Letter to the editor

Dear HCN, Jon Marvel did not adopt his attitude toward ranchers or his extraordinary tactics overnight. As you report, his attitude was formed over the course of 30 years as a neighbor of ranchers and 20-plus years as a resident of Idaho (HCN, 8/2/99). This pattern is repeating itself time after time across the West. […]

Dear HCN, Despite Jon Marvel’s insistence that he is a lover of the land, his objective is not to improve the landscape in the West, but to play a game in which his unwillingness to entertain a holistic view of the issues endlessly entertains him. His agenda apparently dates back to the days he lived […]

Dear HCN, It does no good when environmentalists such as Jon Marvel use billboards. I quote from him: “I loved it … the open spaces, the beautiful mountain vistas …” (HCN, 8/2/99). He hates to see pristine creeks sullied by cattle. How about pristine views? Many make the argument the billboards are already there. My […]

Dear HCN, As a former resident of Boise, Idaho, and having hiked, camped and hunted extensively for many years in the arid areas that are targeted by the Idaho Watersheds Project, in particular, southeast Oregon, southwest Idaho and northern Nevada, I agree 100 percent with their agenda. Get those *#@??*&^ cows OFF the public land! […]

Dear HCN, Before launching into my diatribe, I want to thank you for the recent cover story on the history of the Butte mines (HCN, 6/7/99). It ought to be required reading in history classes in Montana public schools. Now, here’s my response to the letter you printed from Battle Mountain Gold’s corporate consigliere (HCN, […]

Dear HCN, Regarding Randolph F. Edwards’ brutal attack on my “dumb poorly drawn cartoon” of park rangers with deformed heads, Mr. Edwards must realize that I doodle from experience. I was a park ranger at Arches National Park for 10 years and the consensus among field rangers (the ones who actually work in the park, […]

The artful cartoon by Jim Stiles (HCN, 5/24/99) was deeply appreciated by many current and former National Park Service (NPS) rangers who have first-hand knowledge of the extent to which our parks have become increasingly militarized. I worked for the NPS as a seasonal backcountry ranger for six years (1987-92), and consistently received official commendations […]

Dear HCN, My regular economic pen pal, Ed Marston, interprets the economic data in the Claiborne-Ortenberg Foundation’s report Montana: People and the Economy as showing that Montanans live in “poverty,” are “hurting” and “impoverished,” face a “failing” and “weak” economy, and do not live in a “middle-class’ society (HCN, 6/21/99). He concludes that we do […]

Dear HCN, Dan Flores (-In Montana: The view from the ranchette,” HCN, 5/10/99) is technically correct when he writes that A.B. Guthrie Jr. was a Midwesterner. It is misleading, however, to accuse the author of The Big Sky of being just another hypocritical carpetbagger Californicating Montana while criticizing others for doing so. In 1901, his […]

Dear HCN, I can definitely do without dumb poorly drawn cartoons by Jim Stiles (HCN, 5/24/99). First, I’m sure the Park Service rangers do not take it upon themselves to raise fees, and they do need more money because there are more people using our facilities. Second, they may “pack” guns because, let’s face it, […]

Dear HCN, I am the author of the Sierra magazine article cited as being “guilty” of “misinformation about wildlife” (HCN, 5/10/99). The story concerned the research Charlie Russell and Maureen Enns are doing with grizzly bears in Kamchatka. HCN quotes Chuck Bartlebaugh of the Center for Wildlife Information as saying that “the story is full […]

Dear HCN, If Susan Ewing’s soul is at rest on her 20-acre ranchette outside of Bozeman, as she claims, why did she feel the need to stage such an elaborate Twinkie-defense of living there (-My Beautiful Ranchette,” HCN, 5/10/99)? Ewing’s justification is her craving for space, her appreciation for wildlife, and her desire to “settle […]

Dear HCN, There is nothing “weird” about Death Valley (HCN, 5/24/99). What is weird is High Country News’ attitude about any expanse of land that does not have a bunch of trees on it. Maybe what we need is a publication called Low Country News, which will have a positive attitude regarding the deserts and […]

Dear HCN, Andy Wiessner needs no defense from me or any other conservationist to support his environmental credentials over many years. However, I do want to correct the erroneous and libelous comments in Ben Twight’s letter (HCN, 5/24/99) about the Mountaineers and my role in the Forest Service-Plum Creek land exchange. I have been a […]

Dear HCN, People whose livelihoods depend on creating and extending controversy about the Crown Jewel Mine have suggested that Battle Mountain did not litigate the federal denial of its plan of operations because the company had concerns about the merits of its case (HCN, 5/24/99). In fact, just the opposite is true. Battle Mountain was […]

Dear HCN, Your cover article pronouncing the death of trapping was premature (HCN, 4/12/99). Here in Minnesota, voters last November passed a measure to amend the state constitution to guarantee the right of Minnesota residents to hunt, fish and trap. The measure passed by a lopsided 77 percent to 23 percent, despite editorials against the […]

Dear HCN, I received a great deal of satisfaction from reading Dan Flores’ and Susan Ewing’s articles on Western subdivisions (HCN, 5/10/99). Here are two essays that aren’t the usual blinders-on, cheerleading drivel. As a prelude, I should add that I disagree with the authors on many points. As a range ecologist living in the […]

Dear HCN, Thanks to HCN for doing the article on trapping (HCN, 4/12/99). Many people think trapping went out with the advent of the 20th century … even in Nevada. The Nevada Division of Wildlife has been recalcitrant, as have most fish and game agencies, seeing any restriction on trapping as a move on our […]

Dear HCN, Your article, “Greens not welcome in Escalante” reminded me why I left my home state (HCN, 5/24/99). Southern Utahns have long regarded nature as an enemy to conquer, dating back to the days when Brigham Young sent them to colonize a howling wilderness. Considering the local belief that the Earth is a mere […]

Dear HCN, How crazy have we become? Brent Israelsen writes in the May 24th HCN about ranchers wanting a new $8 million dam on the Escalante River to supply water to raise cattle feed in arid southern Utah. With a surplus of meat in the United States, it is time for livestock producers to look […]