LETTERS

The channel tells all This is in regards to the article “Happy Cows, Happy Trout” in the March-April issue, which I enjoyed. However, the pictures on pages 22 and 23 are misleading. The “before” picture looks like it was taken in winter when everything is dead and has been grazed. The “after” looks like it was taken in spring, when everything has sprung back to life (after being fenced). I’d bet if that second picture had been taken in winter there would not have been a whole lot of difference in vegetation. I am sure there is a nice difference after this spot was fenced, but these pictures don’t prove it to me, due to the fact they were taken at different times of year.

John Backs St. Ignatius

Sunni Heikes-Knapton, Madison Conservation District watershed coordinator, replies: The real indication of this stream’s recovery is the width of the channel, not the vegetation. The channel width upstream from the diversion structure provides the best point of reference. In the “before” photo, the channel is about 12 feet wide and very shallow. In the “after” photo, stream width is about 4 feet and much deeper. This reach above the diversion has remained narrow for years, regardless of the season or vegetation growth, thanks to wise management by landowner Janet Endecott.

His heart’s in the right place Some years back, a woman asked me what I liked about Montana. I told her it would be easier for me to tell her what I didn’t like about Montana: nothing. I thought of that when reading your essay “Good To Be Back” (SeptemberOctober 2017), one of the best I’ve ever seen in your magazine. When I retired, I wanted to move to Montana because of its breathtaking beauty and abundance of hunting, fishing, and other recreational opportunities. That didn’t work out, but if it had, that would have been me as the old guy inviting his son out to join him for a few weeks of hunting and fishing. From the first sentence to the last, the writer had me totally involved in the adventure as if I were there—and believe me, I wanted to be.

John T. Ranaudo Manhattan Beach, CA

Gerald Eswein Wisconsin Rapids, WI

The three of us who comprise the magazine staff—all Montana FWP employees—reside in Helena and East Helena.

All-Montana team I noticed that the return address on your subscription renewal is Boone, Iowa. Why is Montana Outdoors published in Iowa? Don’t you have people in Montana who can do this work?

Margaret Fuller Billings

Editor replies: Montana Outdoors is indeed published here in Montana. Boone, Iowa, is the home of CDS, Inc., known in the magazine industry as a “fulfillment house.” CDS handles subscription services, renewal notices, address changes, and billing for Montana Outdoors and hundreds of other magazines throughout the United States. One way we can keep our subscription prices low is by using CDS rather than hiring those individual services in Montana. The three of us who comprise the magazine staff—all Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks employees—reside in Helena and East Helena.

Lead and eagles I am disappointed that you would publish unfounded and self-serving opinions to promote the already noble goal of preserving bald eagles (“The Eagles Have Landed,” November-December 2017). California officials promoted a lead bullet ban for hunting across that state on the evidence that the one condor in their study that died in captivity showed trace elements of lead in its system. There was no supporting evidence to show the lead content in the blood of other animals, or humans, in that same area to ascertain if this was an unusual level or not. The vast majority of wild condors died from bridging high power lines. In your article, Montana Audubon’s Janet Ellis offered that ingesting lead will reduce an eagle’s life or “kills birds outright.” Outright? Did it choke on the bullet? Montana FWP uses trained professionals, applying real data, to manage Montana’s game. I urge Montana Outdoors to employ this same due diligence. I believe that this great article should stand on its own merit and this publication should not publish unfounded opinions to promote personal agendas.

Editor replies: It’s widely accepted among veterinarians and raptor research scientists that ingesting even trace amounts of lead, often found in gut piles and carcasses of bullet-killed animals, can poison eagles and other raptors, causing sickness or death. Those worrisome findings have convinced a growing number of hunters to voluntarily switch to all-copper bullets.

Another convert I give a Montana Outdoors gift subscription to my husband, and he in turn has prepared for me two recipes for braised venison from the November-December 2015 and November-December 2017 issues. Count him among those who used to cut up the shanks from our Pennsylvania whitetails to grind into burger. But now, after braising shanks as described in your recipes, we agree that it’s an absolutely delicious way to use these cuts of venison.

Marie Hrinkonich Jim Thorpe, PA

Speak your mind We welcome all your comments, questions, and letters to the editor. We edit letters to meet our needs for accuracy, style, and length. Write to us at Montana Outdoors, P.O. Box 200701, Helena, MT 59620-0701. Or e-mail us at: tdickson@mt.gov.