone's environment. Today's agriculture practices use a variety of protection methods while guaranteeing quality and productivity.

As one of perhaps three real producers among the group, I found my perspective on environmental issues repeatedly challenged, my facts rejected, my opinion discounted and charged as cynical instead of objective, simply because it was contrary to others'. During discussion of solid waste disposal, imposing curbside recycling was a focal point. After pointing out that rural American's do not have "curbs" for easy recycling, one man asked how we disposed of our trash. At least he showed interest in this rural problem, unlike the woman who dismissed farmers and ranchers with the accusation that we just throw trash in ditches.

So I gave some thought as to how Horse Creek Ranch practices good stewardship.

Garden produce is eaten fresh, sold to market, or canned for later use. Garden waste is composted. Canning jars are reused.

Livestock convert native grasses to protein for human consumption. Their manure fertilizes the prairie, their hooves aerate the soil and their foraging maintains a balance of plant varieties. Annual spring burning of the prairie keeps invasive plants at bay. Livestock provide meat, milk and by-products (from leather to medicines to glue).

Cats keep rodent population down, reducing disease risk. An alfalfa-based cat litter is compostible.

Water comes from three drilled wells, four springs, ten ponds and several creeks.

Five ponds are for stock, five for wildlife and erosion control. Creeks provide travel paths for wildlife and extreme weather discharge (flood control).

Fresh water enters the house from a well cistern while wastewater exits to an aeration tank, cleaned, then discharged to a small pond for ducks, geese, butterflies & birds.

Poultry eat aquatic plants and insects while providing eggs, meat and feathers.

Crops are grown for commodity sales, cattle feed and wildlife, including bees. Buffer strips between fields and creeks filter run-off and provide wildlife habitat.

Animals and plant varieties are selected from heritage breeds to ensure genetic diversity and keep species from dying out.

Windbreaks provide shade, shelter and food for animals, reduce wind erosion, hold snow for moisture, keep drifts off the road, and reduce energy needs of the house.

Fruits, nuts, wildflowers, herbs, mushrooms and timber provide food and market income. Even the cattle eat plums, spitting out the pits.

Hunting gets rural folk to the country and maintains vitality of game animals while keeping predatory populations in check.

Bluebird houses, bat houses and other shelters are provided to encourage colonies of species, care given to provide food and territory as well.

Aluminum cans are collected, then turned over to aid a neighbor. Newsprint, metal and glass containers are taken to a community recycling center. What cannot be reused is hauled to approved disposal sites.

Pesticides are necessary to eradicate noxious weeds, control disease and insect damage when other methods fail. Application is according to label, care taken.

Fuel and other possible contaminates are properly stored and monitored.

Being a good steward of resources requires effort, thought, and individual choices.