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Know the West

Blah, blah from the ranchette

  Dear HCN,

Susan Ewing's essay on the sins of owning a ranchette in Bozeman, Mont., is typical of the self-serving confessionals I've grown to expect from baby boomers who lack the integrity to live up to the principles they espouse (HCN, 5/10/99). For environmentalists like Ewing, the movement isn't about protecting ecological systems, it's about protecting environmental amenities for consumption and enjoyment.

Ewing justifies her ranchette by testifying that she doesn't have any children, contributes to Planned Parenthood and knows where all the mushrooms grow, while expressing all the right opinions about "living lightly on the land." Cut through the muck and we're left with the message that Ewing is entitled to her ranchette because she says the things the environmentalists want to hear. Blah, blah, blah.

She is right on one point: Sprawl is caused by the existence of too many people. What she forgets is that she's one of them.

Dexter Van Zile

Dedham, Massachusetts