Letters

Back in the Abyss
As a member of the San Agustin cave-diving expedition, I was extremely displeased with Craig Vetter's article on our project ("Bill Stone in the Abyss," November). I didn't write when it was published, figuring that the damage had been done. Now, however, after reading the self-congratulatory responses in your January Letters column, I must let you know that Vetter's story was slanted and dead wrong in places. It was unfairly crafted to portray Bill Stone as a ruthless slave driver and the whole expedition as a negative project. Vetter wrote of Stone that his "personality problems" were "the only thing that might stop him." Sure, the expedition was a difficult, stress-laden project. Nearly everyone involved could be criticized for something, myself and Stone included. But contrary to what Vetter implied, Stone doesn't have an unreasonable problem getting along with others. That apparently didn't matter to Vetter's story; he found anyone who would criticize Stone and then twisted their comments to support his theme. Vetter has responded to subsequent complaints from Stone and team doctor Noel Sloan by saying, "I could have made the story much worse." Perhaps, but he could have made it much better--and closer to reality in the process.

Barbara Anne am Ende
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Craig Vetter replies: Barbara am Ende quotes me as saying "I could have made the story much worse," which leaves the impression that I was out to trash Bill Stone. I wasn't. In fact, what I actually said to Dr. Sloan--that I didn't quote the worst of what several core team members said to me about Stone's leadership style--suggests the opposite. I omitted those quotes because they came in moments that I thought were colored by the exhaustion that was on the team as they de-rigged the cave in the wake of the long, hard expedition. All quotes and references to Stone's leadership that am Ende finds objectionable were culled from the many tape-recorded interviews that I conducted with team members after they'd returned to the United States and had been able to rest and reflect. No twisting of those conversations was necessary for what am Ende calls the "theme" of the story to emerge.

The Suburban Jungle
Thanks for helping to educate the public by addressing the trend of sprawling land-use patterns ("Year of the Emu: Don't Ranchette Me In!" January). Even if rural subdivision allows otherwise well meaning folks to live "closer to nature," it creates a host of environmental problems. Ranchettes foster dependence on cars, ruin wildlife corridors, and drain investment out of existing communities. For responsible outdoor athletes, the message is simple: Live in cities. Go play in open places. Then go home.

Owen Byrd,
Policy Director, Greenbelt Alliance
San Francisco, California

Columnist Makes Bird Local
Please give David Quammen a raise, or more vacation time, or whatever it takes to keep him writing Natural Acts. His column on his campaign to make Tyrannosaurus rex the Montana state bird ("Local Bird Makes Good," January) is vintage, impeccable Quammen.

Cooper Collins
Boulder, Colorado

I enjoyed David Quammen's T. rex column, but I'd like to point out one thing: He's mistaken about the magpie being unique to North America. Magpies, members of the Corvidae, or crow family, are also found in European and Asian countries.

Susan Weller
Cataldo, Idaho

David Quammen replies: Susan Weller is correct that some species of magpie occur in Europe and Asia. Of course I was alluding to the black-billed magpie, Pica pica, which the Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding assigns uniquely to western North America. It's true, though, that I didn't specify the black-billed. I probably wouldn't have committed such a careless oversight if I weren't (ahem) in need of more vacation time.