Is Finding Middle Ground Appropriate?

So, my question is this. When is it appropriate to seek middle ground? Obviously, this is a very complicated question and cannot possibly be answered in easy fashion. Let’s take a look at a couple of examples where I feel finding middle ground is good and not so good.

Take this as an example of perhaps a good opportunity to find middle ground. You have always hunted on farmer Brown’s 1000-acre wood lot north of his farm. As a good responsible hunter, you always sought his permission to do that.

One day you get a call from farmer Brown who says that he is going to post his land to all hunting and all hunters. He apologizes and says he has no choice. You get off the phone and get angry but you know that something must have happened to change farmer Brown’s mind.

The first chance you have you stop at farmer Browns to talk. You find out what happened and you attempt to persuade him to let you hunt anyway. Through the conversation you gather all the details of what has turned farmer Brown away from allowing hunting. You negotiate with him and soon farmer Brown has decided that he will let you and only you hunt on his land during the mid-week only.

At first you are reluctant because you only hunt on Saturdays but you begin to realize that if you aren’t willing to “find some middle ground”, you’ll have no place to hunt. Thinking about the importance to you of hunting that piece of land, you realize that making the concession and finding alternative ways to hunt mid-week is worth it. This is a good example of finding middle ground.

Let’s look at the opposite end of the spectrum. Anti-gun groups want to strip me of my right to keep and bear arms. Is there middle ground to be sought here? In my opinion, I say no. Why? First of all, my right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed to me under the Constitution of the United States of America. I hold the Constitution in extremely high regard. The right affords me the opportunity to protect my family, my property and myself. I am also a firm believer that once “middle ground” is achieved on this issue, there will be no end to the banning of guns in this country. For me, this issue is an all or nothing thing.

Maine is where I’m headed next. Maine as I have said countless times in the past, is a unique state. It is unique in many ways but I want to take a look at Maine’s uniqueness as it pertains to our natural resources i.e., the woods, water, mountains and fields that we use to enjoy our sports.

We are extremely fortunate in Maine to have a lot of outdoors to enjoy. Maine owns a certain amount of land, called public lands. Maine has had a program in place attempting to buy up land for public use and I have always been a supporter of that. Our future in the outdoors may in fact rest solely on the amount of public lands owned and maintained by the state. This is a serious issue.

Those of us who hunt, fish and recreate in Maine are fortunate to have access to private lands and public lands. Other states in this country have different laws when it comes to private land access. In Maine for the most part, private land is considered open unless it is posted otherwise. Many states have the opposite. Land is closed and for you to access it you must have permission from the landowner – sometimes that permission has to be granted in writing.

Maine is also unique in that paper companies own major tracts of land. This is necessary for them to maintain a viable business and to be able to better control the price of timber. These land barons have been kind enough over the years to keep the majority of their land open to recreation, including hunting and fishing.

How long will these generosities last? No one knows for sure but most will agree that it isn’t going to last forever.

Here is a dilemma that Mainers and many others face. Development and growth seem to be encroaching on every aspect of our lives. What has made Maine an attraction for decades is its natural beauty and miles and miles of wilderness. It is shrinking everyday. What is to be done – if anything?

Is this an area where there needs to be middle ground? There is a huge debate over the proposed development in the Greenville/Moosehead Lake region of Maine. Is this a necessary part of growth and development to give Maine people jobs? Is the proposed growth even necessary?

As time trudges along, I see the rapid evolution of two Maines. One Maine is the progressive, bedroom community to Boston. In all honesty, many of those Boston area immigrants coming to Maine aren’t much interested in preserving our hunting and fishing heritage nor the land that we use to enjoy it. Sorry if that offends some, but I believe it to be the truth.

We witness daily, house after house, cottage after cottage, being built – only as a second or third home and sometimes purely speculative. Maine has some fine property that would make stunning locations for homes and housing developments but where do we draw the line?

The other Maine is the native or rural Mainer that lives where they do mostly out of choice. That choice is built on many things but one of them is quality of life. We all know that quality of life is subjective and what one sees as quality another may see as a less than appealing way to live.

The rural Maine resident, some native and some imported, want Maine to remain the way it has been for decades – quiet, free access to lands for hunting, fishing and recreation, undeveloped, clean, little or no traffic and independent.

These same people have to make a living and therein lies part of the problem when it comes to growth and development. There is a balance being sought by many between good controlled growth and maintaining a vision of what Maine should be.

Among the business communities of rural Maine is a wide array of professions – all really dependent on each other in some form or another. That fierce independence that Maine natives have been known for is becoming a victim of globalization. With globalization comes less independence and therefore we run the risk of vulnerability to the pressures of expansion and growth to keep up. As the customer’s demands change, so too must the businesses in order to survive.

So here we have the two Maines preparing for battle. They may not know it yet but that is where it is headed. I think the lines have been drawn in the sand and each side is posturing.

The public wants to own property in what they consider wilderness regions and Maine fits that description. They are building everywhere – out in the woods, on top of mountains, you name it. When they do this, they encroach on the wildlife and spoil the natural beauty Maine has always had and is known for – kind of a catch22.

Our hunting, fishing and recreation land is shrinking and will continue to do so. Eventually, Maine will look like many other states with closed land and few places to hunt and fish. New landowners will be fighting the heritage of our sports because they find little or no value in it. What many of them perceive as “wilderness” others may view as someone’s back yard.

There’s a new organization formed in Maine made up of mostly old players that want a united front to protect Maine’s wilderness. They are called the Maine Wilderness Guides Organization. They have a web site www.mainewildernessguides.org. Those belonging to and part of its founding are Gil Gilpatrick of Canoe Maine, Alexandra Conover of North Woods Ways, Greg Shute of the Chewonki Foundation and Kevin Slater of Mahoosuc Guide Service.

Their livelihood depends on Maine remaining free, open and a wilderness – at least a good part of it. Some Maine guides promote their experiences to potential customers as a true wilderness experience. Some of those clients actually know what a wilderness experience is. To some, an afternoon walk on a paved recreation path meandering beside the river is a wilderness experience.

We come back to the original question. Is seeking middle ground appropriate? Any time you ask yourself this question, there are several factors to consider before answering. One of those is quality of life. We have talked before about this. With a shrinking globe that is forcing us all to become more dependent, where do we draw the line?

Maine has this question looming over its head today. Everyday I read articles in all the Maine daily newspapers. There are editorial, op-ed pieces and letters from readers. In those writings often is this ongoing battle of when do we promote business growth and when do we preserve our landscape. Even finding middle ground will diminish our wild lands – never to be the same. Can we afford to always turn the developer away? Can we always send business away that might pollute or may not fit into the character of the Maine countryside?

Maine may be asked to lose some of its identity. What do we give up or do we give up anything? My father said to me once as I was getting ready to cut down a white birch tree, “Once you cut that, it is gone forever.”