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 Chipman
Bishop, California

THE EDITOR RESPONDS

The West’s environment and public lands will continue to be at the heart of High Country News. However, part of our mission is to help create what Wallace Stegner called "a society to match the scenery." To that end, HCN has always covered stories outside of the environmental "box."

A look back over the past five years reveals cover stories about the outdoor gear industry, a fear-mongering radio "shock jock," tribes’ struggle to save their vanishing languages, and conflict on the U.S-Mexico border. Dig deeper into the archives, and you’ll find stories about railroads, trailer homes, service workers and killer bees. They’re all part of what makes the West so colorful and complicated.

As for the mix of words and images, readers might be interested to know that our May 12, 2003, issue, the last issue we published before our major redesign, contained 20,053 words. This issue, in contrast, contains 22,387 words. That’s 11 percent more words — and big, colorful art to boot.

Greg Hanscom, editor