Letter to the editor

Graham Lee Brewer’s interview with Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz provides some historical framing for current socio-political happenings (“Armed and contagious,” June 2020). When things don’t make sense, dig into history to find out why. Alan-Michael Foucault, via Twitter This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline America’s historical violence.

Such a tragic story. Poor sweet Tokitae, imprisoned for 50 years in a tank that’s illegally too small. In 2005, southern resident orcas finally received protection under the Endangered Species Act and were never to be kept captive again. But the law excluded Tokitae. She is made to perform circus tricks and be USED as […]

The architect of President Trump’s environmental rollbacks, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, has spent most of his career serving industry, anti-regulation ideologues. J.K. Sloan, via Twitter This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Anti-regulatory architect.

I cannot help but comment in protest of the practice illustrated in the story, “Running hot” (June 2020) of apparently tossing (live?!) salmon up and over a stationary setnet onto the rocky shoreline. I’m sure I don’t understand the business of commercial fishing, but no animal deserves to be dispatched in such a degrading manner. […]

As a subscriber and contributor to High Country News for many years, I have to say I was shocked by the graphic descriptions of animal cruelty in the poaching article (“Digital Shadows,” June 2020). I happened to be browsing the print edition over lunch. Bad timing. The article describes admirable teamwork by the people who […]

The scientific name for the orca is Orcinus orca. To my tribe, the Lhaq’ te’mish of the Salish Sea, they are people. In our stories, they have societies and a culture similar to our own. Quad Finn, via Twitter This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Orca culture.

This is the Trump administration’s environmental shock doctrine (“Reg wreckage,” June 2020): Ramping up the killing of poor, Black, brown and Native peoples, and poisoning the world for profit. Alyosha Goldstein, via Twitter This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Poison for profit.

One of the smartest moves in this story is that the reporter included comment from a foreign terrorism and radicalization researcher. The story is about heavily armed men running a poaching ring in Washington and Oregon. Ian Morse, via Twitter This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Radicalized poaching.

While the nation is distracted by a pandemic, the Trump administration is rolling back health and environmental protections at a breakneck pace. Susan Stone, via Twitter This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Rollbacks at a breakneck pace.

The culling of human beings is what I am heartbroken about — our old, our houseless, our vulnerable. Natalie Hirt, via Twitter This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline The crisis is culling our vulnerable.

Rena Priest does an effective job in her story, drawing parallels between captive orcas and missing and murdered Indigenous women (“A captive orca and a chance for our redemption,” April 2020). Fifty years on, how do we justify the conditions Tokitae lives in, let alone the fact of her captivity itself? Lance Martin, via Facebook […]

The interview provides a view on the armed reopen “protests,” from an interesting point of view. It’s a chilling analysis summing up three centuries and their original sins: guns, profits and a culture of privilege. Maybe a tad bit radical, but makes you think. Jürgen Kraus, via Twitter This article appeared in the print edition […]

Thank you for the eye-opening article on land-grant universities. However, High Country News failed to state what the tribes would have been entitled to had their treaties been ratified. Coercion and duress may be used to set aside a modern contract, but even though coerced, the tribes may want to enforce the treaties to receive […]

For three years, Cornell had a faculty-led project on land grabs, some domestic and most abroad. I co-led the project and investigated U.S. Indian land grabs, but I resoundingly overlooked what you’ve uncovered. I’m both humbled and grateful. Today, I forwarded a message to scholars and lawyers around the United States who share this interest. […]

This is the best thing I’ve ever read about Los Angeles, and one of the best things I’ve ever read about anywhere.  Lara Disney, via Twitter This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline The best thing I’ve ever read about Los Angeles.

I found Lynell George’s piece “No Trick of Light” (May 2020) profoundly moving. As an expatriate Californian living in Colorado, I was stirred by her references to a certain play of light, the peculiar sound of wind among native and non-native trees, the cooing of doves, and the ever-changing topography of desert and hills going […]

Most Western states have regulated seasons for shed hunting and designated open and closed areas (“The ethics of shed-hunting,” Outdoor Rec & Travel 2020). Nothing unethical about following these regulations to shed hunt. Those who flout the regulations are not only unethical but committing crimes. Shed hunting per se is not unethical. —Richard B. Jones, […]

I think we’d best beware of the “fascism” that we already have! Trump is using the COVID-19 pandemic to relax environmental standards for industries as it is. If anything, we’re going in a totally opposite direction than what this suggests. Our once-relevant Environmental Protection Agency has been mostly hijacked early on by the Trump administration. […]

While I share the concern as to the intrusion of technology and impact of placement of towers, I am also reminded of the multiple deaths and rescues that have occurred due to ill-advised flatlanders who attempted to climb Longs Peak or similar destinations in Rocky Mountain National Park in poor weather conditions. You’re not going […]