Has that been one benefit of experience, in that it’s taught you to say no?
Well, yes. James Monteith and Andy Kerr had a big impact on my understanding how the political system wears you down and what ONRC’s proper role was and why this was our niche that other groups weren’t willing to fill. I don’t know if there’s something about my psyche–this sounds very self-serving– but I feel like I’ve been able to do what wasn’t necessarily the popular thing to do. I had interests even in my youth of things that weren’t what other people would praise me for doing. It wasn’t that I was picked on when I was at school, but I was bullied a little bit because of my smaller stature. In other words, I wasn’t part of the “club,” if you will, with my peers. I don’t know how to express it, because it wasn’t like I felt I was left out of things–I did get along with people and so forth, but on the other hand, I wasn’t part of the main social clubs when I was in school. [This was true] in high school and even college. In college I think I found more identity with people I knew that were interested in the natural environment as I was. I developed a little bit of a “skin early on, and maybe that made it easier for me. Not that it [being confrontational3 doesn’t bother me, not that my stomach doesn’t wrench and everything else when I’m in a stressful situation, but I continually find that I will not compromise [and] knowing that I’m saying something that is making somebody upset and is unpopular. I really can’t think of many situations where I’ve held back. I think that’s what I have to do to live in Klamath Falls and defend the environment. Otherwise, it would be easier to live in Eugene and defend the environment of Klamath County [from there]. By being down here I see things and learn about things I wouldn’t [otherwise], or I’d get distracted on other issues if I wasn’t here.
