Letter to the editor

Carl Segerstrom’s piece (“Food Forward,” November 2020) about alternative distribution systems for small farm operations is A+. Tate TischnerWebster, New York This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Makes the grade.

Alex Carr Johnson nailed it in his well-written essay, “Now that you’ve gone West, young man,” in the September issue. We certainly have accumulated a terrible debt through our conquests, biased historical accounts and attending mythologies. I share the shame. Bob SnowTucson, Arizona This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the […]

With all due respect to Black cowboys and their rightful place in Western history (“Black cowboys reclaim their history in the West,” December 2020), be aware that every animal welfare organization in North America condemns rodeo due to its inherent cruelty. For most of the animals involved, the rodeo arena is merely a detour en route […]

We in the hinterlands are being increasingly poorly served by High Country News. Soil, food and water will become more critical to our nation’s health and security as we face the future. Consequently, we need fewer essays on effective protesting, or page after page devoted to metropolitan matters. HCN’s November issue was encouraging: Stories about […]

Everything about “Divided Prospects” is fantastic. From its analysis of rural economies to the photography — worth every penny of a subscription. Incredible work from writer Sarah Tory and photographer Russel Daniels!! Chris Parri Boise, Idaho This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Analysis of rural economies.

Good work on “Divided Prospects,” December 2020. Uinta County, Wyoming, keeps trying to figure out a way out of the boom-bust business. I always said that if I ever moved back to Wyoming, I’d pick Evanston. Close enough to Salt Lake City, to skiing and the Wasatch. Thanks for your writing, Sarah Tory! Great photos […]

While I know this case is complicated (“A whistleblower speaks out over excavation of Native sites,” December 2020), I think that archaeologists would be lying if we didn’t admit that we recognize the patterns and structures reported on here. I know we wouldn’t have to try hard to find many stories like this one. Because […]

Sarah Keller’s description of her journey to use hunting as a way to center herself does not surprise me or many other hunters (“Hunting for myself,” November 2020), though I faced no reality even remotely comparable to hers. I first hunted and shot a rabbit, which my brother and I cooked and ate, about the […]

Thank you for publishing Adam Sowards’ excellent perspective (“30 years later, the lessons of Redwood Summer,” November 2020). It’s a good time to remember Judi Bari’s role in helping to organize and publicize the events of that summer and beyond. Her background of living and working as a carpenter in the logging towns of Northern […]

I loved Khadijah Queen’s article “Lessons for homeschool” (October 2020). This whole pandemic can be viewed as an opportunity — nowhere more than in breaking our views of education free from the “no child left behind,” “nation at risk” top-down regimentation. It’s a wild and wonderfully complex world we live in, and we need more […]

As an enthusiastic and longtime HCN subscriber, I was perturbed to open the latest and greatest and not see Brian Calvert’s familiar opening letter, which I looked forward to as a prequel to the articles within. So I turned to page 25 (November 2020) to find a postage-stamp-size description I needed a magnifying glass to […]

Kudos to Paige Blankenbuehler for the balanced and incisive reporting in her article “Grand Disjunction” (October 2020). She approaches the ungainly issue of public-land use through helpful storytelling — local people airing their concerns. It helps to assuage the ills of partisan bickering and realize we must all remain neighbors. Alex KouvelTucson, Arizona  This article […]

In “The Forest Service should embrace a full-time workforce” (July 2020), Anastasia Selby made a compelling argument for full-time employment. However, that is in stark contrast to what many Forest Service firefighters actually want. The seasonality of the job is something the vast majority of wildland firefighters enjoy. The idea that we want to keep […]

I really appreciated the well-researched and in-depth reportage on the presidential candidates’ public-land policies and how they would affect the Grand Junction, Colorado, community (“Grand Disjunction,” October 2020). This critical issue is often overlooked and under-covered. I did take issue with the voices that were highlighted. The two conservationists were well-spoken and versed in public-land […]

Good job, HCN, and fine reporting by Jessica Kutz on the “Young and politically empowered” Latino canvassers like Fhernanda Ortiz, and their drive to register young Latinos in Arizona to vote (October 2020). This is worthy of a shout of encouragement — a great cause essential to the survival of this democracy. Stay strong, and thank you! […]

I enjoyed reading the interview with editors Betsy Marston and Paul Larmer, “A little paper with clout” (September 2020). There were two questions posed regarding HCN’s increasing coverage of social issues as opposed to strictly natural resources and public-lands issues. Please, please, please don’t stop covering social issues and city issues.  HCN has its finger […]

“The Physics of Connection” by Barb Lachenbruch was a fine essay (September 2020). The author did a tremendous job of weaving together heartfelt sentiments. She eloquently took us through the arc of her life and her father’s. Having lost a parent to Alzheimer’s myself, the author’s touching yearnings to connect with her father were emotions […]

While tromping around for many years in such “awesome” places as the Colorado Plateau, the Northern Rockies and Alaska, I have struggled for words to describe their grandeur, and thus will be forever grateful to Paige Blankenbuehler for using the perfect phraseology in her article, “Grand Disjunction” — “the kind of landscape whose scale outflanks […]

I enjoyed learning about HCN’s history in the 50th anniversary issue (September 2020) and, in particular, Carl Segerstrom’s interview with Betsy Marston and Paul Larmer. I agree with Marston that regularly including Native journalists and issues is a welcome improvement and also that HCN should “start with the public lands, because everything flows from that.” […]