POWER TO THE PRAIRIE DOGS!
LOVED the recent article on prairie dogs (“The Prairie Dog Conundrum,” January 2025). Finding Beauty in a Broken World by Terry Tempest Williams also raises up prairie dogs.
Judith Rice-Jones
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Threatened ground squirrels in the West, like prairie dogs, face a devastating loss of habitat as well as a general lack of interest in their ecological function. It’s hard to know how to help, beyond providing the data that we do regarding activity centers, etc.
Public sentiment needs to alter first before conservation efforts will have meaningful and positive effect. Thank you for highlighting this species.
Rogue Detection Teams (conservation detection dog teams for noninvasive wildlife research)
Via Instagram
SOLIDARITY SUCCEEDS
I appreciated reading about the drivers’ co-op in Colorado (“Owned and operated,” December 2024). Paying workers less than minimum wage is unacceptable and should be illegal. Worker-owned cooperatives have been successful in Spain and Argentina, as well as the U.S. We need more of them! Mutual benefit is best — fair pricing, livable wage and equal respect for all.
Helen Bourne
Encinitas, California
A WELL-EARNED TRIUMPH
I wanted to thank you for the amazing article, “2024’s biggest conservation wins for the West” (Dec. 25, 2024). I loved it, and it really brightened my day. I was thankful you featured tribes as well.
We had a huge conservation win this year: The Nez Perce Tribe was the only tribe to prevail in the General Competition for the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant. We also won a tribal set-aside award.
It is a huge win for us, and we still can’t believe it. It will fund solar, energy efficiency, green cars and charging stations whose purpose is ultimately to protect salmon.
Other tribes won big, too, and it was a historic year. We are going to miss the (Biden) administration so much!
Thank you so much for giving us all glimmers of hope.
Stefanie Krantz
Climate change coordinator
Nez Perce Tribe
Lewiston, Idaho
BEYOND REZ BALL
The relationship between basketball and First Nations is a fascinating story, and Jason Asenap’s article (“For the win,” December 2024) provides a good example. To learn more, I recommend Full-Court Quest: The Girls from Fort Shaw Indian School Basketball Champions of the World by Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith.
The book is well-written, and the little-told story is simply amazing: How a team of determined young women at the Fort Shaw Indian School (near Great Falls, Montana) and their coaches became the basketball champions of the world at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. These women went through most of the same social challenges today’s students face, and even more that were common about 120 years ago, yet they pulled themselves together as a well-organized team to win so many contests in the public arena of a very competitive sport. One thing I learned is that the Montana region’s Native name for surprise or bonus is lagniappe, and this “high-country” biography is just that. Readers will not be disappointed.
James Bergdahl
Spokane, Washington
Asenap’s review of Rez Ball omits the 2019 Basketball or Nothing, which follows the Chinle High School basketball team as they try to become Arizona State Champions. This Netflix mini-series profiles actual members of the Chinle team and their lives as they try to devote themselves toward a seemingly unattainable goal while also navigating the often-challenging daily existence typical of young individuals in the Navajo Nation. In the same vein is the earlier 2001 documentary Rocks with Wings, which follows the 1987 basketball season of the Lady Chieftains of Shiprock High School. Both documentaries profile actual players without relying on actors.
Lissa Paak
Durango, Colorado
VOLUNTEER FOR THE FORESTS
The Forest Service cuts of seasonal worker jobs will definitely impact public lands (“The Forest Service is cutting its seasonal workforce and public lands will suffer,” Oct. 8, 2024), but private citizens can contribute needed services. Aldo Leopold taught late in his career that we cannot expect government to solve all problems. Private landowners and communities can practice land ethics.
My participation in a local Native Plant Society and Forest Service field trips led to the discovery of Aldo and Estella’s 1912 craftsman bungalow — “Mi Casita” — in Tres Piedras, New Mexico, built when Leopold was appointed supervisor of the Carson National Forest. Research revealed that the comprehensive Forest Service restoration plan specifically prohibited use of taxpayer dollars for ongoing maintenance. Since then, this has been beyond the strained budget of the Carson National Forest. After I spent several enjoyable years planting native shrubs, painting, catching invasive rodents and building a library with donor help, the district ranger asked me to organize a Friends of Mi Casita volunteer group. Leopold-inspired writers, students and the public have since experienced greater access and guidance in a formerly restricted setting — and this old doctor is grateful to receive Outstanding Partner recognition from the Forest Service.
Richard Rubin
Arroyo Seco, New Mexico
We welcome reader letters. Email High Country News at editor@hcn.org or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
