Catron County, NM

Shaking Hands, Not Pointing Fingers in Catron County

The people of Catron County, N. M.—faced with economic hardship when their largest employer closed its doors—have learned that blaming others doesn’t solve problems; working together on solutions does.

For decades the county had depended on logging and cattle ranching as its economic base, but Stone Container, the sawmill that directly or indirectly provided most area jobs, closed in 1993. At the same time, environmentalists were pressuring ranchers to reduce cattle grazing, arguing that overgrazing was destroying native grasses and polluting rivers and streams.

This combination of events left retail stores, restaurants, and other local businesses floundering. Former mill employees had little to spend, and reduced grazing meant ranchers also were earning less. Then a seven-year drought hit, and parched, hungry cattle began to die in the fields.

The population of Reserve, Catron County’s only municipality, dwindled by more than half, to 600 inhabitants, within months of the mill’s closure. The county population dropped to 2,800 from 3,800, and average annual family income fell from $22,278 to $9,000.

People struggled to stay in Catron County. County Commissioner Carl Livingston, a former logger, now drives trucks six hours away in Phoenix, Ariz., a job that keeps him away from home and family for up to two weeks at a time.

He pulls out a picture of a child with curly blond hair and a wide grin. “You know how hard it is when I call home every night, and that voice on the other end of the line says, ‘Daddy, when are you coming home?”’ Livingston says.

Loggers, ranchers, and environmentalists blamed each other for the economic troubles. Tempers grew short.

Dr. Mark Unverzagt, a local physician, grew concerned that finger-pointing was about to turn into gunpointing, so he invited groups with opposing interests to a meeting where they would talk solutions, rather than differences. Those efforts resulted in the birth of the Catron County Citizens Group in 1996.

“People were coming to him with stress-related illnesses,” says Elena Gellert, an environmentalist and an original member of the citizens group. “I believe he saw the potential for it to become violent.”

The citizens group helped residents focus on what needs they had in common, not on how they differed. The group quickly set three goals: (1) creating jobs and supporting local businesses, (2) restoring forest health, and (3) providing apprenticeship programs for youth. They sought a balanced use of natural resources such as timber and rangeland—80 percent of the county’s land is publicly owned—and sought jobs that would use resources at a rate that could be sustained indefinitely.

The county bought the sawmill, and the citizens group—now a nonprofit organization—developed plans for a sustainable timber and logging program in which only trees 16 inches or less in diameter are cut. This way, replacement lumber can be grown quickly. The logs are sorted and turned into products ranging from wood chips to hand-crafted furniture.

“The smaller trees are choking out wildlife habitat,” says Bob Moore, executive director of the citizens group, who says cutting those trees will not only restore forest health and provide wildlife habitat, but also will create jobs while reducing the risk of forest fires (small trees fuel fires from lightning strikes).

High hopes are riding on the timber project, but the group also has plans for sustainable grazing programs in which cattle are moved frequently and kept out of river bottoms and streams. At the same time, a youth program teaches forest stewardship and rangeland management.

Working together has begun to pay off. Forest Innovations, a logging company that considers trees 12 inches in diameter and less to be its “bread and butter,” has leased the mill site from the county, creating about 20 jobs for mill workers and support staff. Eventually, the lease should mean an equal number of logging, thinning, and transport jobs.

The project is a start toward restoring the economy, Moore says.

“We’ve come a long way, but we have a long way to go.”

And if the spirit of cooperation remains alive and grows, one can’t help but think that Catron County will get where it’s going.

Renée Despres is a freelance writer in Gila Hot Springs, N.M.

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