The researchers digging up mysteries of the ocean in Nevada’s desert, plus death by cop and gun control in the West. Cover illustration: Shonisaurus popularis and Californosaurus perrini, depicted by Boise illustrator Todd Marshall.

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A forgotten lake

I read with interest the article titled “Tenuous revival of Mono Lake” in the Nov. 23 issue. I was involved in the politics of that rescue, being friends with Rick Lehman, our congressman, and with other politicos who drove the legislation. Now that the lake is stabilized, I have tried to interest them in Walker…

by Richard Raucina

A modest proposal — for mustangs

If words were bales of hay, feeding captive feral horses would be no problem (“Wild horses sent to slaughter,” HCN, 11/23/15). Presently, the government is the largest livestock caregiver in the U.S. Over 90,000 horses are either in lockups or on the Western ranges. In the meantime, one child dies every five seconds from malnutrition…

by John Radosevich

Curious scientists

“Vikings’ mysterious abandonment of Greenland was not due to climate change” read the headline of a recent Washington Post story, detailing new evidence that the Norsemen’s departure from the ice-capped island in the 1300s was not spurred by rapidly cooling conditions, as many scientists had thought. New high-tech rock-dating technology has convinced researchers that glaciers…

by Paul Larmer

Tools for trails

Thank you for your Nov. 9 article on guerrilla trail work. As a former U.S. Forest Service trail crew foreman, trail contractor and now fire lookout, I’ve done my share of clearing “official” trails and trying to keep others open that have been neglected. Richard Coots’ spirit is laudable. I’ve also seen the results of…

by Tom Van de Water

Don’t blame the greatest generation

Richard Reeves’ book Infamy: The Shocking Story of the Japanese American Internment in World War II is a tragic story of an immoral episode in American culture, and it’s simply not necessary to compound the tale through sensationalism and historical error. The title of Eric Sandstrom’s review in the Nov. 9 issue, “The Greatest Generation…

by Pat Munday

Western nativism has a rotten odor

Back in my railroad days, we often said that something had “a bad smell.” “I smell a bad order!”— lingo for a car that was rolling wrong and needed to be removed from the train. The alarm was shouted down from the conductor up in the “angel’s seat” in the caboose, back when a person actually…

by Forrest Whitman

Holiday publishing break

The holidays are approaching, and we’re taking a break from our 22-issues-per-year schedule. Look for High Country News again around Jan. 25. But new stories will be published online at hcn.org nearly every day. And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for even more news. With the cold weather and short days,…

by Sarah Tory