Matt Jenkins did a great job describing the intricacies of the California water wars in the Delta (HCN, 12/20/10). But a few corrections: Jenkins said that two-thirds of the water used in the state is drafted from the Delta. Actually, only about 12 percent of the water used in California is taken from the Delta. […]
Letter to the editor
Posted inFebruary 7, 2011: Obama and the West
The world according to Disney
In recent reporting about the 2010 census, the government and media deliberately deceived the public about the U.S. population explosion. Sadly, “California Dreamin’ ” studiously ignored the same population elephant in the room (HCN, 12/20/10). Growth in the U.S. is at its slowest in decades, the government asserted with a straight face. While the nation’s […]
Posted inJanuary 24, 2011: Serendipity in the Desert
Monument, schmonument
It’s refreshing to see the Obama administration take some protective steps on the National Landscape Conservation System lands (HCN, 12/20/10). Unfortunately, telling an agency with a tradition of neglect and exploitation to focus on conservation may be optimistic, especially when federal lands will face hostility and budget cuts from conservatives in the new Congress. President […]
Posted inJanuary 24, 2011: Serendipity in the Desert
Time to face the music
With regard to the impossibly complex topic of water availability in the American West, and in California in particular, the only apparent “truth” is to acknowledge the obvious: that there is not enough, nor will there ever be enough water, to meet present and future demand in California (HCN, 12/20/10). That’s the hard part. The […]
Posted inJanuary 24, 2011: Serendipity in the Desert
Toxic soil, East to West
I read with interest Rebecca Clarren’s article about lead arsenate and other chemicals contaminating old orchard sites in the West (HCN, 12/6/10). Alas, as we Eastern morel foragers have discovered, one does not have to go West to encounter this problem. In a recent paper, Elinoar Shavit, a fellow member of the New York Mycological […]
Posted inJanuary 24, 2011: Serendipity in the Desert
Lessons from coyote country
After reading “Trickster moves to town,” I came to the conclusion that a lot of people who live in or near coyote country have little understanding of what it means to coexist with wild animals (HCN, 12/20/10). I lived in a subdivision southeast of Santa Fe, N.M., for more than 10 years and had numerous […]
Posted inJanuary 24, 2011: Serendipity in the Desert
Trickster’s territory
The self-important folks of Greenwood Village need an emergency dose of irony — and quick (HCN, 12/20/10)! Continuing that ignoble American tradition of forcing the indigenous off their land, they really can’t complain when Mr. Trickster tries to take back what is rightfully his. I must say, Mr. Coyote is far more patient and understanding […]
Posted inDecember 20, 2010: California Dreamin'
A place to park — and live
I completely sympathize with and understand the problems faced by Jen Jackson (HCN, 11/22/10). Many Western tourist towns have become unaffordable for the ordinary people who are, ironically, indispensable, working in hotels, restaurants and recreational businesses. The towns should find some way to accommodate their trailers or RVs. But in “Heard Around the West,” you […]
Posted inDecember 20, 2010: California Dreamin'
Carl Sagan is rolling in his grave
Just what we need: HCN endorsing pseudoscience (HCN, 11/22/10). Sam Western exhibits a pathetic lack of critical reasoning in his puff piece about Vern Bandy’s supposed dowsing abilities. Bandy’s claim to have accurately dowsed thousands of wells is apparently supported only by his own records. As the son of a well-driller, it is hardly surprising […]
Posted inDecember 20, 2010: California Dreamin'
An uncomfortable truth
Jen Jackson’s report describes a society that wants service industry workers and others to provide us with services we wouldn’t dream of living without (HCN, 11/22/10). But when those workers’ low-wage jobs don’t allow them to purchase or rent “acceptable” or “conventional” housing, we shun them as neighbors. We don’t want to be confronted with […]
Posted inDecember 20, 2010: California Dreamin'
Seeing is believing
My husband, Ron, has the same kind of dowsing ability described in your profile of Vern Bandy (HCN, 11/22/10). His grandfather “witched” with a fork from a peach tree. Ron purchased a metal rod and has used it a number of times. He was project manager on the remodel of the senior center in Lake […]
Posted inDecember 20, 2010: California Dreamin'
Reclamation reality check
The artist’s rendering of the post-reclamation Rosemont Copper Mine shows a striking difference in landforms between the graded mine-waste pile and the surrounding undisturbed terrain (HCN, 11/22/10). Particularly noticeable is the difference in what geomorphologists call drainage density, or the total length of drainage channels per acre. The unvarying slopes and rock rundowns in the […]
Posted inDecember 6, 2010: Toxic Past, Toxic Present
Reed between the lines
Regarding the commercialization of Arundo donax (giant reed) in Oregon: This is not an ideal approach to biomass production (HCN, 11/8/10). This huge invasive “grass” causes millions of dollars in damage to river systems here in California and elsewhere. Many conservationists and resource managers are extremely cautious about promoting the expansion of something that is […]
Posted inDecember 6, 2010: Toxic Past, Toxic Present
There’s always something in the water
Hal Walter’s recent Writers on the Range essay “There’s Something in the Water” (HCN, 11/8/10) highlights a concern shared by every water-quality professional in the Rocky Mountain West: the presumption of safety. As a member of the Colorado Water Quality Association Board of Directors and a certified water specialist, I can unequivocally state that few […]
Posted inDecember 6, 2010: Toxic Past, Toxic Present
Just say ‘no’ to Dr. No
My thanks to Arnold Hamilton, Denver Nicks and Ray Ring for having the journalistic guts to call out two of the most inept and unproductive members of that elite legislative body derisively referred to as the “Dead Poets Society” (HCN, 11/8/10). Even in a body where incompetence is the expectation and the norm, I can […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2010: Hardrock Showdown
Dam removal is not for dummies
As a retired engineering geologist and self-styled “dam doctor” who had the honor of breaching a dam before Bruce Babbitt, I would like to add a few cautions to Nick Neely’s story (HCN, 11/8/10). Readers should not think it is simple. The upper-right graphic shows that there were plans developed for the removal of the […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2010: Hardrock Showdown
In Tancredo’s corner
The mainstream media routinely distort the position of those opposed to illegal immigration. For example, the Oct. 25, 2010, issue of High Country News called Tom Tancredo, who lost the Colorado Governor’s race, “an anti-immigration rabble-rouser.” Actually Tom Tancredo — as well as the overwhelming majority of Americans — is not “anti-immigration,” but anti-illegal immigration. […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2010: Hardrock Showdown
Sounds suspicious, Senator
I was disappointed with your article regarding Sen. Tom Coburn (HCN, 11/8/10). You allowed the subject to spew a series of incorrect, or irrelevant “statistics” and “facts.” In the future, please do some research, and correct these kinds of errors, rather than let people trot out falsehoods. Jim Evans Dept. of Geology, Utah State UniversityLogan, […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
False moderates?
Your article is correct in stating: “The most hard-line right-wingers didn’t do very well in Wyoming’s Republican primary.” But that result wasn’t terribly indicative of the political leanings of most Republican voters in Wyoming. Rather, it’s a commonly accepted fact among both Democrats and Republicans that Dems switched parties to vote for Matt Mead in […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
Tamarisk takedown
This is incredibly short-sighted thinking on these environmentalists’ part, in my opinion (HCN, 10/10/11). It’s called the southwestern willow flycatcher, not the tamarisk flycatcher. This is a bird that needs willows and insects to survive. Part of the reason tamarisk is so invasive is that almost nothing can eat it. Releasing the beetle means two […]