JACKSON -- Seeking solutions rather than victories in land management debates is key to sustaining and protecting the natural resources Wyoming enjoys, a federal land manager told a crowd Thursday.

Barry Reiswig, director of the National Elk Refuge, said conflicts need to be "less rancorous" to help decision makers and community members make informed choices.

"We need to get back to something where folks can work through processes more quickly, more civilly, and I think in the long run we might all be the better for that," he said. "It's never going to be easy. I just feel that we're coming up a little bit short in our ability to work with each other as people and to frame a society that is a bit less rancorous than it is now."

Reiswig made his comments to about 100 people at a "Power of Place" conference being held in Jackson this week. The conference seeks to explore values in the greater Yellowstone area and the interconnectedness of the community and the natural resources.

He said an upcoming environmental impact statement studying elk and bison numbers in Jackson Hole has been ongoing for five years.

"I have to wonder sometimes if there's something wrong with the process," he said. "We seem to be in a process that pits people against each other. When we start to get going on these EIS processes, we just seem to line people up against each other and let them go at it."

Reiswig in the past has endorsed a reduction in elk feeding on the refuge, which would result in a decline in the number of elk in the area. That idea has drawn fire from hunters and others in northwest Wyoming. He has also criticized the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's approach to managing brucellosis in elk.

Reiswig said different people have different values about which they feel passionate, and that passion can sometimes segue into arguments and fights in land-use discussions. It can also lead to people being vilified by the other side because of their beliefs, when the issue should not become personal.

"It's easier to fight," he said. "But I think in reality our success will lie in our ability to work with the other guy."

Relationships and negotiated solutions will "determine the success by which this ecosystem will survive. We need to start seeking solutions instead of seeking victories," he said.
Reiswig said the time may be "fairly short for us to achieve that," because of increased pressures on the area.

He said as the world's population increases and as nations become more prosperous, they want more resources. India and China are looking for more oil, and the demand for natural gas is increasing, as evidenced by the development boom in Sublette County, he said.

"The point (may come) where we consume so many of these resources and use so many that the values we hold are going to be lost," he said. "How do you make that decision? How do you decide what is that break point?"

Reiswig said the greater Yellowstone ecosystem is coming to a "critical time" regarding its future.
"The decisions that are made today will impact us and our children and our grandchildren and all of the folks that come here every year to visit this beautiful place," he said.

Humans have an ability to change the environment and landscape in a way our predecessors didn't, because of modern inventions and building abilities, he said.

"I think we need to match that ability with an ability to frame arguments and frame discussions in a way that allows us to consider issues in a broader sense," he said.

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