Letter to the editor

While I find many of your recent articles highly relevant, even vital, to those of us who love (or loathe) the West, the quality of writing and editing is sometimes disappointing. Hal Herring stepped well past the line of good judgment with his comment that it would be fun to hunt coyotes with a machine […]

Although they were painful to look at, I am glad you put the photographs of glory-hungry hunters posing with the animals they killed in the June 25 issue. New conservationists indeed! Their motives are those of Layne Bangerter, who, as natural resources advisor to Idaho’s governor, claims it is normal to “want animals to hunt, […]

How appalling to see so many lunatic hairless apes with guns in “Predator hunters for the environment.” The ugly and ignorant gene link is proven by these stupid-looking white-trash rednecks. There is no reverence for life or self-control, much less “conservation” in the pages of this issue. When future generations research conservation and come across […]

What’s with the animosity towards “good ol’ boys” and “rednecks”? They are citizens, taxpayers, and put their pants on just like everyone else. I found Hal Herring’s article long, but he was trying to thoroughly cover a big subject. I believe it is a fair representation of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife. SFW/SFH in Idaho […]

Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife is right — we need to kill the predators so we can have more wildlife. No one can dispute the fact that man is the most ruthless predator to ever stride the earth. I therefore have the perfect solution: The members of SFW should all take their probably-illegally-modified AR-15 assault […]

Thank you for the cover of the June 25 issue. The picture is worth far more than a thousand words. Here are four that sum it up: blood on his hands. The expression (what there is of an expression) on Kevin Smith’s face is the reason I don’t trust myself to own a gun. Mary […]

On the cover of your next issue, would you try very hard to get a picture of a mountain lion eating Kevin Smith. It would be more uplifting and less depressing than this one. Jim Sage Alpine, Texas This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline We’ll send a photographer […]

John Dougherty’s article “Problems in Paradise” paints an unfair picture of the Havasupai people (HCN, 5/28/07). He and another writer, Annette McGivney in Backpacker magazine, make us sound like a lawless community, with gangs running amok. Supai Village is a community where all of us feel safer letting our children out of our sight to […]

I believe the deer birth-control program at Point Reyes and other similar public areas is a good approach (HCN, 5/28/07). As someone who has lived with deer my whole life in both rural and suburban settings, I believe there are multiple major problems with allowing hunting in popular public lands, parks, and refuges. First, publicly […]

I had just finished reading a headline in the May 15 New York Times online, “Scientists Back Off Theory of a Colder Europe in a Warming World,” when I picked High Country News out of my mailbox and read the column about “climate-change denial” written by the director of environmental affairs for Aspen Ski Company […]

Thank you for the important article on the Verde River (HCN, 5/14/07). I do not understand Yavapai County Supervisor Carol Springer’s statement, “If we can’t grow at all in the future, because we lose our right to pump groundwater, we will cease to exist. There is no such thing as a static kind of a […]

Robert Hoff’s letter in which he called to “just have the facts” on global warming moved me to set straight a number of his (HCN, 4/30/07). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to which he refers, is considered by most scientists to produce one of the most comprehensive surveys of climate science, and the […]

Kudos to Bill Cook for “Why the West should copy Swiss ski transit.” What seems so apparent to ordinary citizens gets lost on our transportation planners — many of whom seem stuck in “auto” mode (HCN, 4/30/07). Yes, developing a transit system will be costly, but building and maintaining an environmentally and community sensitive highway […]

Although it’s great that you are talking about the housing issue, one sweeping statement — “Don’t blame water or oil for the cul de sac’s decline. Blame creative financing.” — is skirting the fact that, yes, transportation costs (and hence oil) play a key role in many people losing their homes (HCN, 4/30/07). According to […]

I have to agree with Sharon O’Toole for the most part about euthanizing our equines (HCN, 4/30/07). A few years ago, when my old saddle/packhorse needed to be put down, I dreaded not only the process of euthanizing, but also “offering” him to rendering works. Then I found out about donating him to a local […]

I am sick to death of the pro-horse-slaughter people decrying the demise of the foreign-owned horse-slaughterhouses that provide horsemeat for human consumption in Europe and other locales (HCN, 4/30/07). The best argument that these people can rally is to point out the prohibitive cost of euthanizing an animal that is no longer useful, or keeping […]

Regarding your story “Disposable workers of the oil and gas fields,” I work in the oilfields now; I’m a derrick hand (HCN, 4/2/07). While I respect anyone with 50 years in the fields, I also say “crap” to the perceived value of “safety meetings.” I have to write at least one job description report and […]

I really appreciated your article about the plight of Phoenix (HCN, 4/16/07). I think it is clear that climate shifting is occurring rapidly. Rather than arguing about the causes and about how to diminish carbon burning, it seems more fruitful to look at the anticipated consequences, and develop reasonable policy, behavioral and legislative responses. Even […]

I’ve been reading about beekeeping problems lately, but nobody has produced such a detailed personal account (HCN, 3/19/07). I live in avocado country in San Diego, Calif., and ride the area on my motorcycle often. I can see far fewer bees working, and there are far fewer on my windshield (always sad). Now we hear […]

In his review of Jim Stiles’ book Brave New West, Brian Kevin attempts to defend the “Lycra-clad masses” and wonders why Stiles doesn’t address more print to erosion and species loss (HCN, 4/16/07). Stiles does discuss erosion and species loss, but that is not his focus in this book. Kevin fails to appreciate the fact […]