BACK TO THE FUTURE
Jaclyn Moyer’s article on taking the McKenzie River tributary back to Stage 0 (“The Way of the River,” June 2026) was excellent. I was deeply involved in river restoration for many years. While we were always doing our best to improve our river systems, Moyer’s piece shows that’s not always the case. Understanding how nature made that system and reverting to that is often proving to be best.
Marc Alston
Denver, Colorado
A DEEP DIVER INTO DEEP WATER
I learned a great deal from the Native ecological perspective in “A River Robbed of
Sediment” (June 2026) and realize how pathetically narrow my exposure has been to historical river health.
Dorothy Cox
Via email
A BLOODY COUGAR CONTROVERSY
Thank you for the informative article about the current Utah Division of Wildlife Resources program (“Utah’s controversial new mountain lion study,” June 2026). It infuriates me that the Utah DWR thinks the solution is to kill as many cougars as it can and see if that increases the mule deer population. Who has the right to live? The animals that are native to the land or the intruders with high-powered rifles, scopes and binoculars? The “study” reminds me of the eradication of beavers, otters, grizzly bears, bison, salmon and many other indigenous species for “profit” ever since the Europeans “tamed the West.” I am not a wildlife biologist, but what happened to the natural prey-and-predator relationship? It seems like that would even out natural animal populations if they were allowed to evolve naturally.
Climate change, which we are exacerbating, makes it so much harder for so many species to survive. Why do we need to kill the animals that have found a way to adapt and survive?
Newton Morgan
Poulsbo, Washington
Hunters, houndsmen, ranchers, conservationists, biologists and the general public have all presented rational and factual arguments as to why Utah’s actions are not only unfounded, but just plain wrong.
The impact of killing the cougars is beginning to reveal itself, and it’s nothing short of horrifying: the deaths and mutilations, the collateral damage, the inhumane methods. The public is about to hit the boiling point on this.
The debate is showing signs of shifting from one of science to one of morality. Killing off our lions to improve the deer hunting industry is one thing. But to be unmoved by the events emerging from the field can’t help but make one question one’s values.
Hope remains that rational dialogue can stop the slaughter of our mountain lions. But time will tell.
Paul Garvey
Kanab, Utah
The opportunity to kill a cougar is hard to come by since they are very elusive and generally stay away from humans. There is an unnecessarily high number of these big cats in Utah. Most cubs will make it to adulthood because there is no “competition,” and if this law falls, we will soon be overrun with these predators, and our forests and ecosystems will collapse.
Russell Jessop
Eagle Mountain, Utah
DON’T WALL OFF OUR TRAILS
Just a note of gratitude for the recent article, “The Continental Divide Trail is being militarized for the border wall,” (May 19, 2026).
The same thing is happening to the Arizona National Scenic Trail to the west, where one mile of the trail is now closed due to blasting and road construction activities. And last week the construction crews started a fire that quickly spread to 60 acres and caused widespread closures of the National Park Service unit (Coronado National Memorial), where the Arizona Trail’s southern terminus is located.
And to top it all off, the Department of Homeland Security announced its plans to build two walls through this area instead of one. It’s insane.
Thank you for giving this important issue about our public lands — and the nationally significant trails that should be protected under the National Trails System Act — some ink.
Matt Nelson
Tucson, Arizona
HIGH COUNTRY NEWTS
I loved the article about the Pacific newt in the May 2026 issue (“Meet the Pacific newt”)! I’ve been a longtime lover of these creatures, and the article was so fun and a great ode to them. Especially, I adore the artwork that accompanies it.
Erin Hennessy
Albuquerque, New Mexico
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