Letter to the editor

In response to cranky letters about HCN covering fewer environmental issues and more “sociology” ? recent stories on Cannon Air Force Base (HCN, 8/22/05: Leavin’ on a Jet Plane) and Polynesian/Mormon gangs in Utah (HCN, 8/8/05: The Gangs of Zion) ? I wanted to compliment you on expanding your editorial vision. As environmental justice activists […]

Matt Jenkins’ story “Squeezing water from a stone” was well researched and informative, but I am afraid that the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s (SNWA) efforts to acquire water are just the tip of the iceberg (HCN, 9/19/05: Squeezing Water from a Stone). Lincoln County caved in because they did not have the money to fight […]

The recent Editor’s Note, “Exodus,” showed me that you need to be more careful when reaching for analogies (HCN, 10/3/05: Exodus). The comparison of the Anasazi to modern-day New Orleans included the now debunked media stories about widespread “murder and rape” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Those stories made front-page news in my Oregonian […]

I must complain about the article “What Happened To The Anasazi?” (HCN, 10/3/05: Out of the Four Corners) on two points. The first point is that the subject matter hardly qualifies as news. No great, truly new discoveries were reported, nor was any compelling, new explanation for the “mystery” of the Anasazis’ abandonment of these […]

Regarding Jeff Falen’s letter denouncing biodiesel on the basis that atmospheric carbon is atmospheric carbon regardless of its source (HCN, 10/17/05), I must disagree on three counts: While there is a mostly finite amount of carbon on the earth and in its atmosphere, sizable amounts are stored within the crust. Humans really began distorting the […]

I glanced at the recent cover blurb, “What Happened to the Anasazi?” and felt a familiar and weary irritation (HCN, 10/3/05: Out of the Four Corners). I continue to believe the only adequate response to that question is: “Ask the Hopi, the Paiute, the Havasupai, the Hualapi. They will tell you.” Then, I read the […]

I hate to continue to belabor the debate regarding what is or is not an appropriate topic for HCN, but when I saw the recent letter from Carol Chipman entitled “Stick to Environmental Topics,” I felt I had to respond (HCN, 10/3/05: Stick to environmental topics). As a planner in the West, I know that […]

Regarding Sandra Hoffman’s letter, though I agree that black-and-white images can be just as effective, if not more so, than color images, especially when production costs are a concern, I find it unfortunate that she can’t equate photographs with editorial content (HCN, 10/3/05: Don’t ‘dumb and numb’ readers). I may be biased, as a photojournalist, […]

Regarding methamphetamine use in the oil patch, this is not a new issue (HCN, 10/3/05: Methamphetamine fuels the West’s oil and gas boom). “White crosses” and other stimulants were easy to obtain in Gillette, Wyo., in 1974, when I was working as a roughneck in the Powder River Basin. Drill rigs go 24-7, and graveyard […]

Bravo for both Pepper Trail and Allen Best (HCN, 10/3/05: What’s at stake in the evolution debate). Mr. Trail wrote a wonderfully simple and direct essay on evolution and detailed the problems entailed when schools attempt to teach intelligent design as a concept on a scientific footing equal to evolution. Mr. Best has reformulated our […]

In “What’s at stake in the evolution debate,” biologist Pepper Trail attempts to enlist conservationists in the culture wars (HCN, 10/3/05: What’s at stake in the evolution debate). Trail insists that we must side with one warring camp or the other. According to Trail, the good guys are scientists who advance “reality,” while the bad […]

In “What’s at stake in the evolution debate,” Pepper Trail, Ph.D., tells us there “… is no debate in the scientific world about the validity of evolution … (as an explanation for) … the development and workings of life on Earth” (HCN, 10/3/05: What’s at stake in the evolution debate). Wow, at last! Science free […]

I enjoyed reading Pepper Trail’s essay on reality versus belief in the teaching of evolution debate, until he decided to assert his own liberal beliefs regarding the liberation of Iraq (HCN, 10/3/05: What’s at stake in the evolution debate). Don’t assume that just because many of your readers may oppose the president’s environmental policies that […]

My husband and I apply Allan Savory’s range management principles to our small acreage west of Boulder, grazing horses in early summer (HCN, 9/5/05: Rangland Revival). We move fences constantly, but the results, after about four years of doing this, are obvious to us, even in drought conditions. Our grasses are thicker and healthier than […]

This letter is regarding Paul Zaenger’s essay about ashes (HCN, 9/5/05: The meeting of heaven and earth). My mother and grandmother were both strong advocates of women’s rights and the Democratic Party in Utah. It was fitting that we broadcast their ashes into the stream up Emigration Canyon in Salt Lake City, allowing their liberal […]

Matt Jenkins’ excellent article on what we here in Snake Valley refer to as “the water grab” explains the long-range scientific concerns that we share (HCN, 9/18/05: Squeezing water from a stone). But as Jenkins points out, the “money and power” reside in Las Vegas. Indeed, the Southern Nevada Water Authority is paying the costs […]

Biodiesel is a great idea (HCN, 8/8/05: The American dream, sans gasoline). But how long can we ferment potential food? Yeast exhales carbon dioxide, as do tractors, and those nasty artificial fertilizers are made from oil. Used cooking oil will not be readily available for long, as biodiesel fans burn it up. Some long-term solutions […]

Michelle Nijhuis’ ode to biodiesel and her American-sized Mercedes is well-intentioned but misinformed (HCN, 8/8/05: The American dream, sans gasoline). Biodiesel aficionados claim that burning vegetable oil drastically reduces overall emissions of globe-warming carbon dioxide because the carbon in plant oils is already part of the natural carbon cycle. But the carbon in vegetable oil […]

I was pleased to see in your recent article about Courtney White and his Quivira Coalition that there are serious questions about the scientific soundness of the livestock-grazing strategy he promotes (HCN, 9/5/05: Rangeland Revival). I fear, however, that your reporter’s use of the term “rest-rotation” to describe this grazing scheme will produce more confusion. […]

With regards to the Quivira Coalition and the New Ranch movement, the question is not whether ranchers managing land and livestock under such principles can actually restore landscapes (HCN, 9/5/05: Rangeland Revival). Dedicated individuals such as Sid Goodloe of Capitan, N.M., working with the freedom and flexibility afforded to private land, have already demonstrated an […]