In 2009, Oregon Field Guide followed along as 12 middle school students from Sunnyside Environmental School in Portland traveled 300 miles from their home to live on ranches across rural Grant County.
It was a bold experiment: Could Oregon’s bitter urban-rural divide be bridged by giving city kids a chance to work and live with ranchers whose lives were completely different from their own?
The kids profiled by Oregon Field Guide in 2009 for the special, “Crossing the Urban-Rural Divide” are now young adults participating in elections, gun control debates and civic issues across the state and the county.
Did the ranch-living experience influence how they view the world or the issues we face today? Has the urban-rural exchange succeeded in its mission?
Check the slideshow below and see what the kids, ranchers and employees thought of the program then and now.
In the 12 years since the urban-rural exchange program was launched by Oregon State University Extension 4H, the program has matured into a yearly exchange that has placed 345 kids with families at 147 ranches across 7 Eastern Oregon counties. The kids profiled by Oregon Field Guide in 2009 for the special, “Crossing the Urban-Rural Divide” are now young adults participating in elections, gun control debates and civic issues across the state and the county.
Courtesy of Oregon Field Guide
The urban-rural exchange program was created in response to a pro-wolf poem read by several Sunnyside Environmental School students at a public wolf hearing in 2005.
Mikaeli Rhodman, 21, is a junior at Southern Oregon University majoring in vocal performance. As an 7th grader, Mikaeli participated in the exchange program with Prairie City ranchers Steve and Carolyn Mullin. What she said in 2009: “When we first pulled up we saw cowboy hats, and we kind of laughed a bit because we were just like, they really do wear cowboy hats?!" What impact did the exchange have on you? “I think the biggest impact was that I was so scared going into that household, and I was just met with open arms. And it made me realize that we live in different cities, have different issues, and different political issues, but in that environment it was just person to person and it was so loving. “It’s one of the first experiences you have in being outside of your comfort zone. You live with these families and they take you in, and there’s no way you can say it doesn’t have an effect.” On how it influences her opinions today: “Especially when it comes to gun control and law-- I want to say every rancher out there has one [a gun]. And it’s made the debate very hard for me. I sometimes find myself playing devil’s advocate. [In the city] harsher gun laws are the easiest answer, because you didn’t have that whole mentality of these people trying to protect their animals.""It gets complicated then. You don’t realize that there’s this whole world outside of where you’re living that actually need guns to protect their living, or their livestock or their animals. I almost see myself as a conservative-liberal at this point. Like oh, this isn’t just affecting the big cities. I almost find myself being devil’s advocate sometimes.”
Courtsey of Mikaeli Rhodman
Rhodman on the ranch as a 7th grader during the program.On going to school now in a small-town (Ashland): “And I notice because I’m in a small town, there’s still that divide where towns feel like their voice isn’t heard. And that was kind of the idea of the program, you see things that you think doesn’t affect me, and it’s like, I was there.” Memories of her stay on the ranch: “I think the most distinct memory I had, we drove up this back road and we just sat there. And then there was elk, surrounding us...it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen at that time. It was just beautiful. That image has always stuck with me. You can’t make that stuff up.” On the exchange program’s future “I think it should be in every middle school within PPS at least.”
Courtesy of Oregon Field Guide
Maureen Hosty, faculty with the OSU Extension 4H program and head of the urban-rural exchange program. On finding rural host families: “Definitely some counties say we don’t need to bring these environmentalists into our county. Wallowa is definitely one of the strongest counties. Families really want to get the message across with what’s happening with wolves.” On memorable moments: "We were there the day they [Oregon Fish & Wildlife] allowed the killing of a couple wolves in Wallowa County. And everyone was talking about it. And it was just the fact that we could talk to people, in a safe place.” On what she hopes kids get out of it: “I want them to have true dialogue so that when issues come up they won’t be so quick to judge. And they’ll reach out to their own families on this.”
Courtesy of Oregon Field Guide
Mariah Shriner, 21, is now a junior at Macalester College majoring in Anthropology. She participated in the Urban-Rural exchange program in 6th, 7th and 8th grade. She was featured in the Oregon Field Guide special “Crossing the Urban-Rural Divide” that aired in 2009. What she said then: “I’ve never given anyone a shot before, especially not a big cow that’s mooing or thrashing!” What she recalls thinking at the time: “I remember 6th grade, walking in and seeing all the ranchers there and being completely overwhelmed. This was not a group that I was a part of in Portland, and yet people were so welcoming. I wasn’t necessarily expecting that.” “I remember my first night there and the father showing us his grazing lands out there in the national forest. And I remember learning in schools about these lands being something we have to protect, and here, this was a big part of his livelihood.” On how it influences her opinions today: “I think it has made me think a lot more about the complexity of situations…people have very strong reasons for believing the things they believe. Issues we experience in Portland and cities are very different than what people experience in other parts of the country. It’s something I carry with me into my anthropology major [when dealing with] refugees, people’s stories around the world.” “I’m not sure I can say it’s changed the way I voted on issues in this election or the past, but I definitely do think about elections in Oregon very differently. Looking at who supports what measures because lot of Oregon is very red. Elections have been so polarized and there is a lot of animosity for people on the other side of the divide. And it makes me remember that there are very legitimate reasons for people to be voting the way they do, even if it’s not the way I vote.” Memories of her stay on the ranch: “One memory that stands out- they let us both vaccinate their cows…but they trusted us to do that. That they trusted us and the responsibility they gave us, a couple of middle-schoolers from Portland that didn’t know what they were doing…that stands out.” “What stands out is the kindness of everyone. From the ranches, the kids on the farm, in church and the families that hosted us. Everyone wanted us to have an incredible experience and wanted to share a little of their life with us. I’m incredibly appreciative of the effort everyone put into that.”
