By MEGGIE I. FOSTER
Assistant Editor
 
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Stepping up to the plate and taking action to save the livestock industry was the clear take-home message of an unlikely speaker during the Indiana Livestock Forum last month in Indianapolis.

Bruce Vincent, a third-generation logger from Libby, Mont., captivated an audience of more than 200 livestock producers and professionals by sharing his life story and motivational message to save rural America.

One may wonder why and how a middle-aged logger from Montana could motivate a crowd of Midwest livestock producers to take action. While it may have been Vincent’s piercing presentation regarding his experiences in his home state of big skies, the two industries share a few things in common, including serving as targets for environmental activist groups.

According to Vincent, more than 20 years ago, activist groups had their target placed squarely on ending the logging industry and increasing protection of the spotted owl and the grizzly bear. He went on to tell the story of a supposed environmental expert who spoke at a local high school, telling community members that more grizzly bears were going to be reintroduced into the area.

“I remember him showing us a grizzly habitat map of our area, with four grizzlies shown on the map and they wanted to bring in 116 more, and talking about how cool it would be,” said Vincent. “Cool? Had they any thought about it being a human-grizzly conflict zone?”

He said the expert admitted he didn’t really know how many grizzlies were in the area at the time, or how many should be brought into the area – but “none of that mattered. He said he was mandated by the Federal Endangered Species Act to recover the grizzly population.”

Realizing their small community needed to be involved so that grizzlies, residents and tourists could live in harmony, Vincent and his crew became heavily involved in the process.

“Can you imagine if this guy would’ve approached Sacramento with this plan, imagine the public outcry there?” he joked. “Here in Libby, Montana, we were seen as politically impotent. Tell me … what about rural America is disposable?”

According to Vincent, many politicians aren’t sensitive to the way rural people live and the jobs they do, but because so few people live there, policies deemed worthy by the urban populace are enacted. The logging industry is a unfortunate example of this scenario, he explained,

“Laws are being developed and directed toward rural America that are based on pseudo-science,” he said. “They’ve been told that (loggers) are an enemy to the environment, that we are capitalist-managed just for profit. What they don’t understand is that we can go into a woods just to take out the dead crap.”

Vincent said politicians are developing regulations that discourage clear-cutting, despite the fact that science shows the advantages of controlled cutting and burning.

“So, there are often 500 trees on an acre when there should be 50,” he said. “As a result, forest fires can rage out of control for days, fueled by the thick underbrush and groundcover.”

The environmental movement is now part of our lives, Vincent said. “Some of the groups that came out of the movement decades ago are now 50 years old and beginning to show their age,” he said, adding that they are not in tune with how agriculture has evolved, nor do they care.

“They have been the social engines acting to wipe Libby, Montana, off the map. We make the decisions that are best for our home.”
What began as a movement is now a business, and the activists’ primary product is dependent on ensuring fear, he explained. “And they make billions,” said Vincent, adding that their next two targets appear to be animal care and water.

Become an activist

Vincent, however – who often cites the term “hope” when referring to rural America – claims the public is tired of hearing what’s wrong and hungers for the knowledge of what’s right.

“We need to just tell the truth – warts, pimples and all,” he said. “Are you perfect? No – you make mistakes – but you pay the price first. When talking to the opposition, we need to remember we’re the best we’ve ever been, most productive, and our beef comes from Indiana, not Brazil, and our boards come from Montana, not Siberia.”

Vincent’s take-home message included three main points.
“Number one, we’ve got to embrace democracy, it works. We’re not a country of red and blue states, it’s urban and rural,” he explained.

“Power is not decided by the majority, we’re defined by individuals in multi-sector voting sectors.”

He encourages those in the rural sector to be engaged in the political process. “We send people to Washington that aren’t ranchers and farmers, so they don’t know our truths. How are they going to know, if we’re not calling them on the phone to whisper the truths in their ear?

“The world is run by people who show up; it’s time for you and rural America to show up,” he declared. “It’s important for people with a vested interest to get involved in the process. We need to identify the policymakers who understand our issues and are willing to fight for them. We, in turn, need to support those individuals as well.”

Second, Vincent encouraged the audience members to write an editorial letter and “not let a piano tuner in Bloomington speak for your future. If you don’t speak up, someone else will.”

Third, he said to add a line-item for activism in one’s business plan, right next to farm machinery. “Spend like one hour a week attending a meeting, writing a letter supporting and defending your industry,” he said. “You’d be surprised what could happen.”
Vincent encouraged the livestock producers to engage with other industries, including corn and soybean and other sectors under siege.

“If we’re going to survive, we’re going to have to become activists for our own industries,” he said. “We have to publicly support the chambers of commerce and other community groups. When this happens, we have other people willing to fight for us.
“Everybody needs to be a ripple, and together we become a wave. There is a way to save the last best places, but it will take the last best people to do it.”

For more on Vincent, visit http://brucevincentspeaking.com