Letter to the editor

Dear HCN, Congratulations on the Sid Goodloe story (HCN, 4/15/96), which stuck a cattle prod into conventional narratives. I need to explain my sure-to-be-maligned comments about saguaros. I lump them, properly I think, with “woody” plants. But I do not mean to imply that they, like piûon-juniper, have exploded over the landscape. They have always […]

Dear HCN, The article about Sid Goodloe (HCN, 4/15/96) and his ranch reconstruction is a real winner: The guy has spent 40 years working and seems to be on the right track. He has actually done something to show how it can be done; the reasoning and understanding that he has developed is amazing. It […]

Dear HCN, I must comment on Ron Selden’s article on the Flathead Indian tribes and the Yellowstone Pipe Line Co. (HCN, 3/4/96). Did Selden ask any questions at all, or was the article written by the tribal spokeswoman? First, I won’t defend Conoco’s spill record – it sounds abysmal. They should be made to pay […]

Dear HCN, The jet tubes of Glen Canyon Dam have been opened, the dye dumped, the posturing of politicians and politician-scientists is over. As I write this, a bunch of real scientists are down in Grand Canyon poking, prodding and monitoring the Colorado, its beaches and residents to determine if this “flood” will restore a […]

Dear HCN, The story “Who owns these bones?” (HCN, 3/4/96) addresses a timely and important issue prompted by recent introduction in Congress of the “Fossil Preservation Act” by Reps. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Joe Skeen, R-N.M. The proposed legislation requires clarification. Your article states that, under the new law, “commercial and amateur collectors would be […]

Dear HCN, We appreciate the attention that High Country News recently gave to fossil ownership, but first, we need to point out that part of the nation’s fossil legacy also occurs on land administered by the Forest Service. The Forest Service has been managing fossil localities for years on a case-by-case basis, and began developing […]

Dear HCN, While it was certainly entertaining to read that “naturalists’ go to the park to nap in the nude (Heard around the West, March 18) – and perhaps quite true – I can’t help but suspect that you meant “naturists’ instead. What characterizes most of the naturalists I know is not so much an […]

Dear HCN: Just a few thoughts on reintroduction of the Mexican wolf. Al Schneberger of the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association is correct when he says, “This isn’t about wolves. It’s about control.” However, I see it as ranchers doing the controlling. They control not only the public lands but every aspect of anything that […]

Dear HCN: Michael Cain’s question about forest “edges’ is a good one (HCN, 3/4/96). Too much edge can be a very bad thing. When edges are created by large-scale forest fragmentation – for instance, as a result of extensive clear-cuts – then the remaining forest stands can effectively become islands isolated from the rest of […]

Dear HCN: Mindy Wiebush claims to have heard negative things about activists protecting Cove/Mallard forests and Idaho and denigrates those people (HCN, 2/19/96). Yet she labels actions from corporate vigilantes as merely “hotheaded.” While I don’t know anything about what she is rumored to have heard, this is what I know for sure: All activists […]

Dear HCN, The letter from Scott McIntyre Feb. 19 in response to my essay “Hunting: Get Used to It” (HCN, 1/22/96) displays all the prejudice that makes a rational dialogue between hunters and antihunters so difficult. Although McIntyre claims that he is “not for … or against” hunting, his implication that he’s too mature to […]

Dear HCN, I was really depressed by the art work done by Greg Siple and cleared by your editors which accompanied the cover article on Santa Fe (HCN, 2/5/96). Even this dumb non-Westerner knows saguaros don’t grow naturally in New Mexico. Maybe it was done for a laugh? OK, ha, ha. I am awfully tired […]

Dear HCN, In the William deBuys essay about controversy surrounding northern New Mexico’s forests, he says “We need to create more small forest edges in order to promote species diversity” (HCN, 2/5/96). I am no expert on this matter, but it caught my eye because of research that’s been done in Eastern forests. It shows […]

Dear HCN, William deBuys makes some good points concerning various groups coming to loggerheads in New Mexico, but it should be pointed out that when the Forest Service shut down all tree-cutting in the Southwest it was never appropriate biologically (HCN, 2/5/96). The angry firewood cutters needed piûon-juniper, but this is not an area frequented […]

Dear HCN, I am writing to express my appreciation for your excellent article, “Lack of Enchantment,” Feb. 5. I lived in Santa Fe for about five years between 1987 and 1992 and spent a year and a half as Santa Fe county attorney. I saw the decline of the middle class and the forced emigration […]

Dear HCN, Your articles describing the Cove-Mallard Coalition fall far short of your usual in-depth reporting. They also imply support of their activities (to halt logging of old-growth trees, HCN, 2/5/96). While the coalition’s goal may be worthwhile, their methods stink. The Cove-Mallard sale may or may not be perfect but the Forest Service has […]

Dear HCN, The “Hunting: Get Used to it” essay by Jim Fergus (HCN, 1/22/96) was exquisite – but Fergus shouldn’t be so hasty to stereotype HCN’s readership. Today I am a card-carrying environmentalist, but I am farm/ranch raised and hunting/fishing educated. I cut both my baby teeth and wisdom teeth on Outdoor Life. I believe […]

Dear HCN, In “Unarmed but dangerous critics close in on hunting” (HCN, 12/11/95), a Sports Afield columnist quotes Henry David Thoreau in support of hunting. To finish the conveniently incomplete quote, “This was my answer with respect to those youths who were bent on this pursuit, trusting that they would soon outgrow it. No humane […]

Dear HCN, Jim Fergus could’ve just typed something like: “Stupid, citified yuppies just don’t understand hunting. They never will, and they shouldn’t even try because hunters don’t care what they think.” (HCN, 1/22/96). Perhaps what non-hunters don’t get is how shooting the life out of a living creature can be such a positive experience. But […]

Dear HCN: One does not have to look very far or deep to discover that hunting is a sport for insecure egos and has nothing to do with sound biology, ecology or science (HCN, 12/11/95). Our game and fish agencies are for hunters by hunters and their feet have to be held to the fire […]