Letter to the editor

My heart broke when I read about Chris Apassingok, the young Yupik whale hunter from Gambell, Alaska (“Death Threats,” HCN, 7/24/17). A couple of decades ago, I would have agreed with Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Society — although not as vehemently or with malice — on the principle that it’s not necessary to […]

Thank you, Brian Calvert, for sharing your deep dive into the spirit (“Down the Dark Mountain,” HCN, 7/24/17) and writing personally of a journey so many of us are making. As you discovered, poet Robinson Jeffers preceded us on that journey, and his works deserve a new generation of readers. He deeply inspired “archdruid” David […]

Brian Calvert’s piece “Down the Dark Mountain” (HCN, 7/24/17) was good, beautifully written, but … Robinson Jeffers a “forgotten” poet? While I’m glad Jeffers’ work and life have been brought to the attention of HCN readers, as one of those readers myself I have to tell you I’m a little peeved. You would have a […]

I’ve read Brian Calvert’s essay “Down the Dark Mountain” (HCN, 7/24/17) twice now, and will read it again, along with some of Robinson Jeffers’ poetry. I can’t recall a more intriguing and exhilarating piece of environmental journalism. Rare is the environmentalist who will acknowledge that we do not appear able to avert an ecocide, and confronting […]

I was moved by Brian Calvert’s eloquence, his personal soul-searching, and his finding solace and hope in the words of Robinson Jeffers. I was less impressed by his conclusions centering on beauty and justice and his referencing Douglas Tompkins’ quote, “If anything can save the world, I’d put my money on beauty.” It seems clear […]

In the story “Death Threats” (HCN, 7/24/17), Jessica Lefevre, an attorney for the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, says, “The NGOs we deal with are ideologically driven; this is what they do, they save stuff. The collateral damage to communities doesn’t factor into their thinking.” The same could be said for dozens of hard-line animal rights […]

At a superficial level, this story reveals the contradictions of people who claim to be sympathetic to both environmental preservation and Indigenous people living in traditional ways (“Death Threats,” HCN, 7/24/17). But a little deeper down, we face some real human dilemmas. Beyond “managing” wildlife populations and limiting hunting to sustainable levels, many people do […]

Replacing the economic benefits of oil production with trail tourism is a nice idea, but the economic reality is staggering (“Trail Blazing,” HCN, 6/26/17). The current Trans-Alaska Pipeline carrying rate is about 500,000 barrels per day. At about $43 per barrel, the value of that resource is $21.5 million. Per day. All year long. Until […]

Alaska’s economy isn’t in need of salvage (“Trail Blazing,” HCN, 6/26/17). There is already a multibillion dollar tourist economy in the state. There are glacier tours, whale-watching tours, dog-sledding tours, bear-watching tours and hiking tours, in addition to fishing and hunting tours. Alaska actually has too many tours. We are selling off our wilderness as […]

One of the issues that this story didn’t include, but should have, is that our communities and school districts have no way of collecting tax revenues on federally owned public lands, but are still expected to provide the same level or quality of services (“Who sponsors, who pays,” HCN, 6/12/17). Currently, the state and federal […]

The chart in this article (“Who sponsors, who pays,” HCN, 6/12/17) clearly demonstrates a political system entirely corrupted by financial interests. Citizens have neither the resources, the time nor the expertise to compete against wealthy, well-organized interests that seek short-term economic benefits from the politicians they essentially own. Unless we adopt publicly financed elections, our […]

Unfortunately, we do not live in a land of undisturbed habitat where species with specialized habitat needs can live in balance with historical predators (“The cost of a comeback,” HCN, 5/29/17). The Sierra Nevada bighorn’s historical range and DNA profile were already limited, and multiple factors have subsequently further reduced their DNA diversity, habitat and […]

As a former “traildog” (six summers in Glacier National Park), I much appreciated your June 26 issue on Western trails. I noted particularly the profile of Loretta McEllhiney, ace trails engineer, and Jacob Sax’s “Trailworker Slang,” though it should be noted that trail terminology and construction methods vary considerably throughout the West. Rick Bass’ essay should […]

Bravo, Rick Bass! But he didn’t go far enough (“A straight line in a contoured world,” HCN, 6/26/17). Trail construction destroys wildlife habitat — not just in the trail bed, but in a wide swath on both sides of the trail, where animals are inhibited from using their habitat. According to Ed Grumbine in Ghost […]

As the principal author of the successful petition to list the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep as threatened in 1999, I read your article “The Cost of a Comeback” with great interest (HCN, 5/29/17). The listing gave state and federal authorities the tools they needed to address the two major threats to the sheep’s survival — […]

Regarding the article “On leaving the government” (HCN, 5/29/17), I would caution HCN to avoid reporting petty arguments between scientists, and to research their backgrounds more carefully before framing some scientists as more mainstream than others. There are many types of scientists working on climate change, and calling them all “climate scientists” is misleading and […]

The bighorn reintroduction project in Arizona’s Catalina Mountains did not appease everyone; far from it (“The Cost of a Comeback,” HCN, 5/29/17). The Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club did not approve of the project and a local Tucson group, Friends of Wild Animals, vehemently opposed both killing mountain lions and net-gunning bighorn from […]

It’s not surprising that, in the past, bighorn sheep found the rugged terrain of the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson ideal habitat (“The Cost of a Comeback,” HCN, 5/29/17). Whether it is still ideal is the question. While factors leading to the bighorn’s extirpation in the 1990s have been cataloged, I’m not aware of research […]

It’s very interesting that now that we have a president who looks at national monuments from the other side of the aisle, some people feel that their voices are not heard (“Zinke listened at Bears Ears, but supporters felt unheard,” HCN, 5/29/17). Consider how those who voted for this president have felt for the past […]