Roosevelt and Muir: Camping out a Solution

I am an introvert in the truest sense of the word.  I am the happiest when I am working alone or in a very small group.  I can operate outside those parameters, speaking in public or leading a class, however, it is physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting.

But, over the course of my career I learned that Aristotle's quote, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” is true.  In even the most diverse group, if we continue to raise our perspective and point of view, we will ultimately find commonality.  Then, working together we can accomplish great things.

The photo below is one of my favorites.  I had a framed copy in my office and now it is in my home office.  On the surface these two men could not have been more different.  Theodore Roosevelt was a world traveler, an adventurer, a politician and president of the United States, New York City police commissioner, soldier, big game hunter and cowboy (the list goes on and on).  He was one of the original founders of the Boone and Crockett Club, a group of hunters that fueled the early the wildlife conservation movement.

John Muir seems to be the complete opposite of Roosevelt.  Muir fled to Canada in 1864 to avoid being drafted into the Union Army during the American Civil War.  He had a keen interest in botany and all things in the natural world. He helped co-found the Sierra Club with the goal of preserving of our wild places.

Roosevelt and Muir met in Oakland, California in 1903 and rode to Yosemite.  They hiked into the backcountry, sleeping under the stars where they discussed the mismanagement of the park by the state.  Even though they held different philosophical views in many areas, they agreed that Yosemite should be preserved under federal control and management.

These types of joint efforts still occur today.  Individuals work locally on small tracts of land or join with others in groups such as the National Wildlife Turkey Federation, Ducks Unlimited or the National Audubon Society.  Privately funded conservancy groups purchase land that is turned over to various governmental agencies for both preservation and conservation focused management of our natural resources.  Federal and state organizations work together to maximize their resources.  Working together the efforts of the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

Unfortunately, we sometimes lose focus on the higher goal.  Recently, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has taken the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) to court over The Possum Drop, a New Year’s Eve festivity held in the mountains of southwestern North Carolina.  PETA is concerned that the opossum may be traumatized.  In 2013, a judge ruled the NCWRC reimburse PETA’s attorney fees of $74,446 for their previous challenge of the Possum Drop.  PETA is once again filing suit challenging the NCWRC’s ability to issue a captivity license for this event after the N.C. General Assembly clarified the statute  allowing the issuance of the license.

PETA and the NCWRC may be as different as Roosevelt and Muir.  One organization promotes hunting and fishing as a means to conserving and managing the state’s wildlife resources while the other views animals as having the rights of humans.  That seems to be a wide chasm to cross.  However, if Roosevelt, the Rough Rider war hero and world traveling big game hunter, can find common ground with Muir, the pacifist botanist, surely these two groups can find a spot where their missions intersect and allows our wildlife is managed in a way that considers all biological, social, political and economic factors.

What if the attorneys stepped aside (and took their $400 an hour fees with them) and we let those with the ability to initiate change work together to find a resolution?  What if special interest groups took a holistic approach instead of one designed to fill the coffers?  I would venture a guess that Roosevelt and Muir talked less about their differences and focused on their mutually desired outcomes.  Maybe our leaders should consider a long hike into the backcountry and a discussion around a campfire under the stars.