I’ve gone through a lot of emotions during the past couple weeks — disbelief, anger, frustration… But now I’m starting to find a different one — gratitude. See, the idiot thugs who’ve taken over Malheur National Wildlife Refuge have shined a huge spotlight on both themselves and the refuge, and the results are pretty clear — they’re idiots, and the refuge is a special place beloved by the vast majority.
I’m a birder, photographer, and Oregonian… which means I've not only heard of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge prior to Jan 2, 2016, but I love the place & have been there many times. Over the years, I’ve had many conversations with people about Malheur, and the response is usually “Huh? I've never heard of it". So, I have to try to explain what and where it is, and why it matters so much... with mixed results. Now, thanks to the actions of a bunch of doofuses with guns, everyone has heard of it. Better still, they’re learning why this place and others like it are important to our present and future.
My “pet issue" is land use policy. To most people, this exudes a big yawn, and at best I get 30 seconds before the reply is “that's nice" and the subject changes. Now? there are actual serious conversations about all manner of land use policy — the history of it, the future, the why, how, who... and it's clear that "our side" is winning hands-down. When I first started following this issue, I saw tons of right-wing bloviators swamping message boards with their support of these idiots. Now that more has come to light about the people involved, it’s clear they’re unstable petulant losers… and their support has crumbled.
Meanwhile, the other side is getting galvanized. Hunters & sportsmen are making a stand, birders are organizing rallies, and groups like the Friends of Malheur are being deluged with support. The refuge itself has gotten a lifetime of publicity. When this thing blows-over (and it will blow-over), I hope Malheur NWR sees a record number of visitors. It’s going to be a good, wet year out there.
The cretins occupying Malheur NWR are basically branding their side of the “debate" as that of a bunch of childish, brutish, bullying, selfish thugs. These guys are walking, talking screw-ups… they have failed businesses, massive debts, arrest records, emotional issues, delusions, and on and on. No rational people want to be associated with that. Sure, they'll get support from the 0.01% of like-minded idiots (which given our population amounts to thousands of loudmouths), but there are millions of newly-motivated responsible citizens on the other side. Now, whenever the issue comes up, you have to pick a side: Are you with the likes of Amman Bundy, who wants something for nothing at the point of a gun? Or are you for responsibly managing our limited resources?
We only get one chance at managing the land on which we live. Screw ups are permanent & costly. And land is the epitome of a limited resource — what you see is what you get, we can’t make more. Managing that land is a complicated and serious affair. It’s also an issue just not on most people’s radar screen. Most people I encounter have no idea why we have Wildlife Refuges, or what a Wilderness area is, or know the history of our National Parks, or how the National Forests & BLM work. Malheur has brought all this into the public debate.
So, my new message for the Bundy Bunch? Keep it up! at least for a little while longer… and thanks for everything!
