Letters to the editor Aug. 20

When will tax increases end?

The taxers are at it again: A property tax increase that can go over the 3 percent cap, fee increases passed by our mayor and the liberal segment of our board.

Thank goodness we have two that think of the taxpayer. Now a possibility of a sales tax increase. Where will it end? Why don't the taxers try reducing or getting rid of some taxes?

As one taxer said during the legislative session, we need more revenue. Boy, I sure could use it to keep up with the taxers.

Gene Harris

Carson City

Border patrol horse program benefits all

I was so very pleased to open up this Sunday's newspaper to see a front-page story titled "From Prison to Border Patrol." I've been fortunate to go to the Northern Nevada Correctional Center's Saddle Horse Training Auctions on several occasions. This is a program that truly benefits both horse and man.

Though we want to see Nevada's wild horses stay - with proper management - on the open range where they belong, unfortunately many are still being rounded up. The lucky ones that are selected for this program benefit the most, as they find very good homes.

For the inmates who participate in this program, it is a learning experience that will help them immensely when they are released. These men must learn a whole new way of life - patience, kindness, understanding and, most importantly, respect for another living thing.

Working with a wild horse coming directly off the land is entirely different from working with a domestic horse. A mustang will never cooperate with a human being unless it has gained that person's respect. And, once accomplished, that horse will give its everything to please you.

I wish this program could be tripled in size, as it benefits all. The next auction will be held at noon Saturday at the Western States Wild Horse and Burro Expo at the Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center. Don't miss it.

Bonnie Matton, president

Wild Horse Preservation League

Nevada bear hunt is wrong, uncalled for

Bears are incredibly intelligent animals who, if left alone, are happy to be just what they are: wild, free creatures. They don't seek us out as food.

Now, we are going to kill possibly over 40 beautiful, innocent animals just to appease man's need to kill. Outrageous. Uncalled for. Unnecessary. Do you really need a dust-collecting stuffed bear with glass eyes, or a bearskin rug on the floor?

The bears in the area of hunting are fairly familiar with humans. They are curious by nature. More than likely, if a hunter (with a gun that can kill them from over 1,500 yards away) gets close enough for the bear to smell or see them, they will stand up to check it out. Posing, like a target, for the manly hunter. How sporting!

To all hunters with bear tags, shame on you. What you are doing is like hunting an innocent child. An unarmed animal that, if given the opportunity, will run from you, not attack you. (I have been backpacking amongst up to seven or eight bears within the space of a football field or smaller, so I know what I am talking about.)

I grieve for the foraging dead. The bears going about their daily lives of surviving who have no idea a well-armed militia of "brave hunters" is about to descend upon them.

A four-month open season on slaughtering unsuspecting, naïve, beautiful animals. This sickens me. You, the hunters, sicken me.

C.J. OJANPERA

Minden