WATCHDOGGING WASTE
I want to applaud Jaclyn Moyer for her article “Where the Garbage Goes” (June 2025). Anyone worried about a landfill anywhere would be well advised to read this account. My first professional position in 1973 was funded by an Environmental Protection Agency grant designed to examine how various soil types sequestered contaminants in landfill leachates. Some worked better than others, but none worked so well as to preclude liners. Unfortunately, federal enforcement of environmental laws was abysmal in the first Trump administration, and now it will likely be worse.
Nic Korte
Grand Junction, Colorado
PORTRAITS OF PASSAGES
In Arivaca, Arizona, we are 11 miles from the border. It is a pathway and has been a pathway for centuries.
The pictures in your June article “Tierra Prometida” are excellent. Lisa Elmaleh’s use of the large format, and of her subsequent opportunities, is perfect.
Allyson Porter
Arivaca, Arizona
WE HAVE TO CARE
I appreciate the coverage of scientific research in national parks and the impact of political changes. Not everyone cares about bull trout or invasive species, but I do (“Scientific field season in jeopardy,” June 2025).
Even if you don’t care about stewardship of public open spaces, your grandchildren will. I don’t have any answers, but I do know that we need all points of view to have a balanced future.
Brooke Evenden
Denton, Texas
FISHING FOR NEW PERSPECTIVE
I loved the writing in “I wish I was ice fishing” (May 2025), especially one bit, which shifted my sense of the “real” world: “In conversations I have with people who’ve never left the road system.” Wow!
Esther Gass
Millinocket, Maine
LOW OPINION OF LOWRIDING
Concerning “Drop It Low” (May 2025): I think it is weird to have a piece about it in HCN. One of the shittier things about Albuquerque is the excessive amount of loud and speeding cars, which is nothing to celebrate.
Mark Langner
Coleville, California
REHAB FOR OIL ADDITION?
In “Behavior change is society change” (May 2025), there were several “What if …” statements. I have two of my own to add:
What if people had enough common sense to not rely on oil companies for scientific research?
What if we stopped assuming we have a God-given right to travel wherever we want, whenever we want, as quickly and conveniently as possible?
After all, it’s not the production of fossil fuels that’s the problem; it’s the consumption of them.
Marian Rhys
Portland, Oregon
BALANCING WOLF IMPACTS
The article “The true cost of wolves” (May 2025) is a departure from HCN’s quality journalism. No credible evidence supports the claim that wolves’ mere presence negatively impacts cattle.
The article perpetuates outdated stereotypes about wolves and fails to acknowledge wolf conservation’s significant economic and ecological benefits. Public-lands ranchers already benefit from bargain-basement grazing fees, and predation overcompensation creates unsustainable expectations, discouraging effective livestock management. This pattern will only worsen the situation for wolves and lead to increased conflicts.
I have 38 years of experience in wolf management and currently oversee the Wood River Wolf Project in Idaho, a successful model demonstrating that wolves and livestock can coexist peacefully. Despite managing tens of thousands of sheep in wolf territories, we have seen fewer than five sheep lost to wolves annually, with only two wolves lethally removed in response to conflicts over our 18-year field study. Coexistence is about attitude, and I applaud the ranchers who are careful stewards of our public lands.
Less than 2% of our nation’s livestock production occurs on public land. And the cost to us as taxpayers is rarely acknowledged, as the public often pays for their predator control, water, fencing, habitat restoration from overgrazing and more. Then we pay again at the grocery store.
Our public lands are the last sanctuary for wildlife. Enough is enough. Let’s minimize livestock on those lands and prioritize stewarding them as the best last places for wildlife to thrive.
Suzanne Asha Stone
Garden City, Idaho
We appreciated High Country News highlighting the pay for presence (P4P) concept in the context of wolf recovery. As wolves expand across the West, they bring a range of hidden costs to livestock production, which may include lower pregnancy rates, reduced weight gain, emotional stress for producers and increased time spent protecting livestock or locating mortalities. These impacts are difficult to quantify, and we are far from identifying a reliable funding model.
It’s encouraging that states like California are using the best available data to pilot P4P, and we are excited to help the state evaluate its effectiveness. Alongside this, livestock protection tools and strong communication between wildlife managers and producers remain essential. We must continue developing a full suite of conflict management tools to support ranching livelihoods while sustaining carnivores — and P4P could be a valuable addition to that toolbox.
Matt Hyde and Arthur Middleton
California Wolf Project
Berkeley, California
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