New book features Montana timber leaders Hurst, Petersen, Vincent
The Clark Fork Chronicle, January 31 2010 [here]
A new hardbound book featuring Montana timber leaders Jim Hurst, Jim Petersen, and Steve Vincent chronicles what was, and is, happening on the frontlines of the battle between the West and Washington, D.C.
The book, titled GRIT: Fighting for Western Land, Life, and Liberty [available here] showcases articles written by renowned experts, scholars, environmentalists, legislators, government officials and award-winning journalists from the past 20 years. What emerges is an astounding indictment of a never-ending onslaught of regulations and intimidation, and the struggle endured by ranchers and farmers to produce food and also survive.
Individually, the “GRIT” stories on conservation, water, wildlife, forestry, land grabs and enviros are compelling. Collectively, they are a chilling picture of fumbling federal bureaucrats, self-serving nonprofits, and Americans who seem to have forgotten the importance of self-sufficiency, while paying tribute to the courageous people who work the land.
“We have covered awful tales—of takings, overregulation, outrageous behavior and corruption,” said publisher Caroline Joy “CJ” Hadley. “Bloodsucking nonprofits and some environmental litigators have destroyed rural lives based on flimsy and peculiar rationales, lost their cases in court, and then been paid huge fees for losing—using Americans’ tax dollars.”
The book features writings by three leaders well-known to Montanans:
* Jim Hurst, former president of Owens & Hurst, a Montana lumber mill. The mill closed, leaving 200 workers without jobs, when applications to harvest salvage timber were delayed or litigated. The mill was within sight of the Kootenay National Forest, where more timber dies annually than grows or is harvested.
* Jim Petersen, co-founder of Evergreen Foundation, whose family has roots in logging, sawmilling, cattle ranching, and mining.
* Bruce Vincent, third-generation logger, speaker, president of Communities for a Great Northwest, co-owner of Environomics, and executive director of the Preserve America presidential award-winning Provider Pals’ cultural exchange program. His awards include “Timber Industry Activist of the Year,” “Montana Timberman of the Year,” and “The Sylvan Award for Service to the National Timber Industry.”
The book is published by RANGE magazine [here], a national publication devoted to western issues and lifestyles, which features straight talk, extraordinary photographs, and some good news. Publisher C.J. Hadley said of the magazine, “There are many inspiring stories about people who care for country and critters while complaining the least and producing the most. And there were countless tales of success in spite of the onslaught.”
Hadley insists that “Many bureaucrats have more power than common sense, and well-meaning, but uninformed, Main Street Americans don’t realize that what happens in the West has a direct bearing on their lives.”
Many of the stories in the book can also be found by visiting http://www.rangemagazine.com and clicking on “Back Issues.” These include “Water in the West” (Fall 2001), “Monumental Betrayal” (Summer 2000), “Wolves at the Door” (Fall 1999), “The Great American Land Grab” (Winter 2001), “Taking Liberty” (Fall 2005), “Cap and Trade Looms Large” (Fall 2009), “Nature’s Landlord” (Spring 2003) and “The Great Lie: Forestry on the Brink” (Fall 2006).
RANGE has told the story of generations of families willing to take on the hard work and unpredictable seasons, and meeting them head on despite enormous pressures. It is a story without an ending because the assault on their lives is far from over and far from successful. “GRIT” details what has been happening to western land, and no one who reads it will be unaffected by the spirit of America’s outback that its storytellers bring to life.
Publisher C.J. Hadley is a former managing editor of Car & Driver magazine in New York City. She has freelanced for Sports Illustrated, Saturday Evening Post, Continental Profiles, and many other national publications. She drove the Lunar Rover before it went to the moon, has raced snowmobiles, and has worked on farms in Minnesota and Iowa, and as a fisherman on a tuna troller. In Nevada, she published “Nevada Magazine” for 10 years until, tired of state bureaucracy, she created her own award-winning publication that has become the standard bearer for those who produce our food and fiber. CJ has been named Westerner of the Year and recognized with Veritas and The Paladin awards. She has published six books, “The Romance and Reality of Ranching,” “Grit, Guts & Glory: Portrait of the West,” “Spirit: Cowboys, Horses, Earth & Sky,” “Cowboys and Country: Life in America’s Outback” and “This Land of the Free: The pride and purpose of the American West.” And “GRIT.” Her first book, “Trappings of the Great Basin Buckaroo,” was published by the University of Nevada Press.
Other writers whose work appears in GRIT include:
* Judy Boyle, fifth-generation rancher and Idaho state legislator.
* J. Wayne Burkhardt, Ph. D., professor emeritus of range management at the University of Nevada, Reno.
* Mike Cade, cowboy, rancher, and agricultural journalist.
* Alston Chase, best-selling author/expert on environmental issues. Described by the late novelist, Michael Crichton, as “not only one of the most important thinkers of the latter twentieth century, but one of the most important thinkers, period…” Chase is currently working on a book about the history and origins of the hysteria surrounding the myth of global warming.
* Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D., author and expert on ecosystems and climate influences, and president of Environmental Perspectives, Inc., and CEO of Sovereignty International.
* Cindy Coping, rancher and first vice-president of Southern Arizona Cattlemen’s Protective Association, and appointed supervisor for the Pima Natural Resources Conservation District.
* Dan Dagget, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for “Beyond the Rangeland Conflict: Toward A West That Works”—a book that has been hailed as the most important work written about ranchers and environmentalists trying to reach common ground. Honored by the Sierra Club as one of the top 100 grassroots activists, his website, Real Environmentalists, chronicles ranchers’ outstanding stewardship achievements.
* Carolyn Dufurrena, rancher, geologist, teacher, environmentalist and award-winning writer.
* Bill Evans, rodeo contestant and former reporter for the California Farm Bureau.
* Tim Findley, RANGE investigative writer and award-winning author. Credits include Rolling Stone magazine, CBS-TV, and the San Francisco Chronicle. He also trained VISTA volunteers who worked with farmers and migrants in the war on poverty.
* Jeff Goodson, president of JW Goodson Associates, Inc., who is currently working in Mongolia.
* Linda Hesthag, rancher, photographer, and writer, who works with diverse groups searching for smart and sustainable answers to working and living on the land.
* Henry Lamb, founding chairman of Sovereignty International, founding CEO of Environmental Conservation Organization, publisher of eco-logic Powerhouse, speaker and consultant on the United Nations, and author of “The Rise of Global Governance.”
* Richard Menzies, humorist, writer, and photographer.
* Patrick Moore, Ph.D., co-founder of Greenpeace and chairman and chief scientist of Greenspirit Strategies, Ltd.
* Barney Nelson, Ph.D., university professor, former rancher, and specialist in ecocriticism.
* Lee Pitts, syndicated weekly humorist and author of 10 books.
* Steven H. Rich, writer, filmmaker, rancher, and president of Rangeland Restoration Academy. Teaches courses in biological planning and monitoring, and conservation and resource management.
* Laura Schneberger, rancher, wildlife educator, and much sought-after expert on wolf activity in the Southwest.
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