"Playing Around" Helps Find Common Ground

Five Colorado counties ranked among the top-ten fastest growth areas in the nation last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Residents in these communities struggle to address the challenges around land-use and growth issues.

Opinions vary from one extreme to another, and many communities have found that differing opinions can expand from neighborhood squabbles to gridlock among policy makers. But what if community members could go to a simulated town where they could consider information, engage in decision-making, and see consequences of land-use decisions? And what if they could reflect on their experience and discuss how ideas and insights from it could be used in real life?

This is exactly what people can experience through "WestLand: the Workshop," a five-hour participatory activity that encourages non-divisive communication among participants through involvement in a simulated community. They become citizens of WestLand where they make decisions that affect local agriculture, natural resources, the economy and the community. The workshop uses tools developed by land-grant institutions and partners, with western enhancements created by staff from the Center for Rural Assistance, other Extension faculty and representatives of the Colorado Rural Development Council to better mirror the Western landscape.

The computerized portion of the simulation illustrates how future conditions are influenced by current decisions. Players must determine how lands will be used while the town council makes policy decisions. At the end of each round, all decisions are entered into the computer and the results are displayed and analyzed. In WestLand, citizens have access to a local newspaper and radio broadcasts. They also participate in a public forum where they hear from a guest speaker who shares experiences of some neighboring communities via a videotape. In the Managing Community Growth video, citizens and officials from "areas to the north" explore issues and some of the management techniques used by small towns and overburdened counties affected by rapid growth.

Dean Oatman, Extension agent in Custer County, who facilitated a WestLand simulation in his county, said this fun approach to decision-making and growth management served as a springboard for better communication among local participants--including a newly-elected county commissioner, several local agricultural producers, the county cartographer and several new residents who own small-acreage properties.

"We had very positive feedback. Everyone who attended said those who didn't missed a good experience," said Oatman. "Finding a way to deal with growth starts with communication and finding common ground. This program helps to facilitate that kind of discussion. The participants see that life on the other side of the street isn't as easy as they thought."

A Custer County cartographer in real life, Charlie French has seen first-hand how the landscape has changed with the booming growth around the town of Westcliffe. French said although he had always sympathized with the amount of work that goes into running a family farm, playing a farmer in the simulation gave him a unique perspective.

"The workshop really helped me understand how everything is interrelated and how one thing affects the other," said French.

Don Kaufman, retired U.S. Air Force Major General and Custer County rancher, also attended the workshop. "WestLand offers a superb opportunity for participants to see and experience the interrelationships of factors impacting current rural communities," he said. "Everyone who has the opportunity should grab the chance to participate in this outstanding program."

Workshop facilitators hope that by seeing the interconnection, as well as the cause and effect of their actions within the simulation, participants will be able to look at issues from different perspectives when they arise in their everyday lives.

Dick Downey, a newly elected Custer County Commissioner who was on the Westland policy council, said the lessons learned in the workshop will be valuable to him when making policies that affect his real-life community.

"WestLand: the Workshop will be a help to me in decision-making on land-use issues in my new job as county commissioner," Downey said. "It is strong on cause-and-effect and related government decisions."

Oatman noted that the program will be expanded in 2001 to reach more people, with the hope that community leaders who participate will be encouraged to work together to ensure they can accommodate growth and yet still maintain a desired way of life.

"I hope that 20 years from now these communities will have preserved things that are important to them," said Oatman. "Communities have to first determine what is important, and programs like WestLand: the Workshop are a great way to get people together to find out what is worth preserving." --Jason Crowe & Diana Laughlin

For more information, contact your local Colorado State University Extension office.

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