Letters January 20, 2010

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

By JH Weekly User

Wild Horses: only a balance will work
I respect and applaud Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s perspectives on solving the wild horse crisis. All wildlife will suffer if we continue to manage wild horses according to the status quo.

Wild horse herds are flourishing. Some people feel we must give them more space but land is a limited commodity. There’s only so much to go around, and elk, deer and other wildlife as well as farmers and ranchers are already using our dwindling, open landscapes.

The concept of harvesting wild horses is an emotional topic for people who don’t understand or subscribe to the concept of how “culling some will strengthen the whole.” But that concept helped make America a world leader in wildlife conservation. There is no logical reason why populations of wild horses cannot be managed in the same way as elk and deer.

The American rancher is not the boogey man, either. He works hard to make the land provide us with sustenance and his herds graze the land for its own good as well.

Secretary Salazar offers possible solutions such as fertility control and more sanctuaries. These may work in some areas but would prolong the inevitable problem of too much competition for too little habitat.

Remedies cannot be based on emotion. We must use common sense. We don’t live in a zoo. Wild things need wild places but since man lives here too, and in greater and greater numbers, there has to be a balance. Only a balance will work.
–  M. David Allen, President of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

It can happen here
In the quite recent calamitous earthquake that has devastated the nation of Haiti and the yet unknown numbers in the loss of human life and suffering survivors, I must commend the immediate response of the many nations of the world compassionately rising to the aid of their fellow human beings in a desperate time of need. Once again the true nature of man shows its face.

Now, may I ask your forgiveness for slightly deviating from the aforesaid topic, but as a resident of Jackson Hole, Wyo., I cannot diminish the dreadful thought that a similar occurrence could happen right here. It has been concurred within the scientific community that Jackson Hole slumbers upon the pillow of a major geological fault line known as the Teton Fault. This fault lies beneath the eastern front of the entire Teton Range. Through extensive studies and analysis of past activity, geologists have been anticipating a long overdue shift within this fault with a very possible magnitude of 7.0 to 7.5 on the Richter Scale; similar to that of the Haitian shaker or more.

Need I point out the horrid scenes if such a natural event may occur in Jackson Hole amidst a January night with the temperature at 30 degrees below zero. Considering the relatively few resources available and but two roads leading in and out of town, such a scenario has disastrous potential.

Depending upon the intensity of such a geologic event, surrounding areas may also be seriously in peril. Granted, the ratio of people affected is incomparable to that of Haiti but the percentage of casualties in an area such as this may be similar.

The only thoughts of assurance in the event that such an activity may occur in this area is the precautionary knowledge of its possibilities and the luxury of stowing provisions for immediate survival until outside assistance arrives. May it never happen here.
– Patrik Troiani, Jackson


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Letters January 20, 2010 | Planet JH News Article: Letters To Editor

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