Letter to the editor

The interview provides a view on the armed reopen “protests,” from an interesting point of view. It’s a chilling analysis summing up three centuries and their original sins: guns, profits and a culture of privilege. Maybe a tad bit radical, but makes you think. Jürgen Kraus, via Twitter This article appeared in the print edition […]

Thank you for the eye-opening article on land-grant universities. However, High Country News failed to state what the tribes would have been entitled to had their treaties been ratified. Coercion and duress may be used to set aside a modern contract, but even though coerced, the tribes may want to enforce the treaties to receive […]

For three years, Cornell had a faculty-led project on land grabs, some domestic and most abroad. I co-led the project and investigated U.S. Indian land grabs, but I resoundingly overlooked what you’ve uncovered. I’m both humbled and grateful. Today, I forwarded a message to scholars and lawyers around the United States who share this interest. […]

This is the best thing I’ve ever read about Los Angeles, and one of the best things I’ve ever read about anywhere.  Lara Disney, via Twitter This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline The best thing I’ve ever read about Los Angeles.

I found Lynell George’s piece “No Trick of Light” (May 2020) profoundly moving. As an expatriate Californian living in Colorado, I was stirred by her references to a certain play of light, the peculiar sound of wind among native and non-native trees, the cooing of doves, and the ever-changing topography of desert and hills going […]

Most Western states have regulated seasons for shed hunting and designated open and closed areas (“The ethics of shed-hunting,” Outdoor Rec & Travel 2020). Nothing unethical about following these regulations to shed hunt. Those who flout the regulations are not only unethical but committing crimes. Shed hunting per se is not unethical. —Richard B. Jones, […]

I think we’d best beware of the “fascism” that we already have! Trump is using the COVID-19 pandemic to relax environmental standards for industries as it is. If anything, we’re going in a totally opposite direction than what this suggests. Our once-relevant Environmental Protection Agency has been mostly hijacked early on by the Trump administration. […]

While I share the concern as to the intrusion of technology and impact of placement of towers, I am also reminded of the multiple deaths and rescues that have occurred due to ill-advised flatlanders who attempted to climb Longs Peak or similar destinations in Rocky Mountain National Park in poor weather conditions. You’re not going […]

In response to Nick Bowlin’s article about Backcountry Film Festival (“Snow-blind,” Outdoor Rec & Travel 2020), we at the Backcountry Film Festival and Winter Wildlands Alliance would like to address what Bowlin’s critique missed. BCFF’s films come from a variety of backgrounds, speak to relevant issues regarding a variety of backcountry and environmental issues, and […]

We’re actually covering settler colonialism and some of its ramifications now in my class, specifically related to water resources and ecology, as it problematizes ideas of ecological restoration, stakeholders, historical water rights and other things we treat as givens in the dominant culture. And I totally agree with this last statement: “ ‘You can’t go […]

The way forward requires a new norm. As David Sloan Wilson writes in The Neighborhood Project, “If you’re undermining the commons, you’re degrading your soul.” —Wesley Rolley, via Facebook This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline New norms.

This is sad news indeed, but after working with the Forest Service on bighorn sheep range studies for three summers in the backcountry, it comes as no surprise (“Competitor of conscience,” Outdoor Rec & Travel 2020). Bighorns are a sensitive and easily spooked genus. Researchers need to make sure their data is rock-solid, do additional […]

This is a much-needed deep dive into the issue of land “grant” universities. Let’s hope this sparks real dialogue and action today as we move forward with true partnerships with Indigenous people, education of Indigenous students, hiring of Indigenous faculty and staff, and ethical research to support (and in collaboration with) Indigenous communities. —Michael Dockry, […]

I read the article about the National Park Service allowing new cell towers in the Teton Range. It sounds immediately like a horrendous idea, and yet it is happening. You’d think the Park Service would know better, but alas. I went to the Park Service site but could not find any comment opportunities on the […]

The author of “Wiring the Wild” (Outdoor Rec & Travel 2020) asserts that the Park Service’s mission is to “conserve and entertain,” but what about the essential mission of interpretation: enabling visitors to experience and learn about natural and cultural features, and in the process protecting the parks through greater public understanding and appreciation? The […]

In his essay “The road to ecofascism” (April 2020), Brian Calvert is right about the Nazis’ perversion of environmentalism; their mystical feelings for the land did indeed add to a “romantic populism” that led in the “dark direction” of racism.  But we need not worry about American environmentalists going in that direction; they care about the whole world, not just […]

In regard to “The ethics of shed-hunting”: Rodents and other animals consume shed antlers and bone as a valuable source of calcium and other nutrients, especially in arid and semi-arid environments. Once collecting becomes an industry, it is certainly bound to have a negative impact, much like wild gingko collecting in the Eastern U.S. —Craig […]

“Land-Grab Universities” (April 2020) called for reconciliation efforts at schools that have endowments derived in part from the taking of Native American lands in the 19th century. South Dakota State University has dedicated around $636,000 in annual endowment income from these lands to programs and support for Native students. If all 52 universities in your […]

I was recently immersed in an interview in The Sun, “Blind Hate: Randy Blazak on Why White Supremacy Persists.” One of Blazek’s points is how changing American demographics are affecting white males who grew up in a country dominated by “straight, white, able-bodied males.” In their hearts, they feel safe and important in settings of […]