Letter to the editor

I hate to continue to belabor the debate regarding what is or is not an appropriate topic for HCN, but when I saw the recent letter from Carol Chipman entitled “Stick to Environmental Topics,” I felt I had to respond (HCN, 10/3/05: Stick to environmental topics). As a planner in the West, I know that […]

Regarding Sandra Hoffman’s letter, though I agree that black-and-white images can be just as effective, if not more so, than color images, especially when production costs are a concern, I find it unfortunate that she can’t equate photographs with editorial content (HCN, 10/3/05: Don’t ‘dumb and numb’ readers). I may be biased, as a photojournalist, […]

Regarding methamphetamine use in the oil patch, this is not a new issue (HCN, 10/3/05: Methamphetamine fuels the West’s oil and gas boom). “White crosses” and other stimulants were easy to obtain in Gillette, Wyo., in 1974, when I was working as a roughneck in the Powder River Basin. Drill rigs go 24-7, and graveyard […]

Bravo for both Pepper Trail and Allen Best (HCN, 10/3/05: What’s at stake in the evolution debate). Mr. Trail wrote a wonderfully simple and direct essay on evolution and detailed the problems entailed when schools attempt to teach intelligent design as a concept on a scientific footing equal to evolution. Mr. Best has reformulated our […]

In “What’s at stake in the evolution debate,” biologist Pepper Trail attempts to enlist conservationists in the culture wars (HCN, 10/3/05: What’s at stake in the evolution debate). Trail insists that we must side with one warring camp or the other. According to Trail, the good guys are scientists who advance “reality,” while the bad […]

In “What’s at stake in the evolution debate,” Pepper Trail, Ph.D., tells us there “… is no debate in the scientific world about the validity of evolution … (as an explanation for) … the development and workings of life on Earth” (HCN, 10/3/05: What’s at stake in the evolution debate). Wow, at last! Science free […]

I enjoyed reading Pepper Trail’s essay on reality versus belief in the teaching of evolution debate, until he decided to assert his own liberal beliefs regarding the liberation of Iraq (HCN, 10/3/05: What’s at stake in the evolution debate). Don’t assume that just because many of your readers may oppose the president’s environmental policies that […]

My husband and I apply Allan Savory’s range management principles to our small acreage west of Boulder, grazing horses in early summer (HCN, 9/5/05: Rangland Revival). We move fences constantly, but the results, after about four years of doing this, are obvious to us, even in drought conditions. Our grasses are thicker and healthier than […]

This letter is regarding Paul Zaenger’s essay about ashes (HCN, 9/5/05: The meeting of heaven and earth). My mother and grandmother were both strong advocates of women’s rights and the Democratic Party in Utah. It was fitting that we broadcast their ashes into the stream up Emigration Canyon in Salt Lake City, allowing their liberal […]

Matt Jenkins’ excellent article on what we here in Snake Valley refer to as “the water grab” explains the long-range scientific concerns that we share (HCN, 9/18/05: Squeezing water from a stone). But as Jenkins points out, the “money and power” reside in Las Vegas. Indeed, the Southern Nevada Water Authority is paying the costs […]

Biodiesel is a great idea (HCN, 8/8/05: The American dream, sans gasoline). But how long can we ferment potential food? Yeast exhales carbon dioxide, as do tractors, and those nasty artificial fertilizers are made from oil. Used cooking oil will not be readily available for long, as biodiesel fans burn it up. Some long-term solutions […]

Michelle Nijhuis’ ode to biodiesel and her American-sized Mercedes is well-intentioned but misinformed (HCN, 8/8/05: The American dream, sans gasoline). Biodiesel aficionados claim that burning vegetable oil drastically reduces overall emissions of globe-warming carbon dioxide because the carbon in plant oils is already part of the natural carbon cycle. But the carbon in vegetable oil […]

I was pleased to see in your recent article about Courtney White and his Quivira Coalition that there are serious questions about the scientific soundness of the livestock-grazing strategy he promotes (HCN, 9/5/05: Rangeland Revival). I fear, however, that your reporter’s use of the term “rest-rotation” to describe this grazing scheme will produce more confusion. […]

With regards to the Quivira Coalition and the New Ranch movement, the question is not whether ranchers managing land and livestock under such principles can actually restore landscapes (HCN, 9/5/05: Rangeland Revival). Dedicated individuals such as Sid Goodloe of Capitan, N.M., working with the freedom and flexibility afforded to private land, have already demonstrated an […]

I’m responding to your request to let you know what I think about color photos (HCN, 8/8/05: Dear Friends). I appreciate HCN for in-depth journalism on natural environmental issues in the West. I think you’re spending money unwisely on color photos when it could be better spent on content. Black-and-white photos illustrate people, tattoos and […]

The Aug. 8 issue is, in my opinion, a quantum leap for you guys, and not just graphically. The brighter newsprint and the full-color pix are super, but the “Gangs of Zion” story is world-class. Tim Sullivan is to be congratulated for solid reporting; HCN is to be congratulated for running an exceptional and unusual […]

A recent issue of HCN included a letter from Ms. Kathy Crooks suggesting that the sole appropriate topic for the paper is environmental news of the West (HCN, 8/22/05: Leave sociology coverage to National Geographic). Thought I’d let you know that this subscriber at least considers your brief to be “the West.” Not just the […]

I think it would be a better service to your readers to tell about the Superfund sites left at military bases rather than the socioeconomic effects on towns with their closure (HCN, 8/22/05: Leavin’ on a Jet Plane). I read HCN for environmental, not social, topics. Cheryl ChipmanBishop, California THE EDITOR RESPONDS The West’s environment […]

Clovis, N.M., won its battle to keep nearby Cannon Air Force Base open (HCN, 8/22/05: Leavin’ on a Jet Plane). This demonstrates that we are, indeed, a nation with an economy on an eternal war footing, where peace is just bad for business. The Air Force wanted to close Cannon to save money. Now we […]

There should have been a box around the article about Jeremy Parriott’s fun-hog playground with the words “Unpaid Advertisement” at the top (HCN, 8/22/05: His playground pulls fun hogs off the public lands). Does your newspaper really believe that 320 acres will keep hundreds of off-road vehicle owners happily contained and off the thousands of […]