Letter to the editor

Some folks just don’t want to see past the stereotypes. Regarding “The Aroma Of Tacoma” by Karen Mockler, how would Ms. Mockler like it if I advertised via a syndicated column in over 40 newspapers across the West that her town of choice, Billings, Mont., suffered perpetual Missoula insecurity syndrome and was populated by nothing […]

Isabelle Groc’s article, “When the Joneses go solar,” would have been more properly titled “When the Joneses build an 8,000-square-foot monument to excess consumption on five acres, they go solar to make the neighbors think they give a hoot about the environment” (HCN, 7/23/07). Couldn’t Ms. Groc have found a home that reflected consideration for […]

I received my first copy of High Country News a few days ago and it is every bit as good as you said it would be, only better. I must declare that I was not too happy with the cover, however (HCN, 6/25/07). Too bad I did not meet your lion hunter in ‘Nam. I […]

Residents of Great Falls, be GREAT! For a small city with so much going for it, you apparently don’t know yet what you want to be when you grow up (HCN, 6/25/07). You deserve more than becoming the armpit of the beautiful state of Montana under the guise of economic development. In fact, economic development […]

I had to cool off for a couple of days after reading Irle White’s sanctimonious diatribe praising his father’s attitude toward fly-fishing and condemning anybody who fishes for sport or with new and improved equipment (HCN, 6/11/07). How and when did he get the rights to dictate the moral ethics for fly-fishing? I’m 76 years […]

As an emeritus professor of metallurgy, I was disturbed to see the promotion of bamboo bike frames relative to steel frames in the “Snapshot” section of the June 11 issue (HCN, 6/11/07). Steel is referred to as “carbon-intensive” in that note, but steel is not carbon-intensive. Steel is mostly iron, an abundant element, that contains […]

In regards to your recent “Uncommon Westerners” article, I find little uncommon about Mike Noel, Utah state representative, other than that his favorite food is sushi (HCN, 5/28/07). Mike exemplifies many Westerners that are gung ho on keeping all public lands open to off-road vehicles, mining, logging and ranching. He also shows that a lot […]

Thank you for the timely and informative article on the role of native bees in pollination (HCN, 6/11/07). It is important for farmers, gardeners and the general public to learn about how the 4,000 species of bees native to North America play a crucial part in the pollination of food crops. It was interesting to […]

In regards to your article about the organization Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, I would just like to let people know that most “hunter conservation” groups out there, unlike SFW, do not support unlimited predator killing and the elimination of large carnivores like wolves and grizzlies. For instance, the group Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (www.backcountryhunters.org) […]

Hal Herring exalts Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife (SFW) and contends that sportsmen alone should be given the credit for wildlife protection because they paid for wildlife management “through the decades into a variety of revenue streams.” That logic is flawed for two reasons. Herring glides over the fact that during the last century many […]

While I find many of your recent articles highly relevant, even vital, to those of us who love (or loathe) the West, the quality of writing and editing is sometimes disappointing. Hal Herring stepped well past the line of good judgment with his comment that it would be fun to hunt coyotes with a machine […]

Although they were painful to look at, I am glad you put the photographs of glory-hungry hunters posing with the animals they killed in the June 25 issue. New conservationists indeed! Their motives are those of Layne Bangerter, who, as natural resources advisor to Idaho’s governor, claims it is normal to “want animals to hunt, […]

How appalling to see so many lunatic hairless apes with guns in “Predator hunters for the environment.” The ugly and ignorant gene link is proven by these stupid-looking white-trash rednecks. There is no reverence for life or self-control, much less “conservation” in the pages of this issue. When future generations research conservation and come across […]

What’s with the animosity towards “good ol’ boys” and “rednecks”? They are citizens, taxpayers, and put their pants on just like everyone else. I found Hal Herring’s article long, but he was trying to thoroughly cover a big subject. I believe it is a fair representation of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife. SFW/SFH in Idaho […]

Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife is right — we need to kill the predators so we can have more wildlife. No one can dispute the fact that man is the most ruthless predator to ever stride the earth. I therefore have the perfect solution: The members of SFW should all take their probably-illegally-modified AR-15 assault […]

Thank you for the cover of the June 25 issue. The picture is worth far more than a thousand words. Here are four that sum it up: blood on his hands. The expression (what there is of an expression) on Kevin Smith’s face is the reason I don’t trust myself to own a gun. Mary […]

On the cover of your next issue, would you try very hard to get a picture of a mountain lion eating Kevin Smith. It would be more uplifting and less depressing than this one. Jim Sage Alpine, Texas This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline We’ll send a photographer […]

How can you devote nine grisly pages to a rant on killing animals, by a guy who discredits himself – and all reportorial objectivity – by telling us he’d love to machine-gun coyotes? Shame on you. Your cover is sickening: a fool who kills a big beautiful lion so he can mount its head in […]

This is in response to Hal Herring’s well-written and informative article. Your cover was devastating. That something so beautiful can no longer roam free but ends up in the arms of one small human with blood on his hands and a smirk on his face – I simply fail to understand what would give one […]

So Hal Herring agrees with the dimwit teen who thinks it would be fun to machine-gun coyotes… also a great description of a snot-nosed kid jumping back and forth over a line of frozen, bloody coyote carcasses. And you wonder why some people think hunters are bloodthirsty freaks? I certainly am not opposed to responsible […]