Letter to the editor

The exchange inspired by Bryce Andrews’ “Living Precariously With Wolves and Cattle,” has revealed a striking contrast in soul and substance on opposite sides of the divide over management of public rangelands in the American West (HCN, 8/20/07). Andrews’ description of killing one wolf and participating, at least indirectly, in the killing of three others […]

A common logical error is the “either-or” fallacy. We must either kill wolves or put up with dead and horribly maimed cows. And men so quickly turn to guns. I’m sure there are many solutions in between, one of which is “negotiating” with the wolves. Ann Daum writes about a rancher successfully negotiating with coyotes […]

Valerie Brown is to be congratulated for pursuing the story line in “A Climate Change Solution?” that some of the greenhouse carbon dioxide (CO2) that human activities are adding to the atmosphere could possibly be sequestered deep within a stack of basalt lava flows (HCN, 9/3/07). But the article fails to describe how scientist Peter […]

This response to Jonathan Thompson’s essay is not about the right to bear arms and the purpose of firearms (HCN, 9/3/07). (I do bear arms and I hunt with firearms.) Rather, it is more about the changing West. Thompson’s encounter with the Lexus-driving “bird man” reminds me of the sneer I got when I drove […]

I am glad to see HCN finally writing about the BLM’s plan to aerial spray nearly 1 million acres of public land annually for the purpose of controlling invasive plants (HCN, 9/3/07) The West is a storybook of public-land calamities and this is yet another. Most of these have been foisted upon us by public […]

The article by Valerie Brown illustrates our country dancing around the gorilla in the kitchen (HCN, 9/3/07). No amount of mitigation for stopping climate change will work unless we stabilize population. Nothing will solve this civilization’s spiral into irreversible consequences and unsolvable problems unless we stop population growth. The March 2006 population projections from Fogle/Martin […]

Bryce Andrews experienced “rage” when, after domestic cattle were pushed into limited wolf range, some livestock were killed by wolves this summer (HCN, 8/20/07). His own participation in the public-lands ranching industry apparently notwithstanding, Andrews took solace that, by personally killing the alpha male of the local wolf pack, he contributed to a “moderate” solution […]

Bryce Andrews, in describing how he killed a wolf that had preyed upon some cattle in Montana, refuses to take responsibility for the conflicts he has created for our wildlife by placing livestock among our wildlife on our public lands (HCN, 8/20/07). Every cow on public lands is eating forage that would otherwise support native […]

When I read Bryce Andrews’ line, “Ranchers lose sleep, money and their tempers (due to wolf depredation of livestock),” it raised my hackles (HCN, 8/20/07). I’ve heard this several times over the last decade. No doubt ranchers are good at losing their tempers, but are they losing money? Doesn’t Defenders of Wildlife have a fund […]

You left out quite a few of the major candidates in your article about how much presidential candidates are collecting around the West (HCN, 8/6/07). Usually HCN does better, but here it seems like you’re acting like the mainstream media – how are people to know about candidates like Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, Mike Huckabee […]

I would think that an independent-minded journal like HCN would not so easily fall prey to anti-gun rhetoric more befitting the New York Times. Specifically: “… a reflection of white men’s anxiety about the civil rights movement”? Tell that to my Hispanic and Indian hunting friends (most of whom vote Democratic) but who support gun […]

Thanks for examining an aspect of Western culture that receives less coverage than it deserves. Responsible gun ownership includes acceptance of safeguards that are essential to the maintenance of a peaceful society. The paranoia and fear driving this small, feverish band of gun zealots is one of the strongest arguments for strengthening regulations. Their willingness […]

I couldn’t help but write when I ran into this painfully antihistorical passage in your article: “In a phone interview, Professor Burbick says the gun-rights movement began not only in reaction to gun laws, but also as a reflection of white men’s anxiety about the civil rights movement. Right-wing politicians have deliberately exploited that anxiety, […]

At first, the article was interesting to me, but after reading the whole thing it seems a bit slanted. I’m an avid shooter and hunter, and it seems to paint me as a “nut.” I’m a sane guy out here in the West who enjoys hunting and shooting with my kids to put food on […]

In his Aug. 6 Editor’s Note, John (Mecklin) describes Ray Ring’s firearms package as “remarkably even-handed and hope it can provide a starting point … for discussion. …” Right. I didn’t realize HCN was becoming a humor periodical. An “even-handed” presentation should characterize Second Amendment supporters as other than quirky Western kooks and addled wingnuts […]

Your cover story asks the question, “Is it time to re-examine the West’s extraordinary fascination with firearms?” Uhmmmm … Extraordinary? The West is rather large and many of us live a long way from the nearest sheriff. Our stupid government has put just enough pressure on the drug suppliers to raise the price of drugs […]

The concerns about solar panel arrays being ugly is a bit ironic, as viewed from the developmental sprawl and congestion in and around our cities (HCN, 7/23/07). However, are there any examples of “community solar,” whereby neighbors have combined efforts to locate a group of panels on a compatible site? Dan Rathmann Cincinnati, Ohio This […]

I was “appalled” to read Will Nobauer’s letter regarding your article on Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife (HCN, 7/23/07). In the letter he calls these people “stupid looking white-trash rednecks” and “psychotic mental retards.” Such a wonderful example of intelligent discourse. It came as no surprise to me to find out that good old Will […]

The letters responding to “The New Conservationists” were all equally noteworthy (HCN, 7/23/07). Most were insightful in that we all recognize organizations like Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife and their henchmen like Don Peay are anything but conservationists. What is missing from the analysis, though, is SFW, Peay and his ilk in other Western states, […]

Bryce Andrews not only misrepresented Aldo Leopold in his “Living precariously with wolves and cattle” (HCN, 8/20/07), but he also failed to acknowledge the other side of the public-lands grazing issue: Many of us would rather have wolves and healthy rangelands than cattle. Leopold’s famous essay “Thinking Like A Mountain” from A Sand County Almanac […]