Carl Stonecipher is a dentist. He’s also a member of the Black Hills Sportsmen Club, the former president of the Western South Dakota Chapter of Safari Club International, and a grandfather of five. Carl is a Republican.
Jeff Olson is a dentist. He serves on the board of the South Dakota Wildlife Federation, and was recently honored by Field and Stream as one of 10 annually recognized “Heroes of Conservation.” Jeff is a Democrat.
Both men are fighting to establish the Cheyenne River Valley Grasslands Heritage Proposal as America's first grasslands wilderness. It just shows that no matter who we are or where we live, what we do professionally or who we vote for, we all deeply value freedom, open spaces, wild country, and our natural heritage. As this tale of two dentists demonstrates, wilderness truly is our common ground.
Carl moved to Rapid City in 1964. Ten years later, he opened up his own dental practice. The Air Force brought him to South Dakota, but the wide open spaces are the reason why he stayed. "You could get out and get away, and have some solitude," says Carl.
While in the Air Force, Carl took up hunting. "I've hunted everywhere -- Alaska, Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota -- even Africa. In wilderness, you see the country like it was many years ago when the pioneers came through. But the older you get, the more experience you have in the outdoors and in the forests, the more your eyes are opened. There are too many roads, too many people trashing the land. These places are not going to last for our grandkids if we keep doing this. We need to clean our act up."
Carl became more and more interested in conservation. From his involvement in organizations like the Black Hills Sportsmen Club to teaching his three grandsons -- all young hunters -- about protecting the woods and the prairies, Carl is working to make a difference. "We're not going to change everything," he says. "I know that, but we have to do what we can."
In the last few years, he's also been involved in the South Dakota Grassland Wilderness Coalition's effort to protect America's first grassland wilderness in the Buffalo Gap National Grassland. He's lent his strong support to this campaign, getting his local Safari Club International chapter to sign a letter of support for the Cheyenne River Valley Grasslands Wilderness Proposal.
"I would like to see this wilderness go through," says Carl. "You can still graze, ride horses, and enjoy the area. And there's nothing wrong with walking in. I've been all over and I've seen the messes that we leave in wild places, the butchering of wild country from mining, dumping, and thoughtlessness. Sportsmen need to get involved. You can't just sit back and find someone else to do it."
The October issue of Field and Stream featured 10 "Heroes of Conservation." Page 57 is devoted to Jeff Olson, who stands tall, holding his 50-caliber Tennessee Valley Mountain rifle, a very traditional muzzleloader that he built by hand. "The Grassland Crusader" is the name of the article. In the piece, Jeff says, "I've got a 12-year-old daughter who wants to get a deer this year. I want her to be able to hunt on the prairie and know what quiet sounds like."
Jeff, like Carl, is urging wilderness protection for more than 70,000 acres of the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, a special place reminiscent of the vast, rugged landscape Lewis and Clark wrote about some 200 years ago on their way west, where the Plains Indians lived and hunted buffalo, and where one can still find solitude -- something increasingly rare in modern life.
But Jeff has cause for concern, because these last remnants of American prairie are being destroyed. "In South Dakota, lands administered by the Forest Service are wide open to motorized vehicles. Four-wheelers can go anywhere. And they do. There aren't many old deer here because there's no refuge. There aren't many grouse left."
Jeff is active with a group of sportsmen, conservationists, ranchers, tribes, and others working to save a small slice of the frontier landscape for future generations to use and enjoy as they have, and to pass down this American tradition. "Getting off the beaten path and experiencing the solitude of the wild is the heart of hunting. The roar of engines, roads and development can too easily destroy the special and unique wild places and conditions all sportsmen strive for." To protect this way of life, he adds, "I'm working with every group I can, every member of Congress who'll talk to me," says Jeff. "And my attitude is to keep at it however long it takes."
We salute these two men -- sportsmen, dentists, and Americans exercising their freedom to fight for wild country -- and honor their work to help designate our nation's first grasslands wilderness. For more information, please visit http://www.sdgrasslandscoalition.org/.
