Letters to the editor, May 2023

Comments from readers.

 

PREDATORS AND PSEUDOSCIENCE

I enjoyed reading Christine Peterson’s “Chronic Mystery” (April 2023). It was well written and informative. If predators can help stop or slow the spread of chronic wasting disease, I am all for it. However, I do not want to see a push for more protection over the healthy populations of big game predators under pseudoscience of predators as the answer to CWD spread.

Steve Langdon
Boise, Idaho

  

COMMUNAL VIEWS

Having grown up in Wyoming, I identified with “The last of Wyoming” (April 2023). I’ll admit to multiple rants about the compressed geography of Wyoming in the show, not to mention the idea of Jackson Hole, or anyplace in Wyoming, somehow spontaneously becoming a communal collective. I can’t tell you how emphatically I nodded my head at this line: “Other Wyoming residents see Jackson as a place apart from the rest of the state.” Thank you, Taylar Dawn Stagner, for writing it.

Ryan Johnson
Portland, Oregon

 

A FOWL BUSINESS

The article “Fowl migration” (April 2023) made me laugh cynically when the restoration ecologist and environmental consultant for ARCO and Montana Resources said, “The parties had been trying to do the right thing, and they just didn’t really know how to do it.” I thought that was their job! 

This is a “defunct mine flooded with toxic water,” and a Superfund site to boot. The right thing is to close the mine, dewater the pit, filter and remove the toxins, release the cleaned water, and take the filtered toxins to an industrial wastewater treatment site, and destroy or store them in perpetuity with forever monitoring.

All profits should be used to stop the pollution. These “crocodile tears” are more industry propaganda used to avoid being responsible for their actions.

Brandt Mannchen
Houston, Texas

Editor’s note: The Berkeley Pit mine closed in 1982. Some of its water is being treated and discharged.

 

FOR ONE ANOTHER

Regarding “Why electrify?” (April 2023): I found my response to the article a celebration of each other: We’re doing this for our fellow living beings. We’re doing this so someone somewhere doesn’t die of heatstroke, or die in a wildfire. We’re doing this to save someone’s home on a low-lying island. We’re not making decisions that are in our interest financially, but rather trying to leave a livable world for our fellow Earth travelers.

Robert Brayden
Golden, Colorado

 

DO YOU WANT TO BE TRAPPED?

The article “Can camera traps relieve our species’ loneliness?” (March 2023) was entirely enthusiastic about camera traps. That’s not surprising, since the article only presented the perspective of the human animals that are doing the trapping. But what about the perspective of the non-human animals that are being captured in the photos?

We cannot know how animals feel about being “trapped” in this manner. But we, too, are animals, and so we can ask: How would we like to be “trapped” on camera by a different species without our consent? I would not like it. How about you?

Felice Pace
Klamath, California

 

COLONIALISM LIVES ON

I appreciated the reportage on the hydropower storage facility on Yakama lands in Washington (“A wave of green colonialism,” March 2023). It cannot be green with the impact a hydropower storage facility would have on the Yakama way of life. The Doctrine of Discovery lives on in corporate and political America. 

Cheryl Smith
Richland, Washington 

 

UPWARD SPIRAL

As an on-and-off-again subscriber since the Tom Bell days, I couldn’t agree more with Andy Kulla of Florence, Montana (“Letters to the editor,” March 2023). HCN is definitely on an upward spiral. The March issue was terrific, front to back. (No surprise with ace Acting Editor-in-Chief Michelle Nijhuis at the helm.) Still, I have to single out the “Gold in the hills, but not for us” piece. Excellent photojournalism, marvelously paired with Vickie Vértiz’s powerful poems, that told not just the facts about LA’s petroculture injustices, but the deeper story — its impacts and social realities. Kudos all around.

