Letters - Spring 2014

Damn Mantana

I was looking through your 2014 wall calendar, and while I think the pictures are very nice I take exception to the fact that they are almost entirely devoid of women. Typical. —Ann Wilbert

Actually, there are three women pictured in the 2014 calendar, and possibly more. We select calendar images based on numerous factors and gender is not one of them. Send us captivating images of women recreating in southwest Montana and we will publish them, as we do regularly in Outside Bozeman magazine. —Ryan Krueger

Uncrossed Boundaries

Maggie Slepian’s article on Montana lawmakers voting against the corner-crossing bill (Spring 2013, p. 18) raised my hackles again. I have never understood why it is against the law to step across a property corner from public land to public land. In many cases, there is a visible surveying monument at these corners, not to mention most people these days have GPSs. We should be more concerned with private fences meandering onto public land. I have seen fences misplaced from a few feet to several hundred yards. The present law is clearly the best way for adjacent property owners to “keep public land private.” I hope the corner-crossing bill will resurface and be passed next session. Thanks Maggie for reminding the public. —J. David Simpson

This Little Piggy

I'm resisting the urge to break the world record for most cuss words in an electronic mail, for time and for f—k’s sake. But in my contributor bio (Winter 2013-14, p. 108), the O/B word monkeys have misquoted me: “Blah-blah-blah, yakkity-schmakkity, blah-blah-blah... specializing in pigs in a blanket.” WHAT THE F—K?! That's not f—king special! My chef motto is: “Pig is the blanket.” PIG IS THE F—KING BLANKET! Damn it! When I read that, it rained on my parade, as going through the issue was like drinking a special-release brew from a favorite brewery, then I'd compare reading the bio to accidentally picking up the wrong glass at the end of a brew sesh and drinking your buddy’s warm, flat schwill. Yuck.

Attached is an example of my chef specialty: prime rib roast with… guess what… a pepper-bacon blanket. In the background? Prosciutto-wrapped taters. Pig is the blanket, duh. —Simon "PITB" Peterson

Bring some of that pig-is-the-blanket prime rib by the office and we’ll offer a profuse, albeit garbled, apology. —the O/B crew

List of Laments

I’m considering applying for the position of copy editor, which is obviously open at the mag. For example, Absaroka may be the name you white conquerors gave to the Crow people, but they refer to themselves as Apsaalooke. In “Restoring the Whitebark Pine” (Fall 2013, p. 19), your author refers to all those red trees visible on the hillsides as whitebark pine, but I believe what she is actually seeing are mostly lodgepole, since the whitebark are only found at the highest elevations in our area.

Though once again you have produced an issue overflowing with worthwhile content, I have to disagree with several points in the “Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness vs. Bob Marshall Wilderness” article. (Fall 2013, p. 16). IMHO, it’s not possible to pick a winner here—they are both terrific places. I don't think you analyzed things accurately.

First, you conclude that the culturally paranoid Crow people are more deserving than a guy who routinely hiked 60 miles in a day. With a rucksack. In hobnailed boots. Hmmm. Your kinda guy.

Second, the A/B is accessible on all four sides and up the middle, plus the southern and eastern access points start at over 9,000 feet. How is the Bob more accessible than that?

Third, who told you the Beartooth Wilderness is not crowded? It’s also a national draw and while backpacking seven miles in a few years ago, my son and I encountered 25 other hikers, and while wandering around the next day, encountered 15 other wandering hikers. On the hike out, on a weekend, we must have seen 50 people. It’s a great spot, but it ain't remote. —Dean Center

The “Apsaalooke” didn’t have a written language, so it’s not even possible to spell their name wrong—that’s kinda like telling an Arab, indignantly, that “ݡ ݞ ݐ ۸ ݙ” is most certainly NOT “Dean Center.” Fair enough on the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness comments, but guess what? We’re the editors, and we’re always right, even when we’re wrong. Except the part about the whitebark pine—nice catch, Dean. —Mike England