Interview with Andy Kerr

[JoseCuervo]

Here is a pretty funny (and educating) interview with Andy Kerr... It is quite long, so I will just post the link.

FYI, he was big in ONRC and now in the NPLGC efforts.

Grist Magazine

 

[Ithaca 37]

Thanks for posting that! I really enjoyed it.

 

[Nemont]

EG,

Who's nicer than you would expect?

Most of the public-lands ranchers who are in favor of the voluntary federal grazing-permit buyout. Public-lands loggers, ranchers, and miners are all going through their five stages of death: denial ("spotted owls like clearcuts"), anger ("spotted owl tastes a lot like chicken" [actually it tastes much like bald eagle]), bargaining ("we can log and have spotted owls"), grieving ("loggers are an endangered species"), and finally acceptance (no pithy quote, in that the endgame hasn't worked out well for all of them).

One of the factors that drove me to advocate voluntary federal grazing-permit buyout is that while money cannot replace a lost lifestyle, it can be a down payment for the next one. Public-lands ranchers, like loggers and miners (as distinct from the corporations who control them), are getting screwed as society changes the rules (globalization, domestic competition, new and conflicting demands for public lands, etc.). We are a rich society where the cost of winning should be to not leave behind the losers.
Ranchers who have reached acceptance and realize that buyout is their best chance at a ticket to a new future are pleasant enough to work with (and drink with, if we don't discuss the environmental impacts of livestock). Many tell me they would use the money to buy private land to ranch without federal overseers, get clear of the bank, go to school, start a new business, or coast into retirement

Doesn't this kind of run counter to the bulk of you public lands grazing positions? Just curious if you agree the public lands rancher, seperate from large corps., is getting screwed by globalization, etc.?

Nemont