“Bears Ears’ guerilla visitor center” (HCN, 5/13/19) left me puzzled. Is it meant to be a celebration or a lament? Monuments and parks attract crowds. Crowds bring problems and damage the very things that are intended to be “preserved.” An official visitors center won’t deter those crowds, nor will it prevent the damage they will cause. Perhaps monument […]
Letter to the editor
Posted inJune 10, 2019: 'None of this happened the way you think it did'
Supporting the Santuario
In 1993, eight of us from Colorado first walked in the Chimayó Good Friday Pilgrimage, and we’ve come every year since. Over the years, we’ve seen the Santuario and the area around it changed by institutional and commercial interests eager to exploit the “Chimayó” brand. Currently, the developers are held in check by the whole […]
Posted inJune 10, 2019: 'None of this happened the way you think it did'
Missing the mark in New Mexico
I typically have a lot of respect for HCN’s journalism, but I think you missed the mark on the role tourism plays in New Mexico (“The Atomic Road Trip,” 5/13/19). In a state that has traditionally relied on an extraction-based economy (which is, in fact, true destruction), tourism offers rural communities a chance to highlight […]
Posted inMay 27, 2019: Public Pushback
America’s nuclear past
This is a beautifully written story that notes the whitewashing of our nation’s nuclear past (and present). It’s tempting to think of it as a “New Mexican” story, but it’s actually an American story that took place here because of New Mexico’s relative remoteness in the 1940s. Ray Gulick Bernalillo, New Mexico This article appeared […]
Posted inMay 27, 2019: Public Pushback
Fish rights
We don’t have any pupfish here, but we have an assortment of hoodlums who practice their gun shooting while both drunk and sober, on every road sign they find (“Scene of the Crime,” HCN, 4/15/19). They also shoot every living thing in sight, including bald eagles and deer out of season. They can’t read “no […]
Posted inMay 27, 2019: Public Pushback
Fly elsewhere, Growlers
The Navy plans to expand its electronic warfare training for EA-18G “Growler” jets, some of the loudest aircraft in the world, over Olympic National Park (“A crusade for quiet” HCN, 5/13/19). Plans are already in the works to add another 36 jets to its existing fleet of 82 on Whidbey Island, a 44% increase. More […]
Posted inMay 27, 2019: Public Pushback
Meandering road trip
I’m not quite sure of the purpose of “The Atomic Road Trip” (HCN, 5/13/19), which was not quite a travelogue, nor a thoughtful examination of New Mexico or its people and nuclear past. The story meanders and never comes to a point, which is ironic because that’s something you can do in New Mexico — […]
Posted inMay 27, 2019: Public Pushback
Sanctuary plans
I was pleased to see Gustavo Arellano’s article about the plans of the Catholic Church to build a “multimillion-dollar retreat center” next to the Santuario de Chimayó in the community of El Potrero (“Whose Santuario?” HCN, 5/13/19). However, the article fails to mention the process that led to the church putting its plans on hold. From […]
Posted inApril 29, 2019: A History of Violence
Curious critters
I want to thank you for publishing Beth Pratt’s piece, “We shouldn’t celebrate the killing of a mountain lion” (HCN, 4/15/19). Mainstream media seems to always sensationalize these sorts of events and never goes back to give readers the rest of the story. Someone in my area picked up on this “danger” and wrote a […]
Posted inApril 29, 2019: A History of Violence
Good will and heartbreak
It broke my heart to read Gladys Connolly’s letter to the editor (HCN, 3/18/19) about Raksha Vasudevan’s essay, “Mountain biking is my act of resistance.” Vasudevan’s essay was so vulnerable and open. I, like Ms. Connolly, was surprised by the intensity of her fear. However, I experienced the essay as a window into a world […]
Posted inApril 29, 2019: A History of Violence
The whole rodeo thing
“Life on the gay rodeo circuit” (HCN, 3/18/19) brought back a memory: My wife and I were spending the night at the Fort Lauderdale Airport Hilton before flying home early the next day. As it happened, the Hilton was the host hotel for the big annual event of the Florida Gay Rodeo Association. As we […]
Posted inApril 29, 2019: A History of Violence
What about the real criminals?
Reading Paige Blankenbuehler’s excellent exposé about the plight of the Devils Hole pupfish (“Scene of the Crime,” HCN, 4/15/19), I couldn’t stop thinking about how arbitrary and weighted toward the wealthy the American legal system is. Here you had an admittedly foolish young man who broke into a natural hot springs and accidentally killed a […]
Posted inApril 15, 2019: Scene of the Crime
Don’t scapegoat the horses
Debbie Weingarten’s cover piece depicts the conflict over the Salt River wild horses and the mythology of wild horses as symbols of an unbridled West (HCN, 3/18/19). But in venturing further afield, the article echoes destructive myths about America’s free-roaming wild equines. Overpopulation is not “a real problem.” The Bureau of Land Management and the […]
Posted inApril 15, 2019: Scene of the Crime
Stop the Border Police state
Kudos to Ruxandra Guidi for journalistic excellence and her report on the Border Police’s abuse of, among other principles of democracy, the First Amendment (“Detention nation,” HCN, 3/18/19). Guidi reports the truth (there is no such thing as an “alternative fact”) in a clear, concise and logical progression, without name-calling, supposition or what rhetoricians call […]
Posted inApril 15, 2019: Scene of the Crime
Wild horses do us good
As a wildlife ecologist, I did two in-field investigations and reports on the Salt River herd and its habitat in 2012 and 2015 (“Arizona’s Wild Horse Paradox,” HCN, 3/18/19). These involved interviews, ecological transects and literature review. Based on my findings, I believe that Debbie Weingarten is overlooking much of the greater truth about these […]
Posted inApril 15, 2019: Scene of the Crime
Conciliation and compromise
For the last decade I’ve read almost every issue of HCN cover to cover, starting at the back cover with “Heard around the West,” but I usually just gloss through the “Editor’s Note.” Not this time: Paul Larmer’s essay on contradictions was spot-on (“Embracing contradiction,” HCN, 3/18/19). Last week, I finished teaching a 300-level environmental law […]
Posted inApril 15, 2019: Scene of the Crime
Conversations and communities
As a longtime subscriber to HCN, I have always appreciated your approach in illuminating all sides of an issue as a step towards resolution on clear issues like water or land. Recently, a spate of articles has asked more amorphous questions, from people looking for a sense of belonging or struggling to stay in New […]
Posted inMarch 18, 2019: Arizona's Wild Horse Paradox
Free beer vs. carbon tax
One of the insights offered by recent Nobel economics laureate William Nordhaus was that the framing used to advance carbon fees/taxes is really the whole story (“What Killed Washington’s Carbon Tax?” HCN, 1/21/19). Instead of putting a carbon tax on the ballot, we might have better luck with “free beer,” “health care for all,” or perhaps […]
Posted inMarch 18, 2019: Arizona's Wild Horse Paradox
Navajo generating station
You are missing one of the pieces to solve the puzzle (“Healing wounds from the war on coal,” HCN, 3/4/19). I have always admired the Navajo Coal Plant as a great opportunity to generate electricity and provide jobs on tribal land. Currently, I am working with another of the tribes to develop a wind-generating facility that […]
Posted inMarch 18, 2019: Arizona's Wild Horse Paradox
Resisting what?
The essay by Raksha Vasudevan (“Mountain biking is my act of resistance,” HCN, 3/4/19) has disquieted me. This may be the intent of HCN’s editors, but I wonder what the takeaway is for most readers. For me, it is frustration with a mindset that claims victim status just for being different, and with a publication […]