My response to Sarah Gilman’s opinion piece “If not here, where?” is: Nowhere. Although oil and gas exploration and recovery has advanced technologically, the basic concept of burning carbon for heat, light and more recently transportation is archaic. And now it’s evident that the resulting climate instability threatens the survival of human civilization. The series […]
Letter to the editor
Posted inFebruary 4, 2013: Making Good on the Badlands
Tree tales
I read Brendon Bosworth’s article on Fallen Leaf Lake with great interest (“The forest at the bottom of the lake,” HCN, 12/24/12). With my dive partner, John Foster, a retired California state archaeologist, I sampled sunken trees from nearby Tahoe and Donner Lake, mainly in the 1980s. In South Lake Tahoe, 16 rooted snags in ancient underwater […]
Posted inFebruary 4, 2013: Making Good on the Badlands
A lament for B.C.
Seldom have I read an article in HCN that brought a tear to my eye, but the Dec. 24 issue on the new British Columbia mines did just that (“The New Wild West“). Our family has vacationed in British Columbia and southeast Alaska many times over the past 50 years. It is perhaps the most […]
Posted inFebruary 4, 2013: Making Good on the Badlands
Boring?!
After reading “Outward (re)Bound” (HCN, 1/21/13), I couldn’t overcome a chilly feeling in response to a student’s description of his three-day solo trip in the Rocky Mountains as “so boring.” I was saddened by this student’s inability to find entertainment in one of the most spectacular mountain ranges in Colorado, and wondered if his response […]
Posted inFebruary 4, 2013: Making Good on the Badlands
Independent — or subsidized — journalism?
“An Industry Funded Education” in the Jan. 12, 2013, issue should have been called, “An Industry Funded Article.” We’re informed that the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University — bankrolled by a “self-proclaimed ‘environmentalist who hates the environmental movement’ ” — gets big funding from the extractive industry but faithfully maintains scientific objectivity. So […]
Posted inJanuary 21, 2013: Special issue: Natural resources education
A room with a view
I wanted to thank you for your column “If not here, where?” (HCN, 12/24/12). In mid-October, a 12-panel solar array came online in my backyard. It turns out I love to generate my own power! But there was one problem. The best place for locating the array was in the middle of my backyard — […]
Posted inJanuary 21, 2013: Special issue: Natural resources education
Collared collateral damage?
My father pioneered research on California quail in the 1940s, long before telemetry technology of any kind was available (“Wildlife Biology Goes High-Tech,” HCN, 12/10/12). I served as a small-aircraft pilot to monitor collared wolves, and to count animals from the air. More recently, I volunteered to help with a greater sage grouse study in […]
Posted inJanuary 21, 2013: Special issue: Natural resources education
Gratuitous hand-wringing
We can’t help the animals unless we understand their needs (“Wildlife Biology Goes High-Tech,” HCN, 12/10/12). In a world of ever-increasing human encroachment on the last pristine habitats, denying people their “God-given right” to property ownership requires justification, and that is why studies such as those cited in Robbins’ story are invaluable. I have marked […]
Posted inJanuary 21, 2013: Special issue: Natural resources education
The more you know, the more you marvel
I was prepared to scowl at Jim Robbins’ article, “Wildlife Biology Goes High-Tech” (HCN, 12/10/12), after reading the subtitle — “But has our science lost its soul?” Science has no “soul.” It deals with the physical, tangible universe. As a professional ecologist and longtime teacher, I have grown impatient with the complaint that memorizing all […]
Posted inDecember 24, 2012: The new Wild, Wild West
Scott Groene on the Washington County land bill
Editor’s Note: In our interview with former Utah Sen. Bob Bennett (“Bob Bennett after the fall,” HCN, 10/29/12), Bennett said of his 2009 Washington County land bill: “The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance’s board was split 7-7 over the bill. So they took no position, which effectively let it move forward.” SUWA Executive Director Scott Groene […]
Posted inDecember 24, 2012: The new Wild, Wild West
Techno-eco-literacy
Jim Robbins’ article “Wildlife Biology Goes High-Tech” is an excellent exploration of the explosion of technology used by wildlife biologists these days (HCN, 12/10/12). As someone who has first-hand experience with some of these technologies, I agree that we can now ask critical ecological and conservation questions that we couldn’t have approached a decade or […]
Posted inDecember 24, 2012: The new Wild, Wild West
You get what you pay for
I have farmed vegetables for the past couple years and know that weeds are a challenge and profit margins are usually tight. But I do not currently support GMOs (“Weed wars,” HCN, 11/26/12). I believe in the benefits of crop rotations and trying to outsmart weeds rather than soak them in chemicals. I was really […]
Posted inDecember 10, 2012: The Evolution of Wildlife Tech
BLM’s equine quagmire
It’s unconscionable that current policy has tripled the Bureau of Land Management’s wild horse and burro program budget since 2000 to a massive $76 million. Dave Philipps’ fine piece of reporting mentioned many of BLM’s management strategies, such as roundups, adoption, fertility control and sanctuaries (“Nowhere to Run,” HCN, 11/12/12). A few more were overlooked, […]
Posted inDecember 10, 2012: The Evolution of Wildlife Tech
Distracted in Green River
Right from the title — “The outsiders: What are a bunch of hipsters doing in Green River, Utah?” — Emily Guerin establishes that her article will be concerned not with issues, but with appearances. It is a shame. Issues of acceptance and identity — persistent in small, economically downtrodden Western communities — are real and […]
Posted inDecember 10, 2012: The Evolution of Wildlife Tech
Round ’em up
The ongoing feral horse debate is a prime example of a small special-interest group getting its way and creating an unsustainable public program (“Nowhere to Run,” HCN, 11/12/12). Feral horses are a serious threat to our native ecosystems. Research has shown that areas inhabited by feral horses have fewer plant species and less grass and overall […]
Posted inDecember 10, 2012: The Evolution of Wildlife Tech
What’s wild?
I consider the recent article on wild horse management one of your best (“Nowhere to Run,” HCN, 11/12/12). It seems that some people are adamant that horses have no place in the wild. Others consider them equivalent to deer, elk and other wildlife. How long does a species have to be here to be considered […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2012: Casting for Common Ground
Cowtowing to ranchers
While this article was informative and generally balanced, it only hinted at the intensity of cattle grazing and how it compares to the wild horse population (“Nowhere to Run,” HCN, 11/12/12). The BLM factsheet on grazing states that in 2011, BLM lands were authorized to support 8.3 million animal unit months (AUMs). The BLM estimates […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2012: Casting for Common Ground
Extra! Extra! Beer in Utah!
Congratulations on the excellent article, “Red State Rising” (HCN, 10/29/12). It was great to see a positive story about Utah. The Air Force moved me here 36 years ago, and for many of those years the state received more than its share of negative stories, usually focused on the failure of business and government leadership to […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2012: Casting for Common Ground
Keep the political stories coming
I was disappointed in the Nov. 12 letter, “Enough (political stories) already,” which berated HCN for covering “electoral politics.” All politics are “electoral politics.” This year, it has been unusually disgusting, and, yes, divisive, thanks to ideologues and Big Money. The answer is to fix the system, not to encourage ignorance. If HCN is to […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2012: Casting for Common Ground
Political paradox
Jonathan Thompson’s brilliant article, “Red State Rising,” shines some much-needed light on the paradox of politics in Utah, where government officials routinely manage economic growth and funnel subsidies to businesses — even while professing to hate big government and love free markets (HCN, 10/29/12). In putting a human face on this story, though, Thompson went […]