Letter to the editor

In magnitude and complexity, this Utah wilderness deal sounds less like the Washington County bill than the San Rafael Swell land deal that melted down when exposed as a multimillion-dollar rip-off of the American public (“Red Rock Resolution?” HCN, 7/22/13). The legislative language swore up and down that no threatened and endangered species habitat, wetlands, […]

Greg Hanscom’s excellent article in the July 22 edition of HCN gave readers an in-depth look into Utah’s public-land politics (“Red Rock Resolution?”). I was particularly impressed by the description of how the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance has operated. SUWA has reportedly been willing to compromise in order to achieve wilderness designation. But unlike public-land […]

Rep. Rob Bishop’s initiative to discuss the future of American public land in Utah may be a route toward resolution of many contentious issues (“Red Rock Resolution?” HCN, 7/22/13).  He has invited many stakeholders to participate. Funny, all of them live in Utah. We thought these lands belonged to all Americans, not just people in […]

John Maclean’s statement that thousands of young firefighters go out every year with the “implicit” understanding that they will fight harder — and take greater risks — when homes are threatened concerns me (“Stand down from Western wildfires,” HCN, 7/22/13). Interagency fire programs have been trying to change that mentality; standards and orders have been […]

Thanks for a clear, well-reasoned argument on a controversial issue (“Stand down from Western wildfires,” HCN, 7/22/13). Unfortunately, whole communities are nearly indefensible because they were settled without much thought for fire, floods and the like. It is one thing to stand down from an indefensible house or two, or a smaller fire. But as […]

Western forest fires are inevitable; it’s not a question of if they’re going to occur, but when and how (“Stand down from Western wildfires,” HCN, 7/22/13). Biomass accumulates faster than it decomposes in generally dry Western ecosystems. Fire is nature’s way of balancing the equation. We have to completely rethink suppression, which only works when […]

Firefighting consumes nearly half of the U.S. Forest Service’s budget (“Stand down from Western wildfires,” HCN, 7/22/13). Arguably, the bulk of this spending is necessitated by the presence of private structures in the wildland-urban interface. That these structures — which include many second homes — are often located in harm’s way is a deliberate lifestyle […]