“I think the premise of your argument is flawed,” Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, who currently chairs the Western Governors’ Association, told American Cowboy. “When you ask ‘Who speaks for the West?’ you disregard the basic nature of the region. People ended up here, because they wanted independence to speak for themselves.”

Just like their constituents, the governors of the 17 Western states have diverse viewpoints on the various issues. Generally they recognize that they won’t “be in lockstep” but, according to the current Western Governors’ Association chairman, they don’t allow disputes “to become a kind of acid that makes the group dysfunctional.”

Gov. Freudenthal characterizes federal lawmakers as, “The ones that have their foot on our throat.” He, like other Western officials—and residents—say that all too often proposals are developed without any opportunity for the people who will be most closely affected to provide substantive recommendations. A recent example of this is H.R. 1975, the "Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act," sponsored by Connecticut Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Christopher Shays, which would designate as wilderness nearly 23 million acres across five states, including 9.5 million acres in Idaho, seven million acres in Montana, five million acres in Wyoming, 750,000 acres in eastern Oregon, and 500,000 acres in eastern Washington.

The bill—referred to as the Carole King bill because of its backing by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter—also would designate an additional three million acres in Yellowstone, Glacier, and Grand Teton National Parks as wilderness. Under a wilderness designation, logging, road-building, motorized use, and new oil and gas drilling or new mining are prohibited.

Although he recognizes the bicoastal nature of the proposal, Gov. Freudenthal opposes it, saying that as governor of Wyoming he has “never been consulted about whether… it made sense.” He says the same thing about the U.S. Department of the Interior and its “push to have oil and gas on every acre of Wyoming.”

As with many other past and current proposals, Gov. Freudenthal presents a common Western position: “They might want to talk to the people who actually live here.”

But because that seldom happens Freudenthal says Western governors must “go back and talk to (Washington lawmakers).” He says the best course of action for people from the West to get their message heard is “repetition, repetition, and repetition.” Adding no matter how frustrating the process sometimes is, “You can’t abandon the playing field.”

Who else speaks for the West? “No group,” Gov. Freudenthal said. “In a sense nobody speaks for the West and everybody speaks for the West.”

The idea of independence among Westerners is perhaps as easily seen in Wyoming as anywhere. Although predominately Republican, the State has repeatedly put Democratic governors—including Freudenthal—in office. That bipartisan support reflects the general attitude of people in the region who demonstrate their independence at the ballot box. In effect, Freudenthal says, such independent voting says, “I speak for myself.”

“One of the delights of this region is that people are opinionated,” Gov. Freudenthal said. “On some core things, those voices tend to come together even though they may originate independently, whether [the issue] is forest fires or wildlife corridors.”