First of all let me apologize for my long absence. I have spent much of the summer fighting fire, mostly in the North West. I signed on last year to be a wild land fire fighter, after a fire near our  property made me feel helpless because I just had to watch and not help.

When I was a kid, many, many years ago…. everyone in the area would go fight fire, bringing whatever tools and resources they could.  We would pack shovels, picks, gunny sacks, water and take off. The ladies in the area would get together to make lunches and food for the tired folks fighting the fire, and the object was to put it out asap.

When I moved back to the ranch in 2013 I learned very quickly that things in that arena had changed over the years of my absence. The volunteers were trained, and had red cards, the government became involved rather quickly if the fire was very large, and there was a different perspective in how the fires were fought.  This is mostly, not a bad thing. Firefighting has now more organization, and is much safer than it was 20 years ago. Resources are mobilized much faster, and with better equipment, and skill than we had years ago.

I was on 6 different fires this year, and of those six fires one stands out head and tails above the rest.  A local fire protection group was the lead agency along with a state forestry agency working along side to protect the landowners and get the fire put out. The whole fire was different right from the start. The landowner where the fire had started, called many of the resources, and the object was to get the fire out quickly, and save the timber which was a crop to these landowners. It was about protecting the homes, and lively hood of those in the area first and fire management second. I learned many things from this fire, from the people that lived in the area, and from the people I was working with. Our neighbors are still some of the most important people that we in any type of agricultural pursuit have to depend on.  It doesn’t matter what their political beliefs are, or their color, or what religion they are. They are our neighbors, and need help.  We are a nation of amazing people.

I will be the first to admit, I know next to nothing about logging, and forestry.  I am very keen to learn however as I have seen what lack of a healthy management and stewardship plan means to our forests, and our environment.  I have seen the photos, and read the stories of what was happening to our forests and land in the later part of the last century, in regards to clear cutting and over logging.  I also have seen the problems and hurdles of what not doing any type of cutting and a management style completely opposite of that has done to our forests. I think that we as people need to be calm and work with our neighbors and manage not only our government land but all land in a way that is beneficial to the stewardship principals that we have been entrusted with while our time on earth.

We have a tendency to go far to one end or the other of the spectrum in what we believe, when a more centrist view sometimes allows us to do a much better job.  It doesn’t matter if we are talking about management of our public lands, or our own farm, we need to listen and research all of the information out there and see what will work best not only for our profitability but for the land we steward.

For instance if you are looking at ways to deal with weeds on your small farm, you probably have either a spray and kill all attitude or a only natural, and organic belief. Neither of these are bad per say but…..what if you first look at your problems in a non biased way and think about the best and most efficient way to deal with the greatest of these first. You must not only look at your belief system but the financial, and most beneficial way to get to the result you are wanting in the best way for the land.  You may need to use some type of chemical to combat the atrocious weeds that have been allowed to dwell on your land for years before you owned it.  Adversely you may need to take into account waterways, and irrigation and not spray chemical on areas that could possibly contaminate water systems, or your neighbors crops.

This approach to many things in our lives right now, and I believe should be taken into consideration when dealing with any issue. Seeing both sides of problems, and solutions could not only solve many problems in an expedient and more fiscally responsible way, but also work to bridge gaps and make a better steward of the earth for all of our neighbors and mankind.  It doesn’t matter if you are talking about a farm, an orginization, a business, or even a church. Compromise and allowing the strengths of each element of solving a collective problem excel is the path to victory.