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Rural Nebraska reminded again: Seek change
Editorial / Grand Island Independent
You know all those people who ramble on about the need for long-term vision, those folks who constantly chatter about how our state and country have a propensity to plan only for the short term, about why we need to think more of our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren?
They're right.
The late Maxwell Maltz, a scientist who dealt with positive thinking, said: "The ability to discipline yourself to delay gratification in the short term in order to enjoy greater rewards in the long term is the indispensable prerequisite for success."
Our much earlier ancestors had the same idea. In Proverbs 29:18, it says: "Where there is no vision, the people perish."
Nebraska, which sometimes suffers from a dearth of long-term judgment, received another dose of sagacious advice last week: Diversify, or else. Thus far, we have chosen the latter course.
Larry Swanson, director of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West, was the latest bearer of sobering news. In his Lincoln presentation about rural depopulation trends, Swanson stated the obvious:
Instead of the fruitless quest for old-school economic development, struggling Nebraska communities need to evolve into "interesting places to live," places that offer amenities, recreational opportunities and a desirable quality of life.
"All the old textbooks need to be thrown away," Swanson said. "The new economy encourages growth where people want to live."
Such observations about Nebraska are surfacing with much more frequency.
It is now apparent that new smokestack industries won't save our state. Casinos won't save us. "Livestock Friendly Counties" and confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) not only won't save us, but they could scar the state's environment forever.
For a look at how quickly a landscape can change, check out the Ogallala area.
Lake McConaughy, Nebraska 's biggest recreation money maker and located a few miles north of Ogallala, is a shell of its former, vibrant self. Water levels at Big Mac and other popular Southwest Nebraska lakes have been slowly but steadily declining for decades -- well before the drought, which has been scapegoated by some Nebraskans.
And if you are traveling Interstate 80 just south of Ogallala, prepare for a jolt from one of the nastiest-smelling feedlots imaginable. It has been described on one Chicago traveler's Web site as "eye-watering in its stench, at a distance of several miles." This is the Farm Bureau's vision of positive "economic development" -- seriously.
Ogallala, Keith County and Lake McConaughy are victims of (1) ag concentration's relentless march and (2) water problems that become more pronounced each year.
Nebraska is sailing some of its roughest economic waters ever. In the past six years alone, 42 of our rural counties -- which excludes all those counties with cities of 5,000 or more people -- have suffered population losses. Almost all of Nebraska's counties, rural and urban, are losing creative minds to other states.
We need to begin asking tough but necessary questions about what we want for Nebraska's future and how we get there. Most of us already agree on the goals -- rural development compatible with "the good life," diversity and opportunity.
We will not secure that future by simply staying the course, thinking only in the short term, wishing and hoping. We can't continue hiding under the bedsheets.
It is time for rural Nebraska to consider new ideas, new strategies, a new agriculture and government agencies that support all three. It is time to revitalize the "good life" and fully explore the potential of amenities, a "sense of place," recreation, natural resources, ecotourism, agritourism and, yes, farming.
It won't be without difficulty; nothing worthwhile ever is. Not every rural community will survive or thrive, even with innovation.
But we need to at least try; we owe that to our descendants.
Pete Letheby is associate editor at The Independent. He can be reached by e-mail at pete.letheby@theindependent.com.This Editorial appeared in the Grand Island Independent April 20, 2007.