“Everyone Wants That” By Bill Fales
In mid-April, just weeks after the Administrative Withdrawal was announced, we got Bill Fales in front of the camera for a short video interview about his years of advocacy working to protect the Thompson Divide. Bill Fales and his wife Marj Perry own Cold Mountain Ranch and run cattle on grazing allotments in the Thompson Divide.¿Qué significa Thompson Divide para ti?
What does the Thompson Divide mean to you?
It’s our watershed, it’s our recreation, it’s our hunting. We wouldn’t have any ranching left in this valley without it. And that’s reflected in the amazing community support here. In the first big meeting we had in the Carbondale Town Hall they had to open up all the dividers between their different rooms. We filled the entire building, including the lobby. And it was just really a beautiful event, just incredible. Everybody just unanimously supporting, protecting this area.
How has the ranching community showed up to protect the Thompson Divide?
There’s been differing levels of involvement, but no difference in the level of support: we we all know how much we depend on the Divide for our operations. When we had that one big community event and we had a parade of tractors, every ranch in the valley had a tractor in that parade trying to show support. There were 12 or more tractors on Main Street.
What was most interesting about working to get rid of the threat of development?
The biggest national energy companies were, to me, surprising that they were the ones who came to the table first and said, “yeah, we can give up these leases or trade them for leases elsewhere.”
But it was the small independent wildcatters thinking, “This is the area that no one else understands. We think this is going to make us billions.” They’ve been the toughest ones to work with. But it seems like everybody’s on board now with this Withdrawal, that everybody’s come to the table, made compromises and are happy with the outcome.
You and Marj and the whole ranching community have been stalwart advocates working to protect this place, did you have any idea what this work would look like when you first started?
You know, we had no idea really what it would take to protect the area and certainly no idea how long it would take. But sometimes good things take persistence and a long time to happen. The boundaries today are quite different than when we first drew them…that’s the result of a lot of compromises and working with different people. You know, you just have to keep working at it and adapt to what will make it go. But having the unanimous community support, I don’t think anything would have happened without that.
Is conservation political?
I think one of the strengths of conservation and hopefully it’ll stay this way is it hasn’t been a political football. You know, it’s not a blue versus red issue to protect the wildlife, to have clean air, to have clean water. Everybody wants that. And so, it would be nice if we could keep the politics out of it.
What’s next for the Thompson Divide?
The whole community is celebrating the 20-year moratorium of oil and gas leasing on the Thompson Divide. And while it’s not permanent protection, it’s a fantastic first step and it gives us breathing room to keep working on permanent legislative protection from Congress. In the meantime, this ground is protected for 20 years, and that’s really exciting for everybody.
