Editor:

Clinten Garrett's ignorance and naivete about social and political unrest, and particularly the Mt. Graham issue, deserve more education and sympathy than this space allows. Hopefully, he'll use his time here to open a decent book and read it. But perhaps there's no hope for someone obviously so privileged that he finds himself "rooting for dirty water and toxic waste" when the people who bring these kinds of issues to his attention happen to rub him the wrong way.

Environmental and cultural problems are not a joke, Mr. Garrett. If you had any clue about what it really means to be impacted by them, then by writing your editorial, you, yourself, would not "align... with a bunch of freakish, childlike lawbreakers," like the University of Arizona and Forest Service. The fact is that the UA and the Forest Service did break the law on Mt. Graham, and now they've asked Rep. Jim Kolbe to change the laws that they broke. That's "aiding and abetting," isn't it?

We are a democracy and a country of laws, but often our legislators do not uphold cultural and environmental protection laws, and we do not have a say in it. These are decisions about our lives, our communities and our property, which in this case happens to be our public forest. Rep. Jim Kolbe chose to aid lawbreakers, meeting personally with UA and USFS officials (many times) without ever even responding to opponents of the project, Apaches or environmentalists. The very first time that he talked with (read: "lied directly to") us was last week. Why? Because we refused to leave his office. Kolbe has also received over $371,000 in anti-environmental lobbying money through June of 1995. Use your freshman economics background to think about it: If you were him, would you listen to UA administrators, or the people on the San Carlos Apache reservation whose average income is less than $3,000 per year?

My free advice for you is this: get educated. Become a part of a community where people € mainly people of color € have to deal on a daily basis with environmental problems. Watch how they exhaust letter writing, phone calling and all the other 'acceptable' avenues for channeling dissatisfaction. See how most legislators ignore them, and continue on with business as usual. Then, Mr. Garrett, you might learn why people become so discouraged and disillusioned, and opt, instead, for radical action. If you are too delicate to experience the problems firsthand, then go to Washington and see how the problems arise to begin with. Bon voyage.

Anne Carl

environmental education graduate student

Anne Carl
Environmental Education graduate student