Dear HCN,
While Hal Clifford wrote
a fairly objective article about the sage grouse brouhaha in the
Gunnison Valley (HCN, 2/4/02: Last dance for the sage grouse?), he
omitted a couple of points that would give readers a fuller
understanding of the political landscape. First, Clifford forgets
to mention that Andy Kerr is also executive director of the
National Public Lands Grazing Campaign, which seeks the eventual
elimination of all livestock grazing on public lands. Then maybe
readers would know that when Kerr tells Clifford, “The result of
meeting the goal of a sustainable grouse population might mean the
end of grazing on public lands, but that’s a result, not a goal,”
he’s clearly, um, truth-challenged.
Never mind
that Mark Salvo is also a leader of American Lands, which as the
Western Ancient Forest Campaign played a large part in the spin war
over the spotted owl. No wonder these guys are looking for another
spotted owl in the sage grouse – just think of all the ranchers
they can eliminate armed with another ESA
listing.
Dave
Skinner
Whitefish, Montana
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Looking for another spotted owl.
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