“But more and more I’ve come to think of ranchers as the biggest problem confronting the West, not part of the solution… and that’s not even addressing the politics of meat. No, I want the ranchers out. Once they’re gone, the snakes will be fine.”
“You mean you and your group won’t work with the Mountain Defense Fund any more?”
He shook his head, smiling a smile that bore an uncanny resemblance to Caroline’s. “Where have you been? There isn’t any Mountain Defense Fund any more. It never could work; it tried to build an impossible coalition between philosophically incompatible social forces. Rednecks and deep ecologists don’t mix—look at what happened to Dave Foreman. Besides, Tommy Chavez is in recovery up in Espanola.” He began to speak toward the window, gesturing. “Caving in to the ra
