Whose Resources Are They?
In Season 5 of Yellowstone, and the whole show really, the new Governor promises to be the antithesis of progress. He wants to keep Montana the same, while east and west coasters try to develop it into their playgrounds with no regard for the people or the land. He’s trying to keep Montana from becoming Colorado. It poses an interesting question: Can we stop “outsiders” from changing a place, from taking all the resources and running. Do we have the right. And I kind of like Taylor Sheridan’s answer, Yes.
Colorado is unwittingly having this fight right now. But it’s not as dramatic or obvious as Villainous East Coast Money Hoarders versus generations deep ranchers, or Natives versus white Americans, nee Europeans. This year (2023) the tech millionaire Governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, signed a bill prohibiting and repealing local growth caps, and pushed for a bill that would have mandated cities and towns zone for greater residential density. He, and the legislators he’s working with, are trying to solve Colorado’s housing crisis. The towns and cities that opposed his stance on these bills are trying to solve their resource crunch and balance their environmental (the tourism dollars tied to it) concerns with their housing needs. It’s a Yellowstone problem, and one America has faced since we fought off the British and paid off the Spanish.
In the past, the rich and powerful in America have won nearly all the land use battles. They pushed Natives off the land and claimed it as ownable. They convinced Natives to “buy” the land, and then taxed them off it. They made treaties with Native Nations and then ignored the treaties and did whatever they wanted. They “gave” Western land to East Coast Americans nee Europeans to settle, using the masses to push the Natives out.
Colorado’s housing crisis is an extension of these polices and the culture they created. Land is fair game, and the rich will win. In Colorado we say no-one is from here. Western Tribes and pre-existing Hispanic families aside. What we mean is that Colorado is largely made of transplants. Few people you meet were born here. Colorado’s population didn't surpass a million people in til 1924 and didn’t actually begin to grow substantially until 1950. Ranching and mining have been the State of Colorado’s economic base. After WWII uranium mining brought people out, then the ski areas and tourism economy. Over the last thirty years the state has worked to diversify its economic base bringing in aerospace, biochemistry, clean energy, advanced technology manufacturing, information technology, and software development. And now our population is nearly six million people. From an economic perspective, we’re winning.
But.
But we don’t have enough affordable housing because the rich can buy McMansions, so we build more McMansions than single family homes. We don’t have enough water. The post-war population boom has depleted nonrenewable groundwater (underground aquifers) and most of the rivers that start in Colorado and supply water to millions of people are in trouble. (Republican River, Colorado River, Arkansas River, Rio Grand River) East Coast hedge fund managers are trying to speculate on water rights, and out-of-state development companies continue to come in and build on protected lands. They would have us believe there is nothing we can do. Everyone has the right to move around and build wherever they want, right?
In an interview for our county planning commission one of the members asked my what I liked most and least about small town government. I dislike the one dude who has outsized power like in the small town I grew up in (apparently our county doesn’t have that guy), but what I love is the tangibility of government. It’s not this large looming overboard. It’s us. It’s the people who chose to stand up and made decisions. In a small town you don’t have to settle for casting a vote and hoping the politicians weren't lying about their platform. You can be involved in a meaningful way. Small town governments have the opportunity to be creative in their problem solving, innovative, to actually include the people who live in the community.
So Vail Town Council, at the behest of the community, suspended a housing development to protect bighorn sheep winter range. Thornton refused to build a prohibitively expensive water plant for a housing development. Towns throughout the Rocky Mountain Region are reassessing and limiting short-term rental licenses. While the state tries to build without regard for what brought people to Colorado in the first place (most people say they always wanted to come here for the lifestyle and beauty, and it was the jobs that finally made it happen), communities are trying to control the growth. Sometimes it’s just a “close the gate” mentality. But more often it’s about preserving the environment that we all love. It’s about building in a way that doesn’t use up all the resources and force us all out. It’s about creating policies that balance our economic needs, like tourists who own second homes, with our community needs—housing that matches our incomes.
Our battle isn’t as violent, or dramatic as Yellowstone, but Colorado is in a fight for our existence just the same. Polis and bajillionair developers want to pave it over, locals want to preserve their lifestyles, communities, and resources. Does everyone have a right to come take a piece? Can we say, “Nope, we’ve reached capacity.”? The people at the top say yes, and no. those of us at the bottom say no, and yes.
When I get despondent about this battle, I look forward. If (when) the money/resource hoarders win, they will lose. When financial sufficiency gets too hard the ski bums and tourism labor will leave. There will not be a labor population to run lifts and serve tourists at restaurants. And so the tourists will leave. We all know there is nothing tourists hate more than slow service. Or maybe developers will build some affordable housing as well as keep building McMansions for their ski tourists, and in 30-50 years when there is no more snow, there will be no draw for summer tourism because who wants to hike through subdivisions? The tourists will leave, many of the locals will leave. And our mountain towns will become ghost towns, just like the mining towns did. Or maybe the fires will burn down all those McMansions. The non-stop particulates (from non-stop fires) will make breathing impossible. It will speed up snow degradation and we won’t have skiing in 20 years. Same outcome. Ghost towns. Or how about the wells all those McMansions use dry up. Same outcome. But Denver will still exist, you say. Maybe. But without skiing or hiking or mountain biking Colorado’s draw diminishes. And it’s getting hotter - like phoenix hot. And their water is also disappearing permanently. And housing is expensive and the schools systems suck because we won’t fund them or pay teachers. So what’s the draw? And since “no one is from here” there’s no family legacy or ties to the land to make people stay.
So maybe Colorado will be abandoned, a disaster left to whomever is will the stay and clean it up. Or maybe not. Maybe the towns folk will win and find a balanced way to house their community members and protect the beauty that drew us all here. Maybe we’ll find a way to limit water use and population growth. We’re like a group stranded on an island. If we work together we can create enough shelter and find enough food and water. But if there are pirates that come in a take those things and leave, we’re all screwed.