Art Goodtimes
Norwood, Colorado

 

TRANSFIXED AND TRANSPORTED

I just read Craig Childs’ long-form article on Lake Powell (“Glen Canyon Revealed,” February 2023) and was transported back to an earlier, more vital time in my own life, while also being transfixed by the history, and the reporting on current events. Fantastic writing, phenomenal images. Thank you so much for investing in this kind of deeper, richer writing. A rarity these days, much appreciated.

Chris Laliberte
Seattle, Washington

We welcome reader letters. Email High Country News at [email protected] or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy.

High Country News Classifieds
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    California Coalition for Rural Housing (CCRH) seeks a strategic and visionary Executive Director: View all job details here- https://bit.ly/CCRHED
  • MONTANA BLUES
    The new novel by Ray Ring, retired HCN senior editor, tackles racism in the wild, a story told by a rural White horsewoman and a...
  • DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST
    Title: Digital Engagement Specialist Location: Salt Lake City Reports to: Communications Director Status, Salary & Benefits: Full-time, Non-Exempt. Salary & Benefits information below. Submission Deadline:...
  • CONSERVATION FIELD ORGANIZER
    Title: Conservation Field Organizer Reports to: Advocacy and Stewardship Director Location: Southwest Colorado Compensation: $45,000 - $50,000 DOE FLSA: Non-Exempt, salaried, termed 24-month Wyss Fellow...
  • UTAH STATE DIRECTOR
    Who We Are: The Nature Conservancy's mission is to protect the lands and waters upon which all life depends. As a science-based organization, we create...
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    Apply by Oct 18. Seeking collaborative, hands-on ED to advance our work building community through fresh produce.
  • INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS EDITOR - HIGH COUNTRY NEWS
    High Country News is hiring an Indigenous Affairs Editor to help guide the magazine's journalism and produce stories that are important to Indigenous communities and...
  • STAFF ATTORNEY
    Staff Attorney The role of the Staff Attorney is to bring litigation on behalf of Western Watersheds Project, and at times our allies, in the...
  • ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT FOR DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
    Northern Michigan University seeks an outstanding leader to serve as its next Assistant Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion. With new NMU President Dr. Brock...
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    The Clark Fork Coalition seeks an exceptional leader to serve as its Executive Director. This position provides strategic vision and operational management while leading a...
  • GOOD NEIGHBOR AGREEMENT MANAGER
    Help uphold a groundbreaking legal agreement between a powerful mining corporation and the local communities impacted by the platinum and palladium mine in their backyard....
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    The Feather River Land Trust (FRLT) is seeking a strategic and dynamic leader to advance our mission to "conserve the lands and waters of the...
  • COLORADO DIRECTOR
    COLORADO DIRECTOR Western Watersheds Project seeks a Colorado Director to continue and expand WWP's campaign to protect and restore public lands and wildlife in Colorado,...
  • ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY - INDIGENOUS HISTORIES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN WEST
    Whitman College seeks applicants for a tenure-track position in Indigenous Histories of the North American West, beginning August 2024, at the rank of Assistant Professor....
  • DAVE AND ME
    Dave and Me, by international racontuer and children's books author Rusty Austin, is a funny, profane and intense collection of short stories, essays, and poems...
  • CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
    Rural Community Assistance Corporation is looking to hire a CFO. For more more information visit: https://www.rcac.org/careers/
  • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
    The Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness Foundation (ABWF) seeks a new Executive Director. Founded in 2008, the ABWF is a respected nonprofit whose mission is to support...
  • CANYONLANDS FIELD INSTITUTE
    Field seminars for adults in natural and human history of the northern Colorado Plateau, with lodge and base camp options. Small groups, guest experts.
  • COMING TO TUCSON?
    Popular vacation house, everything furnished. Two bedroom, one bath, large enclosed yards. Dog-friendly. Contact Lee at [email protected] or 520-791-9246.
  • ENVIRONMENTAL AND CONSTRUCTION GEOPHYSICS
    We characterize contaminated sites, identify buried drums, tanks, debris and also locate groundwater.