Dear HCN,
Your front page story on
Jon Marvel points to the fact that you seem to have no clear vision
of how to save the West from inappropriate development and urban
sprawl (HCN, 8/2/99). I got the same feeling when I read your
feature story on Wyoming a while back. You and your bright, young,
intellectual staff seem to have it in for cattle and cattlemen
without having thought out what such a vendetta, if successful,
would bring about.
All open space can’t be
contained in parks, forest preserves and BLM holdings. But the many
ranches that provide the majority of open space in the West need
public lands for grazing. Depriving them of their leases will put
them out of business and subject their deeded land to development.
Once development sets in, it’s too late. Ranching and farming are
unique in this way: Ranchers and farmers can cash in on failure by
selling their land for more than they can ever make working it. All
they need is a little push in the wrong direction. And if you open
up all grazing leases to the highest bidder, as the Idaho Supreme
Court has recently done in response to the irresponsible lawsuit
brought by Marvel and Laird, the wealthy will out-bid the small
operator, with the same
result.
Michael
Whitt
Point Reyes Station,
California
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline After the ranchers go, sprawl comes.
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