LETTERS

HIT OR MISS?
Tory Taylor ("Profile," March/April) says, "Hunting isn’t a ‘sport.’ . . . ‘Lifestyle’ would be closer. . . . I might even risk using the word ‘religion.’" How shallow! This garbage and this article are a dime a dozen in Outdoor Life or Field & Stream. There was no compelling justification for invading elk habitat by horseback to ambush the elk shot in the article. Perhaps your "straight shooter" can be retrained to lead Sierra Club ecotourist trips.
Ralph S. Turner
Edmonds, Washington

Hunting is an important part of the lives of many Americans, including my family, and it was great to read about Tory Taylor and his efforts to protect the environment and preserve wildlife habitat. This confirms for me that the Sierra Club successfully speaks for all concerned environmentalists, not just a narrow slice.
Corey Mathews
Ayer, Massachusetts

Sierra’s March/April issue contained paeans to the pleasures of "hard" (versus "canned") hunting (in "Profile") and "sustainable" (versus factory-farmed) pork (in "Food for Thought"). Dead animals we can all feel good about? Hunters pretending to fill a niche in the food chain should fashion bow and arrow from materials at hand and leave their Winchesters at home. Raising pigs for their flesh is never an efficient use of Earth’s resources. Shooting guns and eating bacon? Go ahead, but please can the hypocrisy.
Keith Gurland
Holmes, New York

The more environmental organizations and hunting and fishing organizations can work together, the more we will realize the many common goals we share. I am proud to be an environmentalist and appreciate the balanced perspective in your magazine.
Will Ditzler
South Bend, Indiana

RARE PLANES
The March/April "Lay of the Land" stated that when seeking an exemption from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Department of Defense argued that the rarer a bird was, the more valuable it would be for birders to spot it. Using the department’s logic, let’s base weapons production on the same premise. How much more exciting it would be to see a B-52 bomber, an F-16 fighter, or a Black Hawk helicopter if they were extremely scarce, or practically nonexistent! I’m sure planespotters from Whidbey Island to the Gaza Strip and from Nevada to Iraq would benefit from such a policy.
Roger Benham
Willimantic, Connecticut

CORRECTIONS
Due to an editing error, "Homer at the Helm"; ("Lay of the Land," March/April) stated that plans for a wind farm in Nevada were quashed by the Bush administration because of "potential terrorist threats." The project was actually terminated because the U.S. Air Force argued that the farm’s turbines would disrupt radar used in training exercises.

CONTACT US 
We welcome letters in response to recent articles. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Write to us at 85 Second St., 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105-3441; fax (415) 977-5794; e-mail sierra.letters@sierraclub.org.