Whether coal has been “good to Wyoming” or not is pretty debatable (“Coal state struggles,” 12/9/19). Much of the cleanup costs will fall on the state’s taxpayers, and Wyoming doesn’t have much of a tax base as it is, much less after a large part of its income (and its workers) leaves. Wyoming needs to […]
Letter to the editor
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Party Favors
Churlish review
At its core, Carl Segerstrom’s churlish review of Chris Ketcham’s This Land (“The West is more than heroes and villains” HCN, 11/11/19) provides perfect testimony to why the book is so needed at this time. The writing shatters the myths and illusions that ranchers are the salt of the earth, the very fabric that holds the […]
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Party Favors
Eloquently missing the point
Carl Segerstrom’s harsh review of This Land (“The West is more than heroes and villains,” HCN, 11/11/19) dwells too much on the book’s style and tone, distracting from Christopher Ketcham’s compelling indictment of a century of severe and relentless damage to public lands in the Southwest. Segerstrom crafts clever turns of phrase to highlight his own […]
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Party Favors
Energy and national security
Thank you for this important article pointing out the numerous vulnerabilities disproportionately faced by low-income residents and people of color during a crisis (“Solar inequalities,” HCN, 11/25/19). After Hurricane Katrina and every subsequent hurricane, I have said to a friend or co-worker that cities should have neighborhood resiliency centers with PV. I’ve been saying that, […]
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Party Favors
Nailed it, Carl Segerstrom
You describe the West, with all its (“The West is more than heroes and villains,” HCN, 11/11/19). I could barely get through the inside cover of This Land; it’s a fiction of romantic idealism disconnected from the realities of our region, and the complex and pragmatic work to “save” it. Chase GunnellBallard, Washington, via Twitter This […]
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Party Favors
Sea lions are acting naturally
I want to comment on a phrase that was used in the recent article entitled “The ineffectual bombing of sea lions” (HCN, 9/16/19). In it, the authors describe the behavior of the sea lions eating the fish out of the fishermen’s nets as “unabashed thievery.” This is the second time I have read an article […]
Posted inNovember 25, 2019: Forever Mines
A reason not to hunt
“Killing the Goat” was a great article and reminds me of my decision to never hunt again. Halas’ lost goat was my lost elk years before in Colorado. Never again! Ron Mannhalter, via Twitter This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline A reason not to hunt.
Posted inNovember 25, 2019: Forever Mines
False kinship
I have been reading HCN since 2001, during my early college days at Western State in Gunnison. I have never been as unimpressed by an essay as I was by Gabriela Halas’ “Killing the Goat” (HCN, 10/28/19). The writer’s “true kinship” with the two animals she killed retards the idea of hunting ethics and spirituality […]
Posted inNovember 25, 2019: Forever Mines
Humans vs. predators
As far as I know, no one is currently sure of the history of chronic wasting disease (“Weighing the risks”). One theory is that it has been around for many millennia, but was controlled by predators like wolves, mountain lions and bears eating the ungulates that were less able to escape them. So predators removed […]
Posted inNovember 25, 2019: Forever Mines
Modern hunting
Emily Benson diplomatically raises some of the issues surrounding hunting in a modern society (“The power of hunting,” HCN, 10/28/19). There are three additional items worth pointing out. First: Show me the cost-benefit analysis for hunting. It might prove out for subsistence hunters or rural folks shooting game in their hayfields, but for most urbanites, […]
Posted inNovember 25, 2019: Forever Mines
Predators vs. CWD
As a lifelong hunter reared in Denver, and someone who harvested a mule deer near Paonia, Colorado, 60-odd years ago with an 1873 Springfield .45-70, I found Christine Peterson’s reflection on chronic wasting disease very interesting (“Weighing the risks” HCN, 10/28/19). I studied forestry and wildlife management at Colorado State University and worked for the National […]
Posted inNovember 25, 2019: Forever Mines
‘Revolting’
Cloaked in “elegant” prose, “Killing the Goat” was an absolutely revolting article (HCN, 10/28/19). Hunters can search for kinship with the wild all they want, but it is total BS. This clown wounds the mountain goat, tries to follow it but cannot, then kills a bear who comes towards her as she heads back to […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2019: Where Hunting Still Has Meaning
Snake River dams
Thanks for this important article on the shifting politics of the movement to breach the four Snake River dams in southeast Washington (“Courts can’t keep salmon from the edge of extinction,” HCN, 10/14/19). It needs to be added, however, that the court-mandated National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, review, a draft of which is expected […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2019: Where Hunting Still Has Meaning
Treat all firefighters equally
Editor’s note: Pablo Aguirre received this letter from his brother, Francisco X. Aguirre, a participant in Arizona’s Inmate Wildfire Program, who asked him to share it with High Country News. This letter has been edited for length and clarity. Thank you for highlighting the heroics and challenges of imprisoned Arizona wildland firefighter crews in your […]
Posted inOctober 14, 2019: Severed Ties
Exotic management narrative
Based on the photos accompanying “A high-flying act in Olympic National Park” (HCN, 9/2/19), it looks like your reporter participated in an exciting adventure. However, the article unwittingly reflects a false narrative that has been used to justify the park’s management goals for more than four decades. The transfer of mountain goats to other areas, […]
Posted inOctober 14, 2019: Severed Ties
Not-so-speculative journalism
I’ve never been a fan of science fiction and was skeptical of your “speculative journalism” issue (HCN, 8/19/19), so I only skimmed most of it. But the article on Glacier National Park 50 years in the future got me thinking about how much the West has changed since I moved here 46 years ago. Winters […]
Posted inOctober 14, 2019: Severed Ties
Tell the whole story
Suggesting that Robert “Lavoy” Finicum “was later killed by law enforcement at a traffic stop during the (Malheur) occupation” vastly underreports the facts of that law enforcement contact (“Extremists appropriate Indigenous struggles for violent ends,” HCN, 9/16/19). Mr. Finicum blew through a stop, nearly hit a law enforcement officer, asked to be shot and reached […]
Posted inOctober 14, 2019: Severed Ties
Skip the talking points
An HCN article, “Frontier myths crash into Trump’s border wall” (HCN, 9/16/19), recently came across my Facebook news feed. I’m a fairly new subscriber and just started following along on social media, and I was mildly shocked at the complete lack of nuanced thought in the comments. That’s the typical online climate today, but I […]
Posted inSeptember 16, 2019: "We can either wait on Mother Nature – or we can give it a shot ourselves."
A buried history of conflict
Anna Smith’s article on the challenges the Cow Creek Band has faced in regaining and now managing forest lands in Oregon is the kind of piece that both informs and challenges readers. The challenge thrown down by some tribal members is quite provocative: Shawn Fleek’s quote — “The conservation movement began as a way for […]
Posted inSeptember 16, 2019: "We can either wait on Mother Nature – or we can give it a shot ourselves."
Irresponsible journalism
Is HCN a news journal or a creative writing magazine or simply fake news? As a professional educator and writer, I was deeply disturbed by the Aug. 19 issue. I use HCN as a classroom resource, as I hope others do as well. I teach critical thinking and journalistic skepticism along with the regular course […]