The way in which people deal with a crisis that may occur within their environment is very different. When each of us encounters this crisis we may react by confronting those involved in the problem, or cooperating with those involved.
Cooperation could be thought of in many ways. By cooperating with the town council, we may agree with their thoughts and action plans, and may get involved in those action plans. Or simply the cooperation could be a nod from the couch while we are watching the news story on television. In the Desert Wolf story, Pamela Brown, a teacher, is cooperating with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by teaching her students about the value of wolves in the wilderness. Her cooperation is in the form of teaching future home and farm owners the importance of the wolves.
Jan and Will Holder, from the wolf story, are also cooperating with the officials. Their statements about the importance of creating a holistic environment, even if it means reintroducing predators, simply shows their belief in the actions of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
In the Huntington Sewer Saga, many of the officials cooperated with the students in finding a solution to the polluted waters. Many of the locals in the wolf story react differently to the crisis. One woman feels that cooperation is important for the better for the environment. If everyone cooperates everything will turn out well in the end. On the other end of the spectrum, many people stand for their beliefs, and will confront any crisis that they disagree on. Again this could be done in many ways. We could bring together all those who feel the same way, or we could constantly bad mouth those who are taking actions against what we believe.
In the Desert Wolf story many of the locals are very vocal about their opinion against the reintroduction of the wolf. One man states, "They've completely romanticized the wolf, but you know we can't make decisions based on this Disney emotion: and wolves do eat Bambi, you know, and they pull Bambi down and rip him up and start eating his liver before his heart stops beating." Dutch Salmon, the author of Home is The River, shares his view point against the reintroduction of the wolves in his book. He makes it well known that the he feels that the reintroduction could destroy all that the locals have attempted to create. This is his attempt to get as many people as possible feeling the same way.
In the same way, the waterfront developers and the beach environmentalists have different opinions about building along beaches. They hardly are inclined to cooperate with each other since they have different goals. Yet there may be ways that both groups' goals could be realized if they could get together and cooperate. Finally, in the wolf story, Al Schneeberger from the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association, is confronting the reintroduction by his belief that all the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to do is control the environment. We have seen how each of us can react differently to the same situation: we could confront those we disagree with or cooperate with them. Our reaction depends on who we are and what we believe in. How would you react if you were a local farmer in the wolf story? Would you confront or cooperate with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service?