Corey Johnson
Cover, July 31:
According to Gwyneth Doland, feral pigs are “creeping closer and closer to Santa Fe” and represent a dire threat to our state. Yet she presents not a shred of evidence to support this assumption and states that there is no dissenting opinion. This is the worst kind of journalism.
Doland’s expert evidence is limited to “the president-elect of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association”—hardly an unbiased scientist. Cattle ranchers—most of whom are factory farmers—have been the beneficiaries of government welfare programs, at the expense of wildlife, for as long as there’s been a US government. All they have to do is say that they think maybe a coyote killed a cow, and Wildlife Services shows up, kills every animal within hundreds of square miles, including dogs and cats, with cyanide, steel jaw traps, helicopter gunners, Compound 1080, etc., and reimburses the rancher for more than the price of the cow. Every scientific study on the subject has concluded that ranchers wildly exaggerate cattle kills by wildlife. And now the Cattle “Growers” are the experts on feral hogs, at least according to Doland.
In reality, the species that “doesn’t play well with others”—the most out-of-control invasive species—is not pigs, as Doland claims, it’s us. In a complex ecosystem, eradicating a single species only causes more problems. We need to examine the assumption that the factory-food industry is entitled to government intervention that removes all obstacles to massive profits.
Doland writes that there are fewer than 500 feral hogs in the whole state of NM and that the USDA donated $1 million to brutally eradicate them, causing unimaginable suffering. That’s $2,000 per pig. But when the killers went out in helicopters looking for the hogs in NM, they couldn’t find any. Doland had to travel to Texas in order to regale readers with what she describes as a humorous scene of hunting dogs ripping piglets apart as their entire family is being shot to death.
If there are no hogs to be found in NM, where did the million go? It’s politics as usual. Cate Moses
Santa Fe
Invasive Species
Scott Shuker
Poor Dweebs I must comment on Alex De Vore’s column, [music, Aug. 7] “Everybody Loves Treemotel.” Alex, when you wrote, “As the older lady dances awkwardly…” by hanging around the dance floor making judgments of how other people are dancing, rather than shucking off your inhibitions and dancing yourself—awkwardly or not—you inadvertently exposed yourself as the uncool dude you so desperately are trying not to portray. Poor dear. Join the fun—join life. Rise above your pitiful ego and let your body soar. Leave it to other poor dweebs to make judgments on how graceful you are. Their judgment has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them.
It is so sad to see people just standing around, too self-conscious to move their bodies, when some of the best musicians are giving their all to create sounds custom-made to give us a brief respite from giving a damn about what other people think. So, screw up your courage and go for it, Alex. Quit worrying about what someone else looks like on the dance floor. Rheta Moazzami,
A sometimes awkward, sometimes graceful older lady dancer
Los Alamos Radio Worries
As supporters, volunteers and former board members of KSFR, we have serious concerns regarding the future of our beloved, community, public radio station under the current board of directors as follows [news, July 3: “Radio Gaga”]:
The loss of significant funding related to recent actions and public statements made by the Board and current management; lack of a clearly articulated, concrete plan to replace lost funding and target future funding to restore viability of the station; loss of well-established community relationships; lack of focus on the importance and true meaning of KSFR’s role within the community.
Please join us in our efforts to assure that KSFR continues to serve its constituency, the entire community of northern New Mexico. Arlen Asher
Martha Burt
Robert Dobyns
Gano and Beverly Evans
Lucinda Marker
Stacy Pearl
Meredith Speers
John Trentacosta
John H Tull, Jr.
