Conflict Resolution: Crossing The Divide

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Last week the conversation between the sides was drowned out by the sound of rushing water, after some residents forced open one of the reservoir's headgates. Local officials declined to stop the outlaws, possibly because they call them neighbors. "It just appears to me that they are trying to save their lives," said Klamath County sheriff Tim Evinger. Though the fish had no statement, of course, their appointed spokesman, the Bureau of Reclamation's Jeff McCracken, did claim to understand the farmers "frustration." One senses an understatement here. Try rage.

Oil field or temple? Habitat or home? The West these days could use a few more translators and a few less bureaucrats and lawyers. On a recent trip to the Valley of the Chiefs (a.k.a. Federal Lease MTM-74615), Howard Boggess witnessed proof that demonstrated how people of different backgrounds can come together for a greater good. "As I walked, I wondered, How long had it been since a Blackfeet, a Crow and a Comanche had walked this valley together and prayed together and had food?" Too long, no doubt--peace always takes too long. The question is, When will Boggess and other Westerners warring over ever scarcer resources finally hear the drum?

--Reported by Pat Dawson/Weatherman Draw