Dear HCN,
Just when I begin to
believe that you guys are presenting a fair picture of what’s
happening on the environmental front in the West, you dash my hopes
once again.
In the recent issue, in the Hotline
section (HCN, 6/8/98), you have the famous John Horning overgrazing
picture that’s been used to death a million times in the past few
years. I think you know that there are locations where that picture
could hold true, but also just as many locations that would show
private land overgrazed and barren and neighboring public lands in
great shape.
The only thing that you could
possibly do to redeem yourselves is to begin to address the real
environmental problem facing the west today – the problem of people
and the damn absurdity of all of the limited resources being
gobbled up by wealthy refugees from California and back East.
Development is the real culprit here.
Ranchers
and others who have been sensible for generations with their use of
the lands in the West deserve at the very least unbiased reporting
from the people who would have us believe you love the West. My
guess at this point is that the West you are all so in love with is
the West as produced by Walt Disney.
As for
development and its effect on Western communities, I believe in
your rag a couple of years ago, you referred us to The Western
Planner and an article by a Montana professor who documented the
results of 20 years of immigration into the West and its results.
Please reread that at some point before you print another Horning
photo.
Sam Taylor
Tres Piedras,
New Mexico
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Give that photo a rest.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
