Give and Take Among Land Use Bureaucrats
By Del Albright

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For the un-initiated, there can be little as frustrating as your first experience with a heated issue and bureaucracy. But it doesn’t have to be too bad and you just might get what you want if you know a few things ahead of time. Herein I hope to offer here some ideas to help you get your way with bureaucrats and better understand the "system."

I sat in a meeting not too long ago where one of our fellow recreationists got to the boiling point with a bureaucrat. After much shouting and stomping, the meeting ended fruitlessly. We didn’t get half way through our agenda. It was too bad, too, because I think there were opportunities to make something positive happen. However, tempers can play a significant role when you sincerely believe in something (on both sides). I would like to offer some alternatives for you to consider if you ever get to the point where you’re going to erupt like a pent-up volcano!

First, we must realize that those that oppose us also believe in their cause. Yes, there are two sides to every story…especially in the land use. In fact, there may a dozen sides. But when someone is fervently telling you that a trail should be closed, it’s many times because they really believe they’re in the right. The mistake that some of us make it to let tempers rule the outcome of a meeting or a planning effort. That, in nearly ALL cases is a mistake. Cool. Heads get much more done.

The point is maintain the high ground as much as you can. Keep a level head and think one step ahead of your opponent. To do this you must remain objective and not get caught up in the emotional side of the argument. And you need to really figure out just where your opponent is coming from, so you can devise the right counter-strategy.

For me, I always try to remember the little ditty: "Seek first to understand; then be understood." We must know our opponents and why they do what they do (to us). Again, realize that most of them really believe in their cause as much as we do. So it does no good to attack them….or ever their cause. We must attack the facts. Which is precisely my second point.

Attack the facts! Work on the evidence at hand. Analyze the written material. Review the plans. Study the environmental documentation. Attack the facts with better facts. Ask questions that keep coming back to your point. Be persistent in your approach. If a bureaucrat says: "we have to do it that way because that’s our policy." Then you ask for a copy of the policy. Then read the policy. If it’s nebulous on the issue at hand, make that very clear and make your point again. Keep closing the circle.

Next, be firm; be fair; be persistent. We can’t always have our way. And we can’t always ask for the impossible. There are places for us to negotiate and offer compromise. They need to be on the table with our demands. Yes, we need to be firm with some managers in the federal system because they have a track record of delays and do-nothing (unless it’s against us). But on the other hand, MANY bureaucrats out there are good ones and deserve a fair chance. There is room for give and take.

Probably the one winning tool we have is persistence…." You gotta stay with it!" That’s how the radical environs got many of the concessions in the past – persistence. In their message and it’s delivery. Letters!!! Make your point until it sinks in.

So whatever you do, stay persistent in your belief and cause. Keep a level head, and one step ahead of those that want to reduce our access to public lands! Find the time to make a difference in what you believe in …that’s the only way we’ll ever maintain our recreational opportunities.

About the Author: "My service to the public is simply to help lead the charge to ensure public lands are kept open to the public!  As Founder/Moderator of the Land Use Network, I spend time every day helping folks to FIGHT BACK to keep public lands open.   To do that, the first step is to understand the political process (and the shortcuts); then to know how to deal with bureaucrats; and finally to get involved.   I consider myself a multiple user (dune buggies, dirt bikes, four wheeling, boating,camping, hunting etc.).  I've been exploring the back county (by motor) for nearly 40 years in one form or another.   I've also served in government service for 30 years.

Organizations I belong to include:

Founder/Moderator, Land Use Network
State Environmental Affairs Coordinator, CA4WDC
Board of Directors, Blue Ribbon Coalition
Member: United4WDA; Motherlode Rockcrawlers 4WD Club;
Tread Lightly! High Desert M/U Coalition; Friends of Death Valley;
Charter Member: Resource Education Network and NAMRC"

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