Dear HCN,
For someone like myself,
writing to HCN has about the same benefits as a
Kurd appealing to Saddam, but here goes nothing, anyway. Jon
Margolis’ monument (HCN, 5/13/02: New monuments: Planning by
numbers) analysis was linked to me and I had to surf it up – and as
usual, Jon blows it.
The Yellowstone
“professionals” that called to ban snowcats were led by Mike Finley
– who while sharing the dais at his retirement bash with his new
employer Ted Turner – said the Bush administration would let the
“moneychangers into the temple.” Anti-Semitic, unpolitical
incorrectness aside, that’s pseudoreligious zealotry, not
professionalism.
And regarding the Bruce Babbitt
Memorial Political Sacrifice Zones, the case of the Breaks probably
typifies the situation all over the West.
First,
the Missouri Breaks Wild and Scenic River could have been protected
from the expected Lewis and Clark wannabes with temporary developed
campsites and sanitary facilities, fee permits, and the like, all
to be rolled up in 2007 after the hubbub died
down.
But no, we have this monument specifically
created to scam votes for Al Gore and stick it to those who
wouldn’t vote his way anyhow. Even better, the outline of the
monument was vastly expanded to cover not just the historic
viewsheds, but precisely the townships that oil producers sought to
lease.
Hell, no wonder the natives are
hostile.
Dave Skinner
Whitefish, Montana
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Margolis blows it again.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
