Submitted by chris_wood on Tue, 2016-01-05 13:36 Stream Ambassadors Conservation The Front Porch Trout Magazine Outdoor Communicators National Leadership Council - NLC Vote Up Down +7 + Steens.png By Chris Wood At the heart of Trout Unlimited is the idea that we can exercise our First Amendment right to call on the government to take better care of the lands and waters that sustain this nation, including our trout and salmon resources. There is a right way to do that, and a wrong way to do it. The “protesters” now occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon define the wrong way. Meeting the needs of local communities while managing public lands in the national interest is a balancing act. At Trout Unlimited, we believe that balance is best struck through collaborative stewardship. Bringing together the broadest array of communities of place and communities of interest typically leads to the most lasting and durable conservation gains. We have seen collaborative stewardship work in negotiating to protect 9 million acres of roadless lands in Idaho; removing dams while maintaining hydropower production in the Penobscot River basin; and working with ranchers and farmers, in the last year alone, to reconnect over 570 miles of spawning and rearing habitat for fish. Theodore Roosevelt, who founded the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, once defined conservation as the application of common sense to common problems for the common good. Taking up arms, forcibly occupying a public building, causing schools to close, and threatening violence does nothing but sow fear and otherwise disrupt the social fabric of a local community. We applaud the people of Burns, and other leaders in Harney County for asking armed gunmen from other states to vacate the refuge premises and let the community get back to normal. Solutions to complex problems must start at the local level. Outside noise, political grandstanding and pandering to the press only serve to muddy the water and make equitable outcomes more difficult. Until three days ago, the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was open to all Americans as a birthright. Public lands such as the Malheur Refuge are one of the greatest gifts we enjoy as sportsmen and women. Today, an armed mob has robbed us of that birthright. When the grandstanding subsides, TU and the vast majority of Americans who value our public lands will continue working to bring the power of collaborative stewardship to the protection and management of our shared lands and waters. Chris Wood is the president and CEO of Trout Unlimited.