Courtesy of Oregon Field Guide
John Williams, a OSU 4H Extension leader for the exchange in Wallowa County spoke with us about the program.On recruiting ranchers to participate :“You start off with this urban rural divide and explain that these kids from Portland WANT to learn about rural life. Every rancher out here feels that votes are all in Portland, all the news is in Portland, we really do need to reach out to that population to let them know what we do and how we do it.” On what he hopes kids get from the experience: “When someone stands up and says all ranchers get up and shoot wolves, that kid can say, “no, that’s not always true”. They can say it not because someone told them but it’s coming from their own frame of reference, their own lives. They can say, “that’s not my experience” and they can challenge the status quo. Let’s explore this a little further. That’s what I hope.”On the program’s larger statewide impact: “It’s one kid at a time. It’s one experience at a time. It may not have manifested itself yet. It may be when the kid goes off to college and a professor says something and the kid says wait a minute, that’s not my experience.”
Courtesy of Oregon Field Guide
Jessie McGrath, 21, is an artist and manager of “The People’s Art of Portland” and a new student at PCC. She was featured in the Oregon Field Guide special “Crossing the Urban-Rural Divide” that aired in 2009.What do you remember from that experience?: “That whole trip, it was just like, we’re just gonna’ throw you out here and see what happens! It was just an eye-opener for life in general. Sure, I live this way and they live that way, but there’s still this connection because of that experience.” Is there anything you see differently now?: “I used to see those big truck commercials before a game on TV and I used to think, “God, that looks so stupid”. And then at the exchange, I saw that people actually did that… after I got back I remember telling my dad, “no they’re a tool, and they have a purpose!” Has it shaped your perspective on big urban-rural issues, like guns?: “I’ve seen them [guns] used as tools and have more of a purpose than just people showing them as ‘oh, I’m powerful', or using them for being threatening. Realizing there’s two sides to everything even if it’s totally different than your lifestyle. It’s definitely helped in my writing! It definitely drilled into me to always think of the other side.”
Courtesy of Jessie McGrath
Jessie McGrath during the time she spent in the program.Have you been back since?: “I was on a roadtrip with my family the next year and we went through Prairie City or John Day and I made my parents visit the cowboy museum! That was one of the places Tobe [ the host rancher] brought us.” Does the program have lasting impact?: “The way I see it it’s like Outdoor school. You know, with Outdoor school you’re outside for a week straight and you’re taking in all this information from the smallest things to how every little thing you see daily, how it matters. I think the 4H thing is the same, but it’s with people. You might otherwise just see ranchers or farmers and say, “oh, I know about them”, but to go and live with them…we all have the same issues but different circumstances. Any kind of experience where you’re putting yourself in a different environment or different situation is definitely going to be one that opens your mind.”
Courtesy of Jessie McGrath
Todd Nash, a Wallowa County rancher who has hosted urban school kids for seven years as part of the exchange program. Why he participates: “I guess I want to give them an appreciation for what we do here as ranchers on this side of the state. It’s nice to have a relationship with somebody that isn’t completely jaded.” On the urban view of ranching: “A lot of people didn’t understand that we were in a cattle business. They thought they were pets or something.”
In 2012, a wolf was suspected of killing one of Todd Nash’s calves that had been ear-tagged by an exchange student he hosted. On a wolf killing a calf ear-tagged by a student: “Emily was one of our girls [we hosted] and I was there when she ear-tagged her calf. I asked the girls if they wanted to put an ear tag on the calf and they could name them whatever they want. These two decided to put their own name on the calf. In September of that year, 2012, I came upon a calf, 500lb calf or something, looked like a wolf depredation. When the investigators came out, and they always document everything and asked, "what’s the eartag number?" And one of them said, “Emily?”. I always thought gosh with the wolf situation what are the chances. I turn out 700 head, don’t usually get a lot of kills, I thought what are the chances of actually getting one of those. A lot of people wanted to make political hay out of that, but I was sad honestly.” On working across the divide: “They didn’t hardly spend a minute apart from me. We went all day long working. How often does a parent even spend that time with a child? It’s a wonderful thing. If there is a urban rural divide, what better way to try to bridge that [than with the urban rural exchange program]. But the rural urban divide with adults is a whole different issue…”