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Luke Schafer, a freshly minted graduate of Central Michigan University, is new to Craig, but already he is planning how to take advantage of some of the area's amenities.

"I won't get to hunt deer this year, because you've got to be here for six months and I can't afford the out-of-state license," he said. "But I plan to do some fishing until it gets too cold, and then some ice fishing."

Schafer moved to Craig on Aug. 11 to work for the Colorado Wilderness Network office. While he's new to the area, he's not new to the concept of introducing people to environmental issues.

He spent three years organizing support for water rights in the Great Lakes basin. But he wanted "to do something different" after getting his degree in international relations and history. So he headed west.

"Craig is very much like the town I grew up in," Schafer said. "I grew up in a small farming community 25 miles south of Detroit. "The people here have the same sort of interests and philosophies."

The lifestyles may be similar, but the issues that the communities face are not.

"The public-lands debate -- that's a huge difference. We just don't have a lot of federal lands in Michigan. But the biggest difference I've seen is political efficacy -- the fact that people here are involved in politics to such a degree versus the apathy that prevails there."

Schafer hopes his job keeps him out of the office and interacting with people.

"Our mission is simply to understand what people in the community and the surrounding communities think public lands should be used for."