Denver Johnston’s letter to the editor claims HCN failed to provide “diverging viewpoints” on the Bush administration in the Dec. 22 issue (HCN, 2/02/09). Unfortunately, the people of the Bush administration who concocted the present disaster did not do so from merely divergent viewpoints, inadequate facts or confused values. They worked diligently and deliberately to […]
Letter to the editor
Posted inMarch 2, 2009: How low will it go?
Remembering Rocky Flats
Regarding your story “The Half-life of Memory,” I had the pleasure of serving on the Rocky Flats Citizens Advisory Board (RFCAB), and in 2000 we had the chance to tour Building 771 (HCN, 2/16/09). The DOE considered 771 to be the most dangerous building in America. The opportunity to walk through a building that was […]
Posted inMarch 2, 2009: How low will it go?
Stewardship, not politics
My husband and I count ourselves among those “who care about the West,” and we are activists on behalf of the natural environment. This does not mean, however, that we stand at the political left; nor do we want to be bombarded with liberal bromides. Case in point: “Putting our house back in order” by […]
Posted inMarch 2, 2009: How low will it go?
Train in vain
Nowhere in “All Aboard” do I find concern about what increased rail will do to small rural communities like mine (HCN, 2/02/09). We are facing a proposed railroad yard, the ninth largest in the nation, smack across from a state park and a new affordable housing development, which will destroy the upper Santa Cruz Valley, […]
Posted inFebruary 16, 2009: The Half-life of Memory
Culture and family
Besides being a way to ensure that only Indians got the pitiful and paltry benefits that the federal government was giving to the Natives they made treaties with, blood quantum was an insidious way of permanently removing the land and memory of a people (HCN, 1/19/09). What has happened to many Native families is a […]
Posted inFebruary 16, 2009: The Half-life of Memory
“Five-fingered humans”
I’m a white boy who grew up on the Blackfeet rez in north-central Montana. I have distant Cherokee cousins, but my blood quantum is less than 1/16th, so I never thought it worthwhile to seek out the potential benefits, if tribal membership of an ancestor could have been proven (HCN, 1/19/09). I consider myself a […]
Posted inFebruary 16, 2009: The Half-life of Memory
The long arm of the Hoffman
Ray Ring’s excellent article on the Wyoming political pressure that has kept Yellowstone Park’s eastern entrance open in winter despite the high cost, considerable danger, and minimal snowmobile traffic neglected to mention a key background factoid on this issue (HCN, 2/02/09). Cody, Wyo., for years had a powerful ally in its demand to keep Sylvan […]
Posted inFebruary 16, 2009: The Half-life of Memory
DOE and the volcano
Judith Lewis’ story “Mountain of Doubt” in the Jan. 19, 2009, issue of HCN provides an admirably accurate and balanced description of the history of Department of Energy-led efforts to establish Yucca Mountain as a safe repository for the nation’s high-level nuclear waste. Beyond the politics, Lewis explains, “Doubts about Yucca Mountain’s geologic suitability have […]
Posted inFebruary 2, 2009: Non-navigable River Blues
Pay to play — with water
Regarding your recent story “Up in Smoke,” while the Bushies may have outsourced with a particular vengeance, the Forest Service’s downsizing actually started early in the Clinton years, with “government reinvention” (HCN, 12/22/08). The story does touch upon a real dilemma for the Forest Service: Whatever it thinks its mission is, it does not have […]
Posted inFebruary 2, 2009: Non-navigable River Blues
Blood quantum myth
Regarding your “Blood Quantum” story, back before the first European contacts, marriage outside the tribe was the norm (HCN, 1/19/09). In my studies on biology and genetics, I learned that our Native elders did have extensive knowledge of biology, ecology, genetics, lethal recessives and the like. The only difference is that Western science quantifies, categorizes […]
Posted inFebruary 2, 2009: Non-navigable River Blues
Ich bin ein stupid-zoner
In Ed Quillen’s article “Change We Could Believe In,” the term “stupid zones” is defined as “an area that is stupid to build in on account of predictable dangers — avalanches, forest fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, mudslides, floods, etc.” (HCN, 12/22/08). A quick search on the Web site for the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association reveals […]
Posted inFebruary 2, 2009: Non-navigable River Blues
The center did not hold
The thing that has kept me reading HCN through the years has been the balanced reporting and presentation of different viewpoints, a refreshing voice in a nearly bipolar political world. But I have to say that I am sensing a shift in the flavor of HCN articles and editorials. The Dec. 22/Jan. 5 issue is […]
Posted inFebruary 2, 2009: Non-navigable River Blues
… and the rivers clapping their hands
Thank you for your Dec. 22/Jan. 5 issue “What a Mess.” The entire Beltway community — Republicans, Democrats, media/corporate America — is busily sweeping the ugly, and illegal, Bush legacy under the red carpet being rolled out for Obama. Bad enough that the Constitution lies crumpled in the trash (not the recycle) bin, but most […]
Posted inJanuary 19, 2009: Blood Quantum
Bass-o-matic
Regarding your story “Ultimate Solution?”, it has been observed that history repeats itself because people don’t learn (HCN 11/21/08). To some extent that may be true. What is certainly true is that history repeats itself because untruths repeated often enough take on the trappings of truth. This came to mind when I read the article. […]
Posted inJanuary 19, 2009: Blood Quantum
“Stop the madness”
I am tired of people like Patty Limerick, chair of the Center of the American West, University of Colorado-Boulder, making uninformed statements about environmentalists (HCN, 12/22/08). Criticizing environmentalists with a broad brush by saying “the whole-line-in-the-sand, Alamo type-of-thing again” when referring to environmental issues is just plain wrong. If anything, environmentalists should be praised for […]
Posted inJanuary 19, 2009: Blood Quantum
Water wishes, part II
The observation by the mayor of Carlsbad, Calif., that stopping population growth is not enough to solve the city’s water problem was astute (HCN, 11/21/08). According to the U.S Geological Survey, California is below the national average in per capita use of freshwater of 1,280 gallons per day. This estimate includes all water use, which […]
Posted inJanuary 19, 2009: Blood Quantum
Water wishes
I admired the foresight of many of your Western “Wishers” for Obama. However, none of them mentioned water (HCN, 12/22/08). Great Basin Water Network seeks an end to giant water pipelines, the ones that take water from the West’s magnificent landscapes, wildlife, livestock and crops and send that water to unsustainable urban sprawl. The environmental, […]
Posted inJanuary 19, 2009: Blood Quantum
A mean lean — to the left
As one of your Republican subscribers, I must take issue with your Dec. 22 cover illustration and the strong general tone of the editorial content therein (HCN, 12/22/08). If broader reach and credibility are your goals, you need to curb your frothing hatred of George W. Bush, which sometimes gets in the way of straightforward, […]
Posted inDecember 22, 2008: What a mess
Down on the farm
Valley (HCN, 12/8/08). When I climb to the top of our pasture and look towards the Blue Ridge mountains, I cannot see even one new house built after we moved here 30 years ago. Remarkable reprieve! Cropland, pastures and small forested patches still dot the sloping hillsides. Julene Bair’s poignant writing reminds me of the […]
Posted inDecember 22, 2008: What a mess
Sticks and stones
As the mother of biracial children who chooses to live in the “redder” places, I have a simple solution that has worked — learn to not be offended by racial remarks and jokes (HCN, 12/8/08). If met without anger, bigotry has a way of melting under patient persistence. At least most change their outlook, and […]