Letters to the editor, June 2023
Comments from readers.
THE ‘DELUSION’ OF DISCOVERY
“The illusion of discovery” (May 2023) — Michelle Nijhuis’ editor’s note — has haunted me since I read it. The “Doctrine of Discovery” brings it all into perspective of what emboldened individuals to violate and completely disregard Indigenous rights. This article opened up how this got started, and now I can see more clearly how we got to where we are.
Thanks to the Doctrine of Discovery, we have a shameful blot on our history and a daunting task to work through and remedy actions that unfortunately should have never happened.
Al Dorow
Seattle, Washington
TODAY’S FORECAST: EXTINCTION
As temperatures continue to climb, fewer and fewer places will be safe from global warming’s calamitous effects (“Seeking sanctuary,” May 2023). And many species might suffer the same fate as the woolly mammoth did.
@Milw_Mac_Guy via Twitter
THE RIGHTS OF RIVERS
Ruxandra Guidi poses “the” question in “The spirit of the Rillito” (May 2023): “What if we sought to secure the same rights for nonhuman beings that we do for people?” Her short but excellent essay made me think of how the Cuyahoga River in Ohio has caught fire more than once because it was so polluted. It reminded me of another story HCN ran about the government of New Zealand passing legislation actually giving rivers rights. It was probably the most progressive thing I’ve ever heard of. If we have any real chance at sustainability, we need to answer her question.
David Poling
Grand Junction, Colorado
THEY ARE THE WEST, TOO
We enjoy the back covers that show the diversity of our fellow humans (#iamthewest). We think it would be a good place to show off our other residents and neighbors, like the magpies, frogs, coyotes, wolves, elk, bison, whitebark pines, mule deer, cottonwood, salmon and cutthroat trout. The West would not be the West without them — our creeping, crawling, flying, leaping, growing family.
David and Mary Dudley
Ola, Idaho
REVEALING GLEN CANYON
I wanted to take a moment to thank you for the article “Glen Canyon Revealed” by Craig Childs (February 2023). It was an amazing article, very eye-opening, to say the least. I live in southern Idaho, close to the Snake River. Even though this is the desert, there is also a lot of farming, because of the water. It is really sad to see what the lack of water — or even too much — can do to an area.
Alisa Molt via Facebook
MORE NUTS-AND-BOLTS EXPLAINERS
It’s a huge relief finally to see a concise nuts-and-bolts piece with bold graphics showing how much energy solar panels on the flat roofs of big-box stores could produce, along with the benefits of covering California’s aqueducts with solar panels (“Save public lands: Put solar on Walmart,” February 2023).
I’ve been searching for a simple, clear, trustworthy comparison of the costs/benefits of the primary sources of clean, safe, readily accessible energy. I’d love to see this approach for a rational analysis of solar, wind, biomass that includes the embodied carbon costs.
This two-page spread should be reprinted and offered to lawmakers, teachers, city planners, architects, contractors — all those concerned with the fastest, most efficient, least costly way to address the climate crisis.
Charlene M. Woodcock
Berkeley, California
CONSERVATIVES LIVE HERE, TOO
I fear that HCN has turned boldly to the left and too often leaves out the perspective of the many conservatives who do live and work in the West. Many of these conservatives are people that renewable energy and transmission developers must deal with. It is important in our polarized world to make sure we are talking to each other. My concern is that HCN might be dismissed as “elitist” by people we need to deal with.
Tom Hiester
Kingston, Washington
THE WHOLE WEST
I have to say I absolutely love that you have so many stories about Indigenous issues and racial politics in the West. My friends and I used to joke that your paper, as much as we loved it, was “For WHITE people who care about the West.” But now, with Native voices and non-white Westerners represented throughout, it is so much better, so much richer, so much more meaningful. Thank you for making that change, especially in the face of all the pushback from white subscribers (and even former editors) who think that white folks’ version of what constitutes news about the land and communities we love is all that should be covered. I am renewing and donating.
But please, never, and I mean NEVER, send me an issue wrapped in plastic again.
Linda Kenoyer
Livingston, Montana
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