Nicole Masters and apprentices act out soil biology at the 2018 REGENERATE Conference.
Gratitude and Reflection What Quivira and the radical center mean to me Story by Hannah Gosnell, photos from the Quivira collection
Having recently joined the Quivira Coalition’s Board of Directors, now seems like a good time to share my thoughts with our membership on why this is such an important organization. Not only does Quivira protect and restore the western landscapes I love, but it promotes peace and understanding among a diversity of people with different views about how humans should relate to the environment, the role of government in natural resource management, strategies for resolving historical injustice, and what is needed to help rural communities and economies prosper. As a social scientist who studies collaborative conservation and the human dimensions of rangeland management, I can honestly say that the ideas I’ve encountered, the people I’ve met, and the positive energy I’ve felt at the annual Quivira conferences I’ve attended over the past 15 years have had a bigger influence on my research trajectory than anything else. This is because the concept of the radical center — a cornerstone of the Quivira mission — really speaks to me and excites me. Like many of you, I’m drawn to the challenge of identifying and explaining those spaces where the perceived binaries of conservation and production, jobs and the environment, impact and regeneration, all disappear; where it becomes wonderfully obvious to everyone that what’s good for the earth also happens to be good for human economies and human psyches. My work documents how the personal transformations and identity shifts that often take place for those working in the radical center play out, both on the land and in communities. Like all of you, I care deeply about western landscapes and their stewards, but I also see a lot of challenges that need to be addressed. Quivira reunions help me envision a way forward by exposing me to new thinking and potential solutions. So I keep coming back, for research ideas, for inspiration, and for camaraderie. I remember the first Quivira conference I attended, in 2005 — “Half Public, Half Private, One West” — with beautiful artwork by Maryanne McGraw depicting a broken fence line on the cover of the program. (I bought one of her prints that year, and it still hangs on the wall in my office, reminding me daily of that vision.) The speakers, while always impressive, were especially incredible that year: Allan Nation as keynote, Doc and Connie Hatfield on keeping the family in family ranching, Eric Freyfogle on property rights, Gary Nabhan 7
