Dear HCN,
I’d like to jump into the
ongoing debate over which viewpoints are legitimate for
HCN to publish.
I understand
that this publication was founded with passion for environmental
preservation. Very important still, but surely the time is ripe to
welcome ranchers and timber companies as potential allies instead
of designated villains. I was happy to see the article by a
Potlatch official, to which other readers objected. The people who
work for Potlatch are my neighbors, citizens of the West who are
entitled to survive. Likewise the farmers and ranchers. I wish that
the issue (HCN, 10/22/01) had given the front page to the “Rio
Grande’s unsung diplomat,” who “worked with farmers and water
managers to find new ways to look out for the health of the river,
while meeting the needs of people,” and put “Healing the Gila” on
the back page. “Healing” reports with apparent glee that “the
Forest Service booted cows off some Southwestern rivers,” and that
the agreement between the Forest Service and environmental groups
“forced ranchers” to some drastic management changes. The author
seems to be OK with the fact that some ranchers “called it quits.”
Good riddance, he seems to be saying.
I call
myself an environmentalist. I want healthy ecosystems all over the
planet. I also eat beef on a wooden dining table in my wood-frame
house, travel in airplanes, drive a car, fence my pasture (wood
posts come from loggers, barb wire comes from miners), wear wool
clothes and leather shoes. What kind of jerk would use all these
products but declare war on the providers? As I see it, we should
accept that we humans are part of the ecosystem. We should strive
mightily to broaden the earth-protecting coalition to include all
stakeholders. HCN is my best source of news on what’s working, what
isn’t working, the human and natural conflicts, the prospects for
amelioration, the unnoticed catastrophes. I like to share it, but I
can’t give it to the people who need it most if the articles seem
to write them off.
Darcy
James
Grangeville,
Idaho
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Time to broaden the earth-protecting coalition.
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