Letter to the editor

Dear HCN, I was amused by the vehemence of Ted Williams’ essay, “The Eucalyptus: Sacred or profane?” (HCN, 2/18/02: The Eucalyptus: Sacred or profane?) as a native Californian living on the other coast. My moldering 1968 copy of Munz’s A California Flora and Supplement lists four species of eucalyptus as native. At the time the […]

Dear HCN, As a long-time reader of HCN, I must say that your paper just keeps on getting better all the time. The last two issues were, in my opinion, great! Not to say all of them aren’t, these just seemed to appeal to me on a different level. Keep on doing what you do […]

Dear HCN, The issues of tourism and formal designation of special status for the San Rafael Swell have once again surfaced. As I remember, the last time the people of Emery County had this much debate about development issues was in the early 1970s. At that time there was a very tiny minority who spoke […]

Dear HCN, There is no need for condors to be dying of lead poisoning (HCN, 2/18/02: Condor program laden with lead). There are already several alternatives to lead bullets on the market. For more than a decade, solid copper bullets have proven effective on all game. Though currently expensive for shooters who do a lot […]

Dear HCN, Andy Stahl writes that William Dwyer was nominated for the federal bench “by liberal Democrat Dan Evans and conservative Republican Slade Gorton” (HCN, 3/4/02: ‘His courtroom was a classroom’). Actually, Evans is also a Republican. Stahl is probably confused because, in 1985, a liberal Republican like Evans would be more liberal than most […]

Dear HCN, Contrary to your suggestion (HCN, 2/4/02: No game plan for the public lands), the Bush administration has a very clear game plan: Drill, mine and log. Start with the all-out campaign to turn the Arctic Refuge’s coastal plain into a sprawling oil field. The president also has expressed interest in drilling in the […]

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 […]

Dear HCN, This is a follow-up to a couple of articles on sage grouse (HCN, 2/4/02: Last dance for the sage grouse?). Sagebrush is an important species and vital to rangeland ecosystems, but there is a limit to how much sagebrush is enough before it begins to bring down the overall condition of rangelands. When […]

Dear HCN, Could we go from the general to the specific? How many hunting tags are issued in condor habitat? (HCN, 2/18/02: Condor program laden with lead). How much more does a lead-free bullet cost (how much is the bullet of total cartridge cost?), and how many rounds does the average hunter fire in the […]

Dear HCN, In the article on snowmobiles by Douglas Schnitzspahn (HCN, 2/4/02: Snowmobilers rev up for roadless riding) there was a glaring error which I felt emboldened to bring to your attention. Pat McKenna is quoted as saying “scientific studies have proven that the paths that snowmobiles create up there (Mount Jefferson, Mont.) disturb wolverines […]

Dear HCN, Dispatch To the Kingdom of Paonia: Without dwelling on the thesis of This Sovereign Land and the view that the federal government must transfer the power over federal lands into local hands, presuming there is some legal, structural and socio-political basis for this action, I would like to submit a comment on Ed […]

Dear HCN, I read with interest Ray Ring’s article on environmentalism in Montana (HCN, 12/17/01: Bad moon rising) and have followed the comments others have made. Mr. Ring and all the writers make good points, but they all miss one reason environmental concerns have lost local support. To use Clinton’s campaign motto – “It’s the […]

Dear HCN, I liked Ray Ring’s recent article, “Bad moon rising,” about environmental organizations in Montana (HCN, 12/17/01: Bad moon rising). It gave some of the history of how progressive coalitions achieved significant legislative results on issues important to Montanans. It should be noted that during those years, Montana’s Legislature passed socially responsible statutes in […]

Dear HCN, Your review of the new Power and Barrett book left me feeling that Mr. Power had left behind some previously articulated wisdom (HCN, 12/17/01: Economics with a heart, but no soul). My memory of an earlier Power book – The Economic Pursuit of Quality – and Ms. Debra Ellers’ letter in the same […]

Dear HCN, I take exception to HCN’s definition of who is and who is not a Westerner. I was born and raised in Arizona and, except for a short exile in the South, I’ve lived in what I thought was the West all my life. I love the West and have devoted a substantial part […]

Dear HCN, Allen Best (HCN, 2/18/02: How does snow melt?) suggests that we can identify “real” Westerners using the test question, “How does snow melt?” It’s an appropriate test. Unfortunately, Mr. Best flunks his own test. Quoting from the last paragraph: “For the record: It melts from the ground up. Not knowing such things does […]

Dear HCN, Barbara Schuster’s confusion about the Mormons’ bad rap is not shared by many “Gentiles” who grew up in the Beehive state. Obviously she didn’t spend her childhood in a neighborhood where most kids are forbidden to play with non-Mormons. She was never dropped off at Primary (Mormon catechism) by a public school bus. […]

Dear HCN, When one reads the article by Hal Clifford in High Country News regarding cattlemen and sage grouse (HCN, 2/4/02: Last dance for the sage grouse?), it is very obvious that the ranchers in the realm of the sage grouse are in severe denial concerning their impacts on sage grouse. I would put the […]

Dear HCN, First off, I’d like to lavish HCN with praises for putting together such a jolly good read, for sure – then, secondly, for also being well-congealed with quotable info regarding the state of our Western environs … perhaps. Explanation: In his letter of Dec. 3, 2001, regarding Randy Udall’s opinion, “We are the […]

Dear HCN, I realize I’m a little late writing to you about your coalbed methane article (HCN, 11/5/01: Wyoming’s powder keg), but I wanted to provide a viewpoint that probably isn’t shared by many of your readers. What I understand from the article is that some landowners are upset at the development of coalbed methane […]