IDAHO ISN’T OREGON
As a member of the legislative body, it makes me furious that the Idaho Legislature is wasting a second of time contemplating greater Idaho when we’ve got so many problems that we have to solve (“The Movement to Make Oregon Great Again,” August 2023). We got elected to represent Idahoans, and to worry about Oregon and their problems is an abdication of our duty.
Rep. Ned Burns, D, Idaho District 26
Bellevue, Idaho
@Ned4idaho via Twitter
LEGISLATIVE RELICS
As a reporter for the Casper Star-Tribune in the 1980s, I wrote many stories about the Mining Law of 1872, focusing on the law’s negative economic and environmental consequences for Western states (“An antiquated law rules mining in the West,” August 2023). Much of my reporting covered efforts to reform the law, which were led by the Mineral Policy Center (founded by former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall and Wyoming environmentalist Phil Hocker) and by a handful of progressive members of Congress, notably Rep. Nick Joe Rahall of West Virginia.
Although reform bills passed the House in the 1990s, they never went anywhere in the Senate, where they were blocked by a group of senators from the West, mostly Republicans, but with a few powerful Democrats (here’s looking at you, Harry Reid) also in opposition. Although their states stood to gain economically from ending the giveaway of the public’s mineral estate, those Western senators were — and many still are — in thrall to the hardrock mining industry.
The Mining Law of 1872 is an anachronism that has survived far too long. But, like many other governmental anachronisms — the Electoral College, for example — it is likely to be with us for quite a while.
Andrew O Melnykovych
Louisville, Kentucky
GOLF AND WATER DON’T MIX
It is not OK that old water-usage habits are continued (“A putter’s paradise with a water problem,” August 2023)! That doesn’t mean golf must go, it means the people who manage the landscape must learn new skills. Please do so, and brag about it, so that many land managers can learn to do better.
@ed_averill via Twitter
Absolute insanity, combined with denial and stupidity, gives you multiple golf courses in a desert … during a megadrought.
Bill Watkins via Facebook
WOLF MILL?
I read “Smell matters” (August 2023) and found it disturbing. While I recognize the need for these pups to hopefully replenish the Mexican wolf packs, I was dismayed that there was no mention of the welfare of their birth mother at Brookfield Zoo.
I wondered: Was she just being used to produce pups, only to have them torn away from her? Were all of her pups taken, or was she allowed to mother some of them? This seems like a cruel practice; she might as well be in a puppy mill.
It is now known that animals mourn for the loss of their offspring, just like we do. I hope that this has been taken into consideration during this experiment. The care of this mother at Brookfield should be just as important as the care of her puppies in the wild.
Kris Cloud
Chicago, Illinois
POETRY CONNECTS
I want to say thank you for the addition of poetry to your issues. I always appreciate your informative reporting, and I feel that the poetry selections add a layer of feeling and empathy that I find hard to express.
I live in Tucson, have a sibling in Albuquerque, and parents in Colorado, where I grew up. I just read “Sister Storms” by Jacqueline Balderrama, in the July issue, the morning after one of the most ferocious monsoon storms I have ever seen, following one of the longest heat waves. Jacqueline’s poem left me with a mix of grief and anxiety, but also a deep sense of love and closeness with family, friends and strangers. It was a wrenching reminder that no matter how far apart, we are all connected, for better or for worse, by our changing world.
Rachael Black
Tucson, Arizona
TWISTED HISTORY
I just returned from Beatrice, Nebraska, after researching my great-grandfather’s homestead there. I finally picked up the June issue and read “The Many Legacies of Letitia Carson” by Jaclyn Moyer. I was riveted. Turns out my great-grandfather was swindled by the same federal government that had swindled the Otoe Indians. I understood the twists and turns then of this piece. Excellent research and writing.
Teresa Finn
Benicia, California
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, September 2023.
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