(Note: This FULL ARTICLE includes additional quotes and information not found in C4C’s email newsletter, which was edited for length. Quotes do not include participants’ names in keeping with current norms for Let’s Talk.)
Sisters is not just a great place to be. It’s a great place to be involved…
...And on Monday, C4C’s Let’s Talk event offered a place where everyone—regardless of strong differences of opinion—could be involved. Disagreements remained. But participants said they were going home feeling heard, more informed and at least somewhat more understanding of other perspectives. The topic for the evening was: “Recreational Gun Use on Public Lands.”
C4C has hosted Let’s Talk small-format discussions monthly for almost a year. In November, nearly 30 local residents attended. Those who support current freedoms to shoot on public lands and, conversely, those who prefer more gun-use restrictions aired their differences and explored areas of common ground.
Sisters District Ranger Ian Reid kicked off the conversation with a 5-minute overview of current national forest gun-use policies. For example no shooting is allowed within 150 yards of residences, campsites and occupied areas, or across a forest road or body of water. (See Resource links below for more.)
There are rules like those above, but shooting is one of multiple, legitimate uses designated by Congress for national forests; and most of the national forest is open to recreational shooting. Reid noted that occassionally gun use is banned in specific locations for public safety reasons. Such was the case, he noted, last year on National Forest property near the Crossroads subdivision. He said complaints about shooting typically center around fire danger, noise, litter and safety concerns.
LET’S TALK IN ACTION
Event participants shared how their values and experiences have shaped their views about gun use and shooting on public lands. Later, some challenged themselves to take positions opposite their own. And participants who disagreed with each other nevertheless explored areas where they could find common ground.
Echoing a theme from the all-community First Amendment forum co-hosted by C4C last month, one attendee noted the importance of personal responsibility and respect. He said all forest users should consider: “Just because I can doesn’t mean I should.”
A related, underlying theme on Monday was: How to balance the rights of gun users with the rights of those who look to national forests specifically for solitude and natural tranquility.
One resident noted how the noise of rapid-round gunfire was common around his home (which sits adjacent to public lands). “It’s (the noise is) like living in a war zone,” he said.
“It’s (the noise is) like living in a war zone.”
Some suggested gun use should be restricted to certain (non-automatic) types of guns and limited to designated locations—or very remote areas. Others said that creating specific, concentrated areas for shooting would disproportionately and adversely affect people who live near those areas; and that restricting shooting to remote locations could limit gun users’ recreational opportunities.
A longtime local resident noted that through the decades he has seen many changes in how public lands bordering his property are used—including a significant increase in hikers and camping and more bicycling and equestrian use.
“I’ve accepted those uses,” he said. “Multi-use is the spirit of our country and the national forests. We need to share the forests.”
“Multi-use is the spirit of our country and the national forests.
We need to share the forests.”
Another participant noted: “We’re all suffering from pains of growth in our area and how it affects things we’re used to doing. We’re living in a new world here. We have to make adjustments.”
“We’re living in a new world here. We have to make adjustments.”
“Our freedoms are being ever more constrained,” a participant noted. “With all the uses made available (in the national forest), you should be able to shoot out there, too. It’s important to be able to go out and enjoy a sport and grow a skill and have a good time.”
Were policy changes to occur, he said: “They should be reasonable. If we take extreme points, it’s not going to work.”
COMMON GROUND & TV WOES
Despite other disagreements, when asked, participants were able to find common ground around both safety and litter.
“None of us like trash in the forest,” a participant noted, and support resonated throughout the room of listeners.
“None of us like trash in the forest.”
Litter impacts nature and other peoples’ ability to enjoy it; and marshaling the resourses needed for clean up efforts can be difficult, one participant said. She said much of the target practice debris she has seen indicates that: “People really like to shoot up their TV’s.”
“People really like to shoot up their TV’s.”
As with other Let’s Talk events, numerous shared moments of laughter, fun-spirited jabs between neighbors and a little guidance from facilitators helped provide extra glue to keep the evening positive and productive.
During each Let’s Talk, participants also are asked to practice a key skill. This Monday, facilitators urged: Give yourself time to digest someone else’s comments before reacting and responding; put a halt on assumptions and take time to consider clarifying questions.
“I found this really great—the taking time to just let it soak in.”
One participant noted: “I found this really great—the taking time to just let it soak in. You have a chance to synthesize what was said and then come back and have more meaningful dialogue. So maybe you both learn a little more about the other’s perspective.”
C4C believes these are the types of conversations that help bring communities together and that help create trust and lasting bonds, even where there are areas of strong disagreement.
We need to stay respectful of conflicting perspectives, one participant noted. “The only way to cross the divide is if we can perceive what it’s like to be on the opposite side of an issue.”
“The only way to cross the divide is if we can perceive what it’s like to be on the opposite side of an issue.”
Held the 3rd Monday of every month, Let’s Talk conversations encourage people with diverse viewpoints to sit down and talk candidly about local topics. We don’t come together to grandstand or “score points” on issues. The evenings are nonetheless lively. As noted, laughter is common, and facilitators help keep the conversation flowing.
Great discussions often naturally inspire further action; and participants said Monday’s talk encouraged them to find new ways to balance the diverse interests they heard.
“What this is doing for the community is adding up to a giant leap,” a participant said. “I think it’s just going to get better and better as we go.”
“What this is doing for the community is adding up to a giant leap. I think it’s just going to get better and better as we go.”
OUR NEXT TOPIC: AFFORDABLE HOUSING
At the close of each Let’s Talk, participants assess the talk and also nominate local topics for future discussion. On Monday, several potential topics were nominated, including:
• Urban Growth Boundary expansion
• How Welcoming is Sisters?
• Local Transportation Infrastructure & Pedestrian Amenities
• Education
• Affordable Housing
• The paved path to Black Butte Ranch
• Does Sisters Need More Industry?
Affordable Housing won the vote Monday, followed closely by Local Transportation Infrastructure & Pedestrian Amenities. So, the plan is to examine Affordable Housing at December’s Let’s Talk and to follow up with a talk on Transportation in early 2020.
If you have opinions about Affordable Housing in Sisters, you’ll want to mark your calendar for 5:45-8 p.m. Dec. 16 and join us at Paulina Springs Book Store.
Let’s Talk events are free, but seats are limited and RSVPs are required. (You can RSVP HERE>...)
We’ll offer more details about December's Let's Talk in C4C’s next email newsletter. If you don’t currently receive our newsletter, you can subscribe by emailing us at citizens4community@gmail.com. Or, stay tuned to the Events page on C4C’s website HERE>...
RESOURCES:
• Forest Service gun-use guidelines are outlined HERE>… Likewise, tips specific to Deschutes National Forest are located HERE>.... A brochure with more information specific to the Sisters area also is available for pickup at the Sisters Ranger Station (Pine Street at Hwy. 20).