Letters To The Editor

Landers should be for the birds

I read with great dismay the article Rich Landers wrote regarding his support of hunting sandhill cranes in Idaho this fall (The Spokesman-Review, July 18, 1996). I just cannot believe that Mr. Landers calls opposition to the limited hunting, a “sniveling, emotional” reaction. There are 5.6 billion people to feed on this planet and U.S. farmers feed a good number of them. An intelligent human being would think that a trivial 21,000 sandhill cranes feeding in farm fields across the entire Rocky Mountain region could live their lives without the use of shotguns as a means to ensure, as the biologist put it, “the long-term health of the species.” I, for one, believe that the few remaining magnificent sandhill cranes have a right to live in their historic range without the threat of being blasted out of the sky for landing in a field where their kind has fed for thousands of years. Humans need to share the bounty of the earth with at least a few of the native species that remain. This is the only position, not shotguns, that will truly ensure the long-term health of all species. If that is sniveling and emotional, so be it. Michael T. Doherty Hayden Lake, Idaho