Dear
HCN,
I want to take this time to comment
vociferously about a trend I see in HCN‘s
Writers on the Range columns. And I am not at all happy with
it!
There have been at least three columns
published this year in the Bozeman Daily
Chronicle that are a bunch of bull! If I see one more
column like these, I will not renew my subscription to
High Country News when it
expires.
The articles I am referring to
are:
1. “Time is right to bring back the bounty
on coyotes,” by Tim Fitzgerald;
2. “Roadless
debate just a diversion,” by Frank Carroll;
3.
“The Clinton roadless rule took the wrong road,” by Frank
Carroll.
The first article about introducing a
bounty on coyotes is ridiculous. Not only do bounties cost
taxpayers money, but also it becomes a self-perpetuating activity.
And studies have shown that if coyotes, wolves, mountain lions and
other predators are not killed off, they tend to chase off
interlopers within their own species in a given area, thereby
allowing any “overpopulation” problem to take care of itself. When
predators are killed, by bounty hunters or otherwise, it merely
opens up a new “home” for another predator to take its place. If
you have to advocate killing coyotes, why not support a hunting
season for them?
Just because Frank Carroll has
fought fires for the Forest Service does not make him a suitable
writer for Writers on the Range. Potlatch Corporation, for which he
works, is a large logging and wood-products company that enhances
“the value of Potlatch stock for our investors.” They have 6,000
employees operating in Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Arkansas and
Minnesota. This is not a small mom-and-pop operation. They are
perpetuators of the commercial status quo in logging. About the
only good thing they do is to promote “value-added” activities once
the lumber is cut.
I am really disappointed that
you would let these people publish their propaganda under the
Writers on the Range banner. They can find other avenues for their
columns.
I am not an “extremist” that believes
all public lands should be locked up with the key thrown away. I
support ethical hunting, mom-and-pop logging for family-owned
ventures, and maybe even a little grazing that is carried out in
areas that can support such activities when it is done in
environmentally sensitive ways. Writing about our differences on
“environmentally friendly” activities is perfectly acceptable. You
went beyond the bounds of acceptability. By allowing these articles
to be printed under the Writers on the Range banner, you are
supporting the “worth” and value of such words, even if not
supporting their exact content.
If this situation
is not ameliorated in the future, perhaps the mission of
High Country News is one that I no longer
support.
Drusha L.
Mayhue
Bozeman, Montana
Read Opinion (HCN, 10/22/01: High Country News: Friend or foe?)
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline WOTR columns are propaganda.
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