coordination, collaboration, cooperation and consensus

a lot of c's, no? the difference between them and how they play into the relationship between county government and federal agencies is a part of what i've learned for my job this morning. several representatives from citizen's groups and wyoming county commissioners participated in a panel that emphasized the ability and importance of county governments in the decisions of the blm and forest service in public land managment. turns out, if you're putting together a natural resource plan for your county, you want to use the word 'coordination' in place of the others, because it provides status 'equal, of the same rank, degree, importance, not subordinate.' the other terms don't represent a status as strong or concrete. so there. now you know.

also speaking on that panel was wyoming representative cynthia lummis, with whom i will have lunch with the rest of the staff at the roundup office when i'm done here. currently i sit in one of the ramada hotel's meeting rooms in casper. lummis is one of the three members of wyoming's delegation, which includes two senators and a representative. i voted for her last fall, and i'm glad she got elected because she's very intelligent and has already been very active in representing wyoming's interests on energy, natural resource and ag committees in washington. there's a pretty funny video of her speaking with Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report.

this weekend my new roomie kassi will be home in cheyenne, and i don't expect old roommate amanda back in town from home in new york until tuesday, so i'm not really sure what to do with myself. except friend kelly and i are supposed to meet for dinner at the beacon this evening, i think, in exchange for me helping her out one evening a week or two ago. the beacon has the best patty melts. but i should really avoid them, because i don't even want to know how many calories they contain.