Letter to the editor

Dear HCN, Dressed as Grammaw Maudie Miller in 1843, whose brother Nathan is a mountain man, I do a living history story about trailblazers of the Oregon Trail. I tell about mountain men who opened up their 2,000-mile horse and pack-mule caravan routes to wagons by 1840, making possible the great migrations that opened and […]

Dear HCN, One climbing bolt the size of my finger, left on a rock face, is not the problem. One load of lead pellets, shot over a marsh, is not the problem. The problem is the cumulative debris of climbing bolts (and lead shot), and of over-use which permanently and cumulatively scars the landscape (HCN, […]

Dear HCN, Tom Sheridan says “paralysis’ brought about by lawsuits to enforce the Endangered Species Act will result in the fragmentation and subdivision of every grassland valley in the state of Arizona (HCN, 6/8/98). It seems much more likely to me, but I could be wrong, that if enforcement of the Endangered Species Act results […]

Dear HCN, Let me see if I have this right: Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young is concerned that some public employees may be “leaking” information about public lands (HCN, 9/14/98) to members of the public? Yikes! Wally Elton Springfield, Vermont This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Yikes!.

Dear HCN, It appears that there is some misunderstanding between Evan Cantor and myself concerning the status of Euphorbia myrsinites (donkeytail spurge). Cantor originally (-It rhymes with scourge’) claimed that the plant was a “fast-moving, aggressive invader” that was taking over “prairie and foothill meadows’ and that the plant will “soon be everywhere” (HCN, 6/22/98). […]

Dear HCN, In your coverage of the Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission’s report (HCN, 6/22/98) I was struck by a quote attributed to Denise Fort, chairman of the Advisory Commission: “The traditional control of Western water has largely been federal because the federal government has had such a major role in the construction of […]

Dear HCN, Normally, I try to respect everyone and their opinion. I might not agree with them. I might even feel forced to oppose them if they take action I feel is in error. But I respect their opinions, nevertheless. But I draw the line at the unmitigated and ridiculous arrogance of Stephen Lyons in […]

Dear HCN, Shame on you for printing the bureaucratic babble Fees Please Visitors … without giving equal time to Scott Silver (Bulletin Board, HCN, 6/22/98). I worked for the Park Service, BLM and Forest Service for a quarter of a century. I know self-serving government propaganda when I see it. Even if their new fee […]

Dear HCN, Robert Nold’s dismissal of the threat posed by non-native species is a classic case of denial (HCN, 8/3/98). By his own admission, he has “grown about 2,000 species of plants … and few have shown any “irreversible” tendencies to invade native habitats.” Observation has shown me that “a few” is all it takes. […]

Dear HCN, Climbing certainly touched a sensitive nerve with some readers (HCN, 9/14/98). The reactions (I should say counterattacks) brought forth complaints ranging far from fixed anchors to mountain bikes and hang gliders and even to garbage and toilet paper. Most of the writers lectured climbers for not sharing their, presumably, better wilderness ethic. One […]

Dear HCN, Because I am currently involved in a heated wilderness debate myself, Christina Nealson’s essay about cellular phones in wilderness areas caught my eye (HCN, 8/17/98). In the Grand Canyon where I work, as elsewhere, the debate over what constitutes a wilderness experience and the appropriate role of the federal government in prescribing exacting […]

Dear HCN, I used to assume that those who played in the backcountry were sympathetic to those who fought to protect it. But a new mind set, a category, perhaps even a generation of people seems to be taking form. Spawned by the glossy images of outside-oriented magazines, there are now hordes of “been there, […]

Dear HCN, Regarding Armando Menocal’s question about whether or not a bolt or rappel sling should be considered an “installation” under the 1964 Wilderness Act – these words being the key phrase for the Forest Service ban on bolts – my answer is clearly yes (HCN, 8/17/98). You are drilling a hole, inserting a piece […]

Rock climbers = litter Dear HCN, Armando Menocal needs to open his eyes (HCN, 8/17/98). Rock climbing in wilderness causes impacts which are inappropriate to areas where the signs of man are to remain unseen. Bolts, nylon straps, chalk marks and bare patches left when lichen is removed by climbing shoes are unsightly. The trails […]

Leave wilderness out of your climbing plans Dear HCN, I, for one, and I suspect there are others, applaud the Forest Service’s ban on fixed anchors. Wilderness areas are not to be permanently marred by man – regardless of how insignificant the marring is (HCN, 8/17/98). We don’t allow motorized vehicles, bicycles or hang-gliders in […]

Dear HCN, Your article, “A timber town rallies for roads’ (HCN, 7/6/98), notes that protesters in Cascade, Idaho, say the proposed moratorium – which would place a temporary end to road-building in roadless public forests in the Interior West – would put the squeeze on local timber supplies and lead to mill closures. On July […]

Dear HCN, I just got finished reading the article on Wyoming in your July 6 edition. I would like to point out that Paul Krza fails to mention an important fact about economic development in Wyoming – many people really don’t want it. Wyomingites hate the New West. They would rather have the big empty […]

Dear HCN, Paul Krza’s July 6 article on Wyoming errs in many ways – including his failure to ever talk to any Wyoming Heritage Society representative regarding our lasting commitment to Wyoming’s economy. For the record, the Wyoming Heritage Society: * Supports economic diversification. (Mr. Krza alleges we have not supported economic changes or causal […]

Dear HCN, In your 8/3/98 issue, Robert Nold takes me to task over my 6/22/98 essay, “It Rhymes With Scourge.” Robert admits that donkeytail spurge has “escaped from Boulder-area gardens and established itself in some areas,” but is not a “fast-moving, aggressive invader.” Boulder Mountain Parks would disagree; it lists donkeytail spurge as an invasive […]

Dear HCN, I wanted to correct what I perceived to be the inaccuracy of your Wayward West blurb about the International Mountain Bicycling Association’s decision not to join the Utah Wilderness Coalition (HCN, 7/6/98). First, you got the group’s name wrong, calling it the International Mountain Biking Association. While that may seem like a small […]