Get (not too) ready for onslaught of the governors

Mark your calendars, Sunday, June 12, through Tuesday, June 14, as up to 21 governors, four Canadian province premiers, at least two Cabinet secretaries, and possibly the president of the United States of Mexico gather for the Western Governors Association annual meeting right here in Breckenridge.

It's a big deal - and a waste of time and possibilities all at once - as the political leaders of half of North America gather in one place to discuss, wait for it, sage grouse, the National Integrated Drought Information System and the Implementation Plan for the Comprehensive Wildfire Strategy.

Why so sterile an agenda? The governors have recognized, unlike their congressional counterparts in Washington, that state government has to make some progress, even if only a little and in selected areas, on behalf of its citizenry, and that the states need to work together to make that progress.

So while drought and forest health are hardly sexy, they are important and require a coordinated response and a unanimous approach.

And while sage grouse hardly seems a suitable topic for such an assemblage, talking about game birds means talking about range management and highways and pollution control, so it's not as trivial as you might guess.

And if you're not interested in sage grouse or even curious about so many politicians in one place, there's something for you in Breckenridge as well.

If you're not a political citizen, then you're probably a celebrity citizen, and as you know, there are more than a few celebrity politicians.

You already know about the big names, like Govs. Tulafono of American Samoa and Babuata of the Northern Mariana Islands, but lesser lights could be in attendance as well, such as Schwarzenegger of California.

The presence of celebrity politicians means the attendance of celebrity broadcasters, such as the nattering nabobs of negativism from the Fox News evening shows.

While the governors may not fight over issues such as energy and the war during the day, at night, they'll line up to be on national television and trash each other and the federal government.

And they'll be ready for the exercise after the daily sessions in store for them. The opening speaker to the governors is self-styled "futurist" and "eminent L.A.ologist" Joel Kotkin, best known for his book, "The City: A Global History," which praises the city as "humankind's greatest creation."

Kotkin, in discussing the cities of the future, posits that aging baby boomers will move permanently to places like Breckenridge in search of a "lifestyle change, affordable housing, and economic opportunities."

And there will be protesters. A lot of farmers are upset with the way California wastes Colorado River water, and a lot of folks who depend on Lake Powell for fun and profit want it refilled.

They could be joined by anti-immigration reform folks who want President Fox of Mexico to go home, shoulder to shoulder to with hunters and fishermen who want more access to roadless areas, and not less.

Either way, there will be a lot of coverage but not much news coming out of the meeting; the rest of the governors' plenary agenda, after Mr. Kotkin, includes discussions of international trade and a full session on, don't laugh, "North American Energy Independence," which will not include a discussion of conservation but only increased production (sigh).

The Front Range news coverage will surely joke about the irony of Gov. Owens, colloquially known as "Highway Bill," picking a venue for the governors in the middle of a cone zone.

There should be coverage of the lobbyists overrunning each other in the halls of the Great Divide Lodge and Mountain Thunder.

While you, as a lowly political or celebrity citizen, can only attend at a cost of $625, lobbyists get in for free, on behalf of their corporate parents such as PacifiCorp, a major health insurance company and McGraw Hill, which produces textbooks, whose lobbyists will be out in full force to work the assembled governors and their staffs for the good of you, the citizenry.

Regardless of whatever news value the meeting may have, kudos to the Breckenridge Ski Resort and the town for making this meeting happen in Breckenridge.

Owens could certainly have taken the meeting to other venues.

Hopefully, the governors and the media will come away with a warm impression of Breckenridge, although there's something about the fact that the gala welcoming dinner for the governors is at the Riverwalk Center that makes me shiver.



Marc Carlisle writes a Thursday column. He can be reached at summitindie@yahoo.com.