‘Homestead Rescue’ Star: Here’s Why ‘Grown Men Cry’

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The reality TV personality has practiced what he preaches — before doing the Discovery show, Raney said he’d never left Alaska in 43 years but now he has the opportunity to travel across the U.S. helping others live self-sufficiently.

But he noted, “The America that I’m seeing is rural; the America that I’m seeing is farmers, ranchers, homesteaders and those to choose to live off the grid, and when you think about, it was that collective, that demographic, that built America, hands down, and they did it with hand tools.”

Speaking to Fox News from one of his “Homestead Rescue” assignments in Missouri, Raney said he’s visited “Little House on the Prairie” author Laura Ingalls Wilder’s homestead, which she built with her husband — and reflected on the pioneer spirit that is drifting away in the U.S.

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He said, “I’m on the road less traveled, literally. I’m on the backroads of America, and that group of people are impressive; the people who carved out these farms in Missouri are all dying off. Some, and I would say a small amount, of family members keep these farms alive, but it’s dying off everywhere I go. This lifestyle is dying off because it takes hard work to live independently, off the grid, to have self-subsistence. I think that a hard-working man and woman that can make it living off the land, clearly, unhesitatingly, [are] on the endangered species list.”

But Raney said it’s still a lifestyle worth fighting for because many of the homesteaders he visits have walked away from a two-hour commute every day, big mortgages, car payments, and other stress-inducers.

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Although Raney feels privileged to have seen America through his show, he got choked up when speaking with Fox News and said, “I’ve been working so hard on these homesteads … We started in September, so it’s been a long time on the road … The fact that I get emotional is because … I’m sure people will never get how hard we work to help these people … I don’t know of any honor higher than that, month after month after month of helping people…”

He added, “It’s been a long ride. There’s been a lot of danger involved, a lot of high risk that people will never know.”

Raney said of season two, “Grown men cry on this show virtually every episode — and that includes me.”

“Homestead Rescue” airs Wednesdays on Discovery.

This Fox News article is used with permission. 

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