Rocky trail through the Great Divide
Within the span of a week I found myself on a mountain lion hunt on a ranch, and at the dinner table with a client who is starting the petition to ban lion hunting — and I found myself wondering, in what world would these two people ever meet?
I never expected to fall in love with ranching and hunting. I came to it through of a love of the outdoors and nature. Over the years, I have learned that there are few people who study nature and animals more than ranchers and hunting guides.
Who truly lives a life in tune with nature and animals and cares as deeply as those who depend on them for survival?
In fact, I had a lot of judgement around hunters and ranchers growing up — witnessing cliche “country” folk stereotypes of reckless, big truck driving, blood thirsty, bull riding, bud light drinking, often racist and xenophobic individuals. Nothing wrong with bud light, but you know what I mean.
I remember attending my first Rocky Mountain Farmer’s Union meeting in the Four Corners region about eight years ago, as a younger floppy haired, less sore and softer handed version of myself. I was introduced to one of local ranchers, who owned a large amount of land and cattle in the Mancos Valley, who aesthetically fit all the usual mold — old white male with a flannel shirt, vest, and cowboy hat. I never expected that over the years I would work for him and learn that he was one of the most gentle, kind, loving people I would ever meet, with a deep understanding of ecology and land stewardship.
Back then, I thought permaculture was this wonderful world saving idea — and I still see the value in it, but would never utter that word in certain circles. Over the years, a lot of the permaculture movement has been coopted by the stereotype on the other end of the spectrum — the dreadlocked, ganja smoking, free loving, lazy hippies (not that I know anything about that life, ha!).
Kind of like ranching, a few bad apples can spoil the bunch. But I am careful to separate the wheat from the chaff — there is value to be found in any set of beliefs and practices, but we need to be discerning about what to apply and where.
So, where is the middle path? Is there a balance to be found between hunting lions for sport and banning it all together?
Here we are in the state of Colorado having reintroduced a wolves a few months ago, and one went and killed a cow in Grand County in March. I got so many messages after posting the Denver Post news article, “What do you think?”, “A waste of tax dollars!”.
I voted to reintroduce wolves. I think in the long run it will benefit our elk herds and ecosystems at large. And at the same time, I think it is yet another expense for ranchers, especially sheepherders, who already have an extremely challenging job, one that I don’t think many people can grasp.
I can see both sides.
I don’t really have any desire to hunt lions, and at the same time — witnessing the hunt amazed me. Working with blue tick hounds, bred for exactly this, and the knowledge of the landscape needed to even find a lion is astounding. On top of that, the folks I went with weren’t just hunting the first lion they found — they ended up “treeing” (chasing them up into a tree) seven lions, most of them female with cubs, just to take a photo and then leave them alone. I appreciated that they were looking for the largest Tomcat in the whole region, a lion who had already had the chance to breed and live a long fulfilling life, and at the same time, a trophy none the less. Months of work, following tracks, working with dogs, reading maps, actually being out on the land and getting to know it intimately, with the goal to hunt the biggest cat in the valley, nonetheless with a bow and arrow, is not a cultural tradition to be underestimated.
All of this considering that this likely has a net positive effect for pushing predators away from livestock, and its all data — information contributing to an overall understanding of the environment we inhabit.
“People don’t realize how many cats are out there,” my friend the ranch manager said. And I’ve heard this from various sources and studies, that there are more predators now than there have been in the past 50 years, something certainly worth celebrating. However, wildlife populations are nowhere near what is used to be before colonization of the west.
I’ve learned there is another class of ranchers and hunters — folks that are contributing to huge conservation movements in the west and preserving not only ecosystems but Western and Native American cultural lifeways. Reading stories from publications like On Land and Modern Huntsman gives me hope for land stewardship and wildlife conservation that is on a different level entirely — that is the kind of ranching I am interested in.
I still haven’t made my mind up about lion hunting, wolves, ranchers, or permaculture.
Like anything in life, a lot of comes down to how you do it and why.
Are we hunting lions to boost our egos as a top predator? Or is there an element of fascination, mystery and mutual respect amongst apex predators, is there a desire to communicate respectful boundaries and maintain good relations for generations to come?
Maybe the lion hunters, petition writers, wolf enthusiasts and shepherds won’t ever meet, but I hope they do. Somehow I found myself walking between their worlds and I am grateful to be able to listen to both sides and share their stories respectfully.
There are many songs about “The highway through the great divide”, and culturally we feel it deeply in Colorado. There is a great cultural divide between the western slope and front range that I learned about from a young age.
I hope we can can humble ourselves, get out of our cars, and walk the uncomfortable rocky trail of listening to those from different backgrounds and cultures with ears to understand. Maybe the two groups won’t agree, but maybe that isn’t the point, let’s just start with trying to connect and understand.
