Soapbox

All year I have been writing to protect wolves from the slaughter going on in some Western states. Now, Yellowstone wolves are being killed by snares, which involves a horrible, slow suffocation and leg holds, and only 84 wolves are left in an area where they have showed their importance as keystone species improving the entire ecosystem.

Montana Fish and Wildlife is allowing the killing of wolves on the border of Yellowstone, so wolves accustomed to people cross the border and are killed in record numbers. Please sign the Friends of Earth petition to Fish and Wildlife at foe.org.

Wolves’ status as endangered species was removed by the Trump administration, resulting in this slaughter. So far, the Biden administration has done nothing. Fish and Wildlife is going against its mission, which is to aid wildlife for enjoyment of the people. That’s not just hunters, but visitors to Yellowstone and other places who love seeing wolves.

Here in Colorado, we had one pack of wolves. And we voted for the reintroduction of wolves. All except one wolf in the pack was killed this year. Wolves must be given protection as endangered species, and there must be policies in place, so if the endangered species status is lifted, that species is not slaughtered by barbaric methods and in major numbers.

In Idaho, for example, their governor promoted killing 90% of wolves. Please help and give donations to Friends of Earth, Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club and other organizations that have been tirelessly working to protect this keystone species.

– Margaret Mayer, Durango

Alan Dowd documented some problems with China in The American Legion Magazine of December 2020, and I liberally quote from the article.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the adverse impact on the world attributable to China’s domination of the production of medicines, personal protective equipment and other medical supplies. Prior to the pandemic China produced “35.9% of America’s antibiotics, 49.8% of our medical bandages, 71.7% of our facemasks and 77.2% of our plastic gloves.” During the pandemic China “quietly managed to buy up much of the world’s N95 masks.”

China, a potential adversary, also controls the production of rare earth elements, which are used in the manufacture of a wide array of products, including “cell phones, televisions, vehicle engines, computers, lasers, industrial magnets, fiber-optics and superconductors.” They are also used in our military hardware such as “F-35 aircraft and our M1A2 tank.”

A number of friendly countries are working together to move the manufacture of critical supplies and elements away from China to facilities in Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, Europe and Latin America, but the U.S. cannot rely on foreign manufacturers for these critical products. We must speed up our manufacturing of these items in our country.

– Donald Moskowitz, Londonderry, N.H.

Don’t be duped

If the U.S. is really going to “Build Back Better,” the six states that were flattened this December in a series of tornadoes need to use higher quality mortar. The numerous brick buildings could not even take the impact of this tornado. Underground power lines are not a bad idea.

Seems like previous tornadoes did not teach most folks the importance of using suitable building materials to rebuild and figure their home/business insurance policy will cover a duplicate place.

My home/rental insurance rates have sky-rocketed over the years because all of us who want to protect our properties pool money to cover tornado-prone places with stupid replacement policies.

The cutesy TV insurance commercials with mostly millionaire celebrities trying to convince us to purchase are insults to our intelligence. Hold insurance companies accountable.

– Sally Florence, Durango

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