Letter to the editor

Dear HCN, Jeffery Smith’s plaintive essay, “Sensory Deprivation on the High Plains’ (HCN, 7/7/97), reflects what Patrick Jobes has called the “deconstructing” of Western communities. In his decade-long study of demographic trends in the Gallatin Valley of Montana, Jobes found that newcomers had, on average, moved four times in the past decade. “Newcomers have a […]

No hand-wringing here Dear HCN, I read with some dismay your front-page article by Paul Krza (HCN, 7/7/97). I feel that this was a very negative slant on our state. Mr. Krza is a very negative third-generation Wyomingite. I am also a third-generation Wyomingite, with both of my grandfathers in Wyoming before the turn of […]

A South Dakotan protests Dear HCN, I found Paul Krza’s article on Wyoming in the July 7 issue fascinating, since I recently saw some of the things he discussed – the instant boom towns, the huge trailer parks, the endless coal trains, the deserted towns in the rural areas. But will Wyoming “become more like […]

Dear HCN, Team Summo, as you refer to us in your recent issue (HCN, 6/23/97), feels an obligation to respond to your article which focuses on us and our exploration and mine development activities in the central West. Gerald Nailor has a colorful past which lends itself well to the human interest side of Ms. […]

Dear HCN, I’d like to comment on the article about Habitat Conservation Plans, in which biologist Lorin Hicks says that his company, Plum Creek Timber, began changing its timber management philosophy in 1990 and is working to become environmentally responsible (HCN, 8/4/97). I’m a logger/conservationist who lives near Plum Creek’s hometown, Columbia Falls, Mont., and […]

Dear HCN, I was encouraged by your article on “thrillcraft” since jetboats have increased dramatically in recent years on the Colorado River in the Moab area (HCN, 8/4/97). After numerous complaints from concerned citizens (mostly swimmers using local beaches), a meeting was held by the Grand County Council. The matter at hand was whether to […]

Dear HCN, Katherine and Michael McCoy lament the lack of entrepreneurial spirit of the folks of rural Utah and chastise Westerners in general for a lack of excitement about the changes sweeping through the economies and landscapes of the West (HCN, 6/23/97). The McCoys seem to suggest that we in the rural West should put […]

Dear HCN, If letter-writer George Burns (HCN, 6/9/97) wants to have the whole west rim of Hells Canyon open to him and his buddies in their trucks, he ought to just say so. Even though we still wouldn’t agree, those of us who desperately cling to the last 12 miles of nonmotorized rim could respect […]

Dear HCN, Thanks for the extraordinary stories on Wyoming (HCN, 7/7/97). The response from those I have talked with has been elation for a great analysis and critique of Wyoming; hopefully, those responsible for making public policy will learn from the picture Paul Krza put together. Tom Throop Lander, Wyoming The writer is executive director […]

Dear HCN, I read in stunned amazement your story June 23 that was not only totally off-base on the premise but factually incorrect as well. When the reporter called me, I told him for the record that if he wrote a story based on the false premise that big, bad ranchers were behind the firing […]

Editor’s Note: In a letter to the editor on June 23, Katherine and Michael McCoy of Buena Vista, Colo., expressed dismay about the lack of entrepreneurial zeal in the town of Boulder, near Utah’s new monument. This was one response to their complaint: Dear Mr. and Mrs. McCoy: We are sorry you were unable to […]

Dear HCN, Hopi Tribal Chairman Ferrell Secakuku announced on April 1 that the Navajo squatters remaining on Hopi land would be given until Feb. 1, 2000, to sign 75-year leases, yet Cate Gilles’ article (HCN, 3/31/97) portrays the Hopis as villains in this sad affair. The truth is that the U.S. government created the problem […]

Dear HCN, I suspect High Country News will soon have its fill of communications about Olympic Mountain goats, but Mr. Markarian’s letter of May 12 should not go unchallenged. All of the evidence he cites in support of the idea that the goats are native to the Olympic Mountains is suspect. First, the Gilman expedition, […]

Dear HCN, In your article in the June 9 Western Roundup section, Randal O’Toole stated that he “would have each national forest operate autonomously, allowing each to sell its trees at fair-market value. Forests would not be subsidized by tax dollars but funded by their own profits. Ideally, Congress would have little to do with […]

Dear HCN, We Americans are really something (-The Sacred & Profane Collide…,” HCN, 5/26/97). We spend a century trying to annihilate the natives so we can steal all their best land, land that contains their holiest sites, their natural cathedrals. Somehow a few manage to survive our onslaught, but we banish these people to hostile […]

Dear HCN, I wish to comment on the Hotline item, “Coffee is bad for birds,” in the May 12 issue of HCN. The article left the impression that consumers, until now, could not obtain shade-grown (bird-friendly) coffee. Actually, bird-friendly coffees are and have been available to the discerning coffee drinker. This is an important consumer, […]

Dear HCN, I was pleased to see your feature on “Evangelical Christians preach a green gospel” (HCN, 4/28/97). Too often those in the environmental movement blame Christianity for promoting ideas that lead to degradation of the earth. There have also been too many Christians who have not understood that the environmental movement has been doing […]

Dear HCN, While visiting our newest national monument last weekend, we stopped at a small store in Boulder, Utah, to buy gas, dog food and a few groceries. When we asked if the store had a microwave and sold frozen burritos for a quick lunch, the pleasant saleswoman replied, “Sorry, we’re not really into fast […]

Dear HCN, I am offended by Louise Liston’s statement, “I love the land, and it’s different from an environmentalist’s love. We have a deep, abiding love; they have a weekend love affair …” (HCN, 4/14/97). It is presumptuous to assume that other people’s enjoyment of the nation’s public lands is any less legitimate than one’s […]

Dear HCN, I doubt if you will print this, but I must object strongly to Scott Stouder’s story on the Hells Canyon Rim, a terribly distorted and prejudiced piece (HCN, 4/14/97). The truth of the matter is easy to discern if one merely reads the act creating the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area and Wilderness […]