Dear HCN,
The report by Steve
Stuebner on subdivisions in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area
in Idaho (HCN, 12/9/96) included one remark that requires some
commentary. Stuebner said reducing cattle grazing along streams to
protect salmon habitat may result in the subdivision of private
ranchland, and condos are worse than cows – aren’t
they?
I will argue that a few cabins on a
160-acre tract cause far less environmental damage to the local
environment than the cumulative impacts of the cattle ranching it
has replaced. Certainly, the cabins or their seasonal inhabitants
won’t be trampling riparian areas, polluting the water, draining
trout and salmon spawning streams for irrigated hay pastures,
poisoning and trapping predators and pests, including wolves which
are recolonizing the area, spreading weeds across the countryside,
compacting soils, spreading disease to wildlife, and competing with
native herbivores for forage over tens of thousands of
acres.
The cause and effect between subdivisions
and ranching needs examination as well. Subdivisions are sprouting
around the West because there is a demand for housing in scenic,
rural areas, not because there is land for sale when individual
ranchers decide to quit the business. Today, with higher land
values, no one can afford to buy a ranch and run cows on it and pay
off the mortgage.
George
Wuerthner
Eugene,
Oregon
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Condos, in any case.
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