Letter to the editor

Dear HCN, Ed Marston writes that the war between extractive interests and the environmental movement is drawing to a close and the enviro movement won (HCN, 4/10/00: Beyond the Revolution). Like the person who reads about his death in the paper, reports of the demise of extractive interests are greatly exaggerated. We will always have […]

Dear HCN, I read, carefully, each of the separate articles in the HCN special issue of April 10, and I’ve come to my own conclusion: We’re in a trap with no exit. Balkanization will be the model. Duke HaydukBluff, Utah This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline The fragmented […]

Dear HCN, Judging from publisher Ed Marston’s April 10 article, “Beyond the Revolution,” High Country News has abandoned all pretext of balanced treatment of environmental news. For Mr. Marston to assume that the four Snake River dams will be breached, and for him to completely ignore the vitally important issue of Western private land intermixed […]

Dear HCN, Your “Beyond the Revolution” articles about the future of the new West could have included mention of the long-discussed proposal to place the BLM-managed lands into a National Public Lands System, similar to the national forest, national parks, and national wildlife refuge systems that protect our forests, parks and refuges. The BLM lands […]

Dear HCN, As a recent graduate of Utah State University in Logan, Utah, I must report my bewilderment upon reading your characterization of my former home: “Nowadays, Logan is a smaller version of Boulder, Colo. Trophy homes glisten along the foothills of the Wasatch Range; students buy double lattés before class, and go jogging on […]

Dear HCN, Alan S. Kesselheim’s lead story on the Yellowstone River hits the nail on the head (HCN, 3/27/00: The last wild river). A classic, one-of-a-kind, free-flowing river gets ruined because of greed and stupidity. The fact that anyone can build anything in a 100-year floodplain is insane. Look at the Mississippi if you want […]

Dear HCN, It is clear that even flush times don’t lead legislators to significantly increase base funding when programs like “fee demo” appear to be working. When federal appropriations decline again, and belts have to tighten, these fee programs will be an excuse for reducing base appropriations. Managers would be better served by clearly explaining […]

Dear HCN, Lisa Jones’ profile of Jim Catron describes quite accurately the philosophy and attitudes of one of several British cultures that reached what is now the United States during the 17th and 18th centuries (HCN, 3/13/00: The last Celtic warlord lives in New Mexico). But the one thing that Jim Catron’s culture is not […]

Dear HCN, Hypocrites. How many times have we heard the demand that the extraction industries (mining, grazing and logging) pay fair market value for the use of public resources. The cry goes forth from those that supposedly care about the West, “why should citizens shoulder below-cost subsidies for special interests.” In fact, it is well […]

Dear HCN, One of the people you interviewed for the fee demo feature article (HCN, 2/14/00: Land of the fee), Gary Guenther, asked, “Where’s the money going?” I can provide a partial answer to that question, and it’s mind-boggling. The river activist group Riverhawks and the Northwest Rafters Association have conducted an extensive audit of […]

Dear HCN, What a disappointment to see yet another foggy-headed front-page diatribe against recreation fees on federal lands (HCN, 2/14/00: Land of the fee). Instead of trying to shed new light on the issue and search for solutions, the story seemed to be a mirror image of a lead story last year that took a […]

Dear HCN, The “fee-demo” program certainly is a demonstration. It clearly demonstrates who controls Congress. After decades of my (and your) tax dollars supporting below-cost timber sales, clear-cutting of our national forests, mining and overgrazing of our public lands for the profit of a few, now I am supposed to pay a fee to simply […]

Dear HCN, In Southern California, Forest Service fees are implemented as an “Adventure” Pass. Passes are sold in retail stores, as well as Forest Service stations. Day-passes are $5. Annual passes are $30. Parking in the national forest without a pass on the dash is ticketable. Independent of the dollar amount, it’s an extremely annoying […]

Dear HCN, Your article on federal recreation fees (HCN, 2/14/00: Land of the fee) touched a nerve with me, so to speak. While beginning a hike into the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area near Granby, Colo., last summer, I paused to insert my fee stub into the collection box at the wilderness boundary. My groping fingers […]

Dear HCN, So my law school classmate, Debra Donahue, has applied her formidable legal mind to try to de-cow most Western public lands (HCN, 2/28/00: A prof takes on the sacred cow). Note to Wyoming ranchers: When you calm down enough to want to address the merits of her arguments, come prepared. Deb is a […]

Dear HCN, I read your Roundup on Cold War tourism in South Dakota with apprehension (HCN, 2/14/00: From missile silo to theme park) because you could come away with the idea that the Cold War is over. When I reread the article at 2 a.m., I realized this could be someone’s idea of the perfect […]

Dear HCN, I am deeply disappointed in the Sierra Club for its stand against the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program. Yes, it truly would be much more desirable for Congress and the president to fund adequately and promptly our national treasures – but that is not likely to happen soon, if ever. As I sit at […]

Dear HCN, I think the preferred alternative for the White River National Forest Plan is a huge step forward, though I prefer Alternative I (HCN, 1/17/00: STOP – A national forest tries to rein in recreation). I have yet to have visited a national forest that didn’t have more than enough roads and trails. Yes, […]

Dear HCN, Wyoming’s illustrious Senate president, Mr. Twiford of Douglas (HCN, 2/28/00: A prof takes on the sacred cow), needs to creep out of his cave, somewhere in the wilds of Converse County, and smell the roses. This is the 21st century, not the 1890s, and the times they are a-changin’. I flew with the […]

Dear HCN, I disagree that President Clinton’s 40 million-acre roadless area proposal represents “uncharted territory: (HCN, 11/8/99: A new road for the public lands). We have already done what the president wants – been there, done that! Each national forest has been through at least one forest plan. In that process we looked at each […]