Letters to the editor for June 28

Diversity work critical to compassionate country

There is a movement sweeping the country branding itself as concerned mothers and working to put in school board members that enact censorship on difficult issues such as racism, gender identity and homophobia. It dovetails with movements that want to see our country as a white Christian-based culture when in fact we have a beautifully religious and culturally diverse country.

The Olympian’s inclusion of the Heritage Foundation’s editorial June 15 puts legitimacy to this movement. This is a dangerous step. Though it claims the Southern Poverty Law Center has made great mistakes, particularly in adding this mothers’ group as a hate group, it goes on to call liberals problematic aggressors.

As we’ve seen, our country has moved into an alarmingly aggressive and at times violent stance towards LGBTQA+ citizens, women, people of color, Jews, and others. Many of us are working to reverse this distressing direction and invite our country to be more compassionate.

It is not an issue of aggression to name these problematic groups but rather steps towards stating concerns about their goals and promoting inclusivity and equality instead. What has happened to us valuing a country that welcomes all? I too have been a protective mother but that includes educating my child about historical and current harms such as racism and homophobia in age-appropriate ways, not to shield him completely from it.

Please do not give these movements that deny our country’s diversity legitimacy. It is harmful to us all.

Kathy Pruitt, Olympia

Wildfire perspectives

Recent Canadian wildfires inundating the East Coast with smoke has created convenient fodder for climate-change alarmists to ply their narrative. Even the most casual perusal of North American wildfire history through the ages illustrates these wildfires, as horrible as they are, are not unprecedented.

It would be helpful if historical North American wildfire perspectives were included in such articles. But modern journalism is not prone to consult nor include inconvenient history as it might ruin a good alarmist story or cause problems for those who include non-conforming consensus narrative information.

Canada’s Department of Natural Resources says the Canadian boreal forest fires have been occurring for thousands of years. In 1780, massive Canadian wildfires caused the sky to be black as night in New England where candles were needed to see outside at noon. In 1903, Canadian forest fires blotted out the sun in New York and New England.

The 1995 Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy states that In the pre-industrial period (1500-1800), the conterminous U.S. averaged 145 million acres burned yearly. Before California colonization, UC Berkeley researchers say California averaged between 4.2 million and 11.5 million yearly burn acres. Mega fires were four times more common before the 1940s. Yearly U.S. wildfire acreage has declined 80% since then.

Contrary to alarmist narratives, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has not detected or attributed fire occurrence or area burned to human-caused climate change.

Paul Fundingsland, Olympia

Little Leaguers versus the cranes

Hey Port Commissioners, why do you want to kick the Little League off the field? The Port of Olympia Mission Statement reads “Creating economic opportunity and building community for all Thurston County through responsible resource use.”

The Port’s mission is accomplished in part by market value use fees and in part with our property taxes. Commissioners used this mission statement to scrap the previous twin cargo cranes that provided a nesting base for peregrine falcons and to purchase a new crane for $3.2 million that, for as much as it has been used, might as well be a bird perch. I presume that bird perch crane where the birds nest rent free is part of the “building community for Thurston County” portion of the Port’s mission.

Couldn’t the Little Leaguers be allowed to pay something less than market rate rents for a dusty, empty 10 acres adjacent to the airport? I admit to being at least slightly familiar with the last 30 years of Port of Olympia foibles while relatively new to the plight of the Little Leaguers and this choice seems obvious to me. Amateur sports do “build community” and also contribute to Thurston County’s economic base through people choosing to live here, the purchase of gear, and visitors.

Come on, Commissioners, take yourself out to the ball game.

Rob Kirkwood, Olympia