LEARNING ABOUT LIFE FROM LETITIA
Once again, High Country News published an illuminating, complex story (“The many legacies of Letitia Carson,” June 2023). It’s critical reading to understand the intersecting and ongoing issues of gender, race, colonialism and land in Oregon.
@tkdeibele Via Twitter
WARM INTEREST
What a great issue! I read every article and pre-ordered John Vaillant’s new book, Fire Weather (“When fire goes feral,” June 2023). Sounds like a gripping read. Thanks!
Karen L. Willoughby
Helper, Utah
THE JOY OF POETRY
Thank you, Garrett Hongo, for “Scarlet Paintbrush” in the May issue. Your poem brought great joy to my heart, and with our heavier-than-normal spring moisture, you can find scarlet paintbrush doting the landscape. We must teach our young people about the past in order to save their future.
David Porter Misso
Tule Lake, California
BUTTERLY BUFFS
Really loved Ben Goldfarb’s article (“Watching a species disappear,” May 2023). There’s nothing like heartfelt, personal science journalism. I’m guessing the Behren’s silverspot butterfly just gained a lot of new fans!
@rosa_radrazz via Twitter
‘AMENITY TRAPS’ ARE HARD TO ESCAPE
Nick Bowlin’s article on the “amenity trap” facing resort towns (“Western resort towns risk being ‘loved to death,’” hcn.org, May 23, 2023) neatly summarizes the problems that can occur when the economy of such communities is overly reliant on tourism. In combating this economic fragility, the common wisdom is that diversifying the economy beyond tourism will improve “sustainability” and allow these places to better deal with economic stress. Although this argument is true in general, there are costs involved with economic diversification that usually go unrecognized.
Where I live, in the Lake Tahoe region, policymakers are seeking to broaden our local economy from two seasons to four, and hoping as well to attract higher-paying jobs and thus enhance “prosperity.” If successful, the growth in the local workforce that results from this push will likely worsen our already severe housing affordability crisis, and it will certainly heighten the pressure to build homes elsewhere in the commute shed (say, a 40-minute drive), which includes wildlands and habitats that would be better off left undisturbed. Planners and the elected should think carefully before chaining resort towns to the same growth dynamic that leads to sprawl and the birth of cities.
Richard Anderson
Truckee, California
FIELD OF BATTLE
That was a really interesting story on the front line of the invasive species wars by Samuel Shaw (“A weed is swallowing the Sonoran Desert,” hcn.org, May 9, 2023).
@pourmecoffee via Twitter
LEW GEORGE SPEAKS
What a beautiful piece! (“Dispatch from the scaffolds: Native fishing culture on the Columbia River,” hcn.org, May 8, 2023) How great to hear Lew George’s voice, explaining the pictures, something we get all too seldom.
I wonder: If there were more pieces like this one out there in America-land, would people sit up and take notice of what is going on with Mother Nature and all of us Beings? Well, you made a start on that. Thank you for your magnificent work!
Meg Hunt
Olympia, Washington
STORIED REPORTING
I recently signed up for a digital subscription and made a donation. As one of those dreaded transplants to the West, I enjoy the substantive reporting mixed with storytelling that your publication offers. I discovered High Country News when I spied an issue lying on a filing cabinet at work, the Oregon/Washington state office of the Bureau of Land Management in Portland, Oregon, where I serve as the emergency management coordinator for the agency. The reporting reminded me of what Outside Magazine does on occasion, but you do it constantly, so I thought it was high time I supported you — plus I get to explore back issues, so I can increase my historical knowledge.
Bryan Bohn
Hillsboro, Oregon
INTERMOUNTAIN COVERAGE
I originally subscribed to learn more about the High Plains and the Intermountain West of America. I am still dismayed and disappointed about the broadening of your focus to include Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Those places get plenty of national attention, while the intermountain region is still underrepresented. Perhaps HCN could produce an annual issue devoted to the region that was your original focus?
Margaret J. Hayes
Bellingham, Washington
We welcome reader letters. Email High Country News at editor@hcn.org or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Letters to the editor, July 2023.
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