What politicians could learn from the young people thinning Arizona's forests
“Getting to Yes,” a classic business book on negotiation, opens with a simple example.
Two people fight over a single orange. The usual solution would be to split it in half, leaving both sides somewhat satisfied and somewhat annoyed.
But after discussing the dilemma, one person wanted to eat the orange while the other just needed the peel to bake a cake. Both sides ended up with all they wanted, providing a classic win-win.
Everyone in D.C. should read “Getting to Yes.”
Many politicians want the other side to lose
Many assume politicians and policymakers are the best negotiators, but today they only want their side to win and the other to lose.
In fact, some partisans won’t even accept a win if it means their ideological enemy might see the slightest benefit from the deal.
Why improve immigration, the national debt or countless other problems when you can use the issue to bash your opponent in the next election cycle?
This mentality has broken Capitol Hill, ensuring Congress can’t advance any needed reforms.
About the only meaningful bills they pass are gargantuan “omnibus” bills — 4,000-page monstrosities that leave both sides wanting payback.
Thankfully, change doesn’t need to come from the Beltway. When the American people want to improve things, it’s best to work in our statehouses and local communities.
Wood for Life has found a win-win
One great example of people achieving a rare win-win outcome is happening right here in Arizona.
A project called Wood for Life found a way to protect Arizona forests while improving life for the Native American communities that surround them.
Considering our high summer temperatures and the lightning-laden monsoons heading our way, wildfires are a great danger. Making the threat worse is the excess dead and fallen trees littering the natural landscape.
At the same time, Indigenous communities have struggled for energy, especially since the Navajo Generating Plant closed in 2019.
Where can they find affordable fuel without that massive coal-fired power plant?
Before long, people working on each of these seemingly unrelated problems discovered a perfect solution. And it’s a classic win-win.
Arizona forests are thinned, tribes get fuel
The Wood For Life program salvages small-diameter timber and dead wood, restoring the forest while mitigating the threat of massive wildfires. This material is far too small for logging operations, but it is invaluable as a personal fuel source.
All of this wood is now made available to Navajo and Hopi tribal members, who use it for cooking, heating, building projects and mulching.
Crews of young people are given excellent work experience by gathering and distributing the wood to families most in need, especially those living in remote parts of the reservations.
After being trained on the procedures and equipment, young workers camp near the worksite in a nine-day cycle. Once finished, they benefit their communities with the fruits of their labor.
Challenges to thinning: Lumber mill struggles to pay bonds
Started in 2020, Wood For Life now operates not only in our state, but in New Mexico, Colorado and Idaho as well. The program has been so successful that organizers are looking to expand into new areas.
Imagine if elected leaders did the same
It might take a while for the program to launch in California, since a few extreme organizations there still resist forest thinning projects.
The Environmental Defense Center tried to stop a separate restoration effort in the Los Padres National Forest, northeast of ultra-wealthy Santa Barbara.
A federal judge refused their request on July 19, agreeing with growing consensus on forest fire reduction efforts.
Win-win solutions don’t lend themselves to blaring headlines and clickbait articles.
Nevertheless, Wood for Life is a great example of community leaders finding a pair of problems and hammering out a solution that helps everyone involved.
Imagine how many other problems could be solved if our leaders strove for win-win solutions instead of just punishing their opponents.
Jon Gabriel, a Mesa resident, is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. On Twitter: @exjon.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Wood For Life offers a forgotten lesson for Arizona politicians
