Letter to the editor

Dear HCN, I very much enjoy your excellent paper, even if quite a few of the articles sadden me as they chronicle the transition of an honest working man’s West into a characterless, la-de-da, recreational theme-park West. But “The New West’s servant economy” truly shocks and depresses me (HCN, 4/17/95). That these ski resorts, catering, […]

Dear HCN, Thank you for publishing the edition covering the (endangered) Endangered Species Act, (HCN, 5/15/95). I work as a biologist, surveying and trying to mitigate detrimental effects to threatened, endangered, and sensitive species and their habitats. There is a great deal of misunderstanding concerning the effects of the act’s enforcement, with people continuing to […]

Dear HCN, Dennis Brownridge brought up some interesting points in his article about the National Park Service’s “Proposed Action” of their Draft General Management Plan for Grand Canyon National Park (HCN, 4/3/95). Unfortunately, his treatment of the subject was, while not necessarily wrong, at least remarkably biased, and did not begin to offer the whole […]

Christa Sadler has repeated park officials’ claims about what the proposed plan would do. However, a careful reading of the entire document and unpublished supporting studies, and hard questioning of park staffers, reveals that the plan is “not as advertised.” Addressing some of Ms. Sadler’s specific interpretations: * The plan would not encourage people to […]

Dear HCN, Marc Reisner’s recent story explained that some things have changed dramatically at the Bureau of Reclamation. Commissioner Dan Beard has little in common with his dam-building predecessors such as Floyd Dominy. Reisner portrayed Beard – accurately, I think – as someone firmly committed to making Reclamation more responsible to the environment and the […]

Dear HCN, After years of subscribing to HCN, I have decided to drop my subscription and will instead give to population groups. The United States is the third most populous nation behind China and India and 13th fastest-growing nation on Earth. The West is growing as fast as the fastest-growing areas in the world. Yet, […]

Dear HCN, I couldn’t agree more with you that Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt was perceptive enough to know he was taking on a no-win challenge as secretary of Interior (HCN, 5/1/95). In that regard, I would like to address a misconception about rural politics in Utah. It is easy to point toward county governing bodies […]

Dear HCN, One item in Ed Marston’s piece on Bruce Babbitt (HCN, 5/1/95) cries out for correction. It wasn’t Easterners who presided over setting aside “huge tracts of Alaska as natural.” It was Congressman Morris King Udall, born in Arizona, descendent of Mormon pioneers, quintessential Westerner and ultimate pragmatist. As we listen to the ranting […]

Dear HCN: Your story about the Forest Service’s demonization of fire (HCN, 3/6/95) was a fascinating account but failed to mention the well-documented but little publicized role of domestic livestock in the suppression of fire throughout the West. By removing grasses, especially in ponderosa pine forests, livestock have removed the fine fuels that enable fires. […]

SALVAGE BILL SELLS OUT DEMOCRACY Dear HCN, This is an open letter to Colorado Sens. Brown and Campbell, who recently voted for the salvage logging bill: I am writing to express my outrage at your vote to exempt the logging industry from environmental laws. There can be no justification for allowing a particular industry to […]

Dear HCN, We read with great interest and a sense of déja` vu Steve Stuebner’s article on the Big Lost River being dewatered due to groundwater pumping (HCN, 2/20/95). Déja` vu because here in Nevada we are dealing with the imminent collapse of a desert lake ecosystem, and groundwater pumping for agriculture is playing an […]

A SUPERB ISSUE Dear HCN, As a longtime reader of HCN, I am writing to commend your paper on the superb April 17 issue, and particularly on your lead story, “The New West’s servant economy.” The environmental movement has been criticized – sometimes justly – for ignoring the human condition, as if humanity is not […]

INCITING TO VIOLENCE IS NOT ACCEPTABLE Dear HCN, At a recent news conference, a reporter asked House Speaker Newt Gingrich if he felt that the anti-government rhetoric of the new Congress might be partly responsible for encouraging actions like the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building. Gingrich replied that it was a “grotesque and […]

Dear HCN, Within hours of the announcement by Utah counties of their 1 million-acre wilderness recommendation (HCN, 4/17/95), I visited a special place touted in rural county tourist brochures as “Utah’s Little Grand Canyon.” As the sun fell upon the western horizon, the Colorado Plateau light played its technicolor magic upon a slickrock face; to […]

Dear HCN: On March 30, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., offered a substitute amendment that would have improved the “salvage logging” amendment by requiring that federal land management agencies comply with environmental laws. The Murray amendment was defeated by one vote due to the efforts of Colorado’s own Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell – Democrat turned Republican. […]

Dear HCN: I’d like to comment on Scott W. Reed’s opinion, March 20, that “there should be no free lunch for recreationists.” Here we are again: a bewildered and beleagured public losing another freedom we take for granted. I’m wondering, what’s a recreationist? It’s no doubt a person, probably a human, out for a stroll […]

HCN IGNORED THE REAL ISSUES Dear HCN: Does Jon Christensen work in his off hours for the wise-use movement? He should learn a little more about Nevada before he writes about environmental issues. With several articles about ranching April 3, how come Mr. Christensen fails to give readers a full understanding of how this one […]

THE HOLISTIC APPROACH ISN’T FANATICAL Dear HCN: We would like to respond to an article in your April 3 special issue on the Great Basin which included comments about Holistic Resource Management made by rancher Tony Tipton. We are concerned that readers may be left with the impression that Holistic Resource Management is some sort […]

Dear HCN, Congratulations to Jon Christensen for his April 3 comprehensive Great Basin special edition and thank you for devoting the resources and energy to this project. It will surely encourage more thoughtful communication among all parties about the myths and challenges we face here. While I was flattered by Jon’s article on me, the […]

Dear HCN: Regarding “Sinful Las Vegas’ (HCN, 4/3/95), I would like to ask why the predictable, banal cliché that Las Vegas is “sin city” can’t be abandoned. What is here is legal and above board. Are you suggesting other cities where gambling and prostitution are illegal are “sinless’? Come on. Las Vegas has about 1 […]