Modern hunting
Emily Benson diplomatically raises some of the issues surrounding hunting in a modern society (“The power of hunting,” HCN, 10/28/19). There are three additional items worth pointing out. First: Show me the cost-benefit analysis for hunting. It might prove out for subsistence hunters or rural folks shooting game in their hayfields, but for most urbanites, particularly the trophy hunters, it’s all about the psychic payoffs. Second, the organic, farm-(field)-to-table rationalizers fail to address chronic wasting disease. We now know prions can be found throughout an animal’s body, not just the brain. These prions also now inhabit the soils and are increasingly ubiquitous. Finally, I maintain we have done ourselves and nature a grave disservice by funding state agencies with license revenues. That buys employees a pickup, salary, benefits and a pension, but it does not solve the bigger problem of habitat. This pervasive corruption also hampers the Forest Service from doing little more than fighting fires. We once had paradise, and in little more than 100 years we have become dependent on the raising of 40 million cattle and tens of million chickens and pigs in containment under the filthiest of conditions. Add poachers, and you have a spicy stew for debate.
Francis Miller
Parker, Colorado
