Air Date: Week of May 30, 1997

Recent audience mail on whales, salmon, and semantics.

Transcript

CURWOOD: And now it's time to dig into our mail bag and hear from you, our listeners.

(Music up and under)

CURWOOD: Our recent report on a proposed salt plan for San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja, California, focused on possible effects on the whales that winter there. Listener Amy Siedel spent 2 winters at the lagoon observing sea birds and says humans live there, too. She writes, "The people are by and large fishermen. They live simply and feel graced by the whales' presence. We must do anything we can to prevent the lagoon from being developed. Not only for the wild animals that depend on it for sanctuary, but for the people whose lives would undoubtedly lose their simplicity."

Mark Buckley, who listens to KMXT in Kodiak, Alaska, says he wishes our report on the designation of the Coho salmon as threatened in northern California and southern Oregon had mentioned that the fish's habitat ranges north to the Bering Sea in Alaska.

BUCKLEY: We in Alaska have a very productive Coho or silver salmon fishery here. Many of the fishermen who fish for these salmon are themselves greenies or environmentalists, because we recognize that if the habitat is shot, if the environment is shot, then our livelihoods go down, too. We're small boat fishermen. If you want the people, the stakeholders involved in Alaska, to keep making the necessary work to hold our habitat back from development and back from exploitation here, you need to recognize that we are here and our business is important, too. Thank you.

CURWOOD: Finally, Julie Levi-Weston, who listens to WMFE in Orlando, Florida, wrote us about our use of language. "Most people, including the media, seem to use the phrase "the environment" when talking about this biosphere we all share. Perhaps if you would use the words 'our environment' more often, people would realize that our environment is not just those pretty parks and mountains, but our home."

If you want to drop us a line, here's where you can send your comments and suggestions. Write to Living on Earth, 8 Story Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. That's 8 Story Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. Our e-mail address is LOE@NPR.ORG. That's LOE@NPR.ORG. And our listener line is 800-218-9988. That's 800-218-9988. Check out our web site at www.loe.org. Transcripts and tapes are $12.