Change and Conflict in the Rural West

Software CEO Jeff Hawn bought a ranch near Fairplay, Colorado. Like many nouveau riche who have purchased rural estates in the West during the last 20 years, Hawn didn't understand what he was getting into. Specifically, he lacked understanding of the common conceptions of property in the West. Much of that area of Colorado is essentially open range. For you non-westerners out there, on the open range, livestock are unfenced and wander wherever they want. Hawn didn't like his neighbor's bison coming over to his property to graze. He considered his land "pristine." When it continued, he invited hunters to kill them. 32 were shot. Hawn is now being charged with 32 counts of animal cruelty.

We are seeing these kinds of conflicts all over the West. These rich urbanites are buying their dream homes in Colorado, Montana, Idaho, and other western states. Then they find out that their neighbors have animals. Those animals smell. Sometimes they come onto your property. The neighbors have large farm machines. These are working people and they start that work early in the morning. You wake up at 5:30 am. You don't like that. So you try to organize other new residents against this, attempting to pass ordinances limiting animal usage, noise, and other nuisances. Of course, this makes your neighbors furious, dividing communities between old-timers and new residents.

The kind of jerkish behavior Hawn engaged in is not the only interesting bit about this story. I am also amused that he referred to his land as "pristine." What does Hawn mean by this? Does he really think animals have not grazed that land? Animals much more damaging than bison have been on that land for at least 120 years. The ecology of Colorado has been vastly changed by Europeans since their arrival. There is nothing "pristine" about the place. But these people building their starter castles in the forest have heavily romanticized these places. When their romantic vision clashes with the reality of working people, conflict ensues.

People like Hawn have deeply damaged these rural western communities. Property values have skyrocketed. Many ranchers, facing economic hard times, have split their ranches into small parcels that are then sold to rich baby boomers. These new residents demand urban amenities but don't want to pay the taxes to make that happen. They don't contribute to the fabric of the local communities, such as volunteer fire departments. If their home catches on fire, they want someone there immediately. But new residents don't want to serve in these rural communities, overtaxing the older residents and diminishing the ability of these institutions to be effective. They also are shocked when forest fires burn up their homes. They can't believe that firefighters don't protect their backyard. But when their backyard is a national forest, these things happen.

Essentially, you have thousands of people every year buying land in places that look pretty but which are also working and sometimes dangerous landscapes. People don't do any research to understand what life in the rural West is like. They have a romantic image in their minds and a very specific idea of property rights that don't always conform to the reality of West. This is a pretty extreme case, but conflicts like this are taking place throughout the West all the time.

It's pretty clear I think that my sympathies lay with the older residents, who understand the land they work on and respect that land, even if they don't always treat it that well. Nothing is worse for the land and for wildlife than these subdivided ranches where people have built homes every 1/4 mile. Working to keep properties together, whether as working ranches or as nature preserves is the best thing for the land and the people who live out there. Keeping second (or third or fourth) home buyers out, or at least forcing them to take a course in life in the rural West would also be a good thing for the environment and for the communities they want to live in.