Against the Odds: A Path Forward for Rural America

by Bruce Vincent, Nicole J Olynk Widmar, Jessica Eise

When Bruce's school principal told his parents he was too smart to be a logger, everything changed. Set apart from a family heritage society had deemed not 'good enough' for a smart son, Bruce's childhood was tortured by the thought of leaving a life he loved. Dutifully, he moved away, went to college and got a job in a city. Until he and his wife, fed up with their ill-suited life, shucked all social expectations and moved their family back to Libby, Montana. Expecting to settle into a hard but rewarding life in logging, Bruce's family and community were rocked by a growing antagonism towards their industry. Soon, he was thrust into the forefront of a national debate in which loggers were denigrated for destroying the environment. Dubbed the Timber Wars, the conflict raged from the late 80s through the 90s, while Bruce was front and center, working himself to exhaustion to preserve their heritage and ensure good forest management. As the logging contracts dried up, he could only watch in agony as his family's business closed and his community began to fall apart. Bruce and his fellow loggers had become Public Enemy No. 1 and their livelihoods were being eradicated. Yet Americans continued to enjoy their wood furniture and products. Only now, timber imports were on the rise and our national forests were exploding into flames from a massive fuel overload that management and controlled logging could have mitigated. Confronting this harsh reality, he and his team faced the hardest work yet - looking in the mirror. What had they been doing wrong? What can we do to work towards real, meaningful progress?

172 pages, Paperback

Published March 8, 2017

Reviews

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Those of us who live in a rural area see the effects of misguided environmental policies and it is easy to get angry and label environmentalists as ignorant. Mr. Vincent asks us to look at it from the point of view of the environmentalists and to appreciate the limited information that they are working with. It is frustrating for us to see forests that are dark, full of stressed trees, and heavy with fuel load because they have not been managed properly. We are saddened by the poverty in our towns because the mills have shut down and mining is blocked at every turn. Environmentalism has become big business and it demands continuing crises to keep the donations rolling in. Urban folks are fed scary stories about clear cut forests. They grew up seeing Disney type portrayals of cuddly bears and dog like wolves. They have no sense of the true destructive power of these apex predators and what it is like to live in proximity to them as they are protected and their numbers grow. Rural America is in trouble and we need to partner with the grassroots folks who are donating to the environmental causes that are demanding more grizzlies and no logging. Seems counter-intuitive, but treating them as adversaries sure has not worked out. Mr. Vincent suggests understanding the concerns of the other side, opening discussion, and moving forward with compromise. We also need to be sure that we elect people who are in touch with the realities of rural life.