Thousands of trails already — how much more access do we need?

Re: “Trails project could set bad precedent, advocates warn,” Dec. 28 news story

It is time for restraint. An important idea in the preservation of wildlands is the concept of restraint. We put limits on ourselves for the sake of nature and its natural resources. This concept is increasingly important in our age of climate change, biodiversity loss, habitat loss and other environmental issues.

The Mad Rabbit Trails Project in Routt National Forest ignored the concept of restraint. There are at least 39,000 miles of mapped biking trails in Colorado, according to a 2017 Denver Post story.

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) reports on its website that “a whopping 85 percent of Colorado’s public lands are already open to biking, there are plenty of opportunities available without building new trails. … How many miles are enough?”

It is not just the trail itself causing “habitat compression.” BHA reports that OHV riding can clear a swath of animal habitat a full 2 miles wide. Equestrians disrupt a 3/4 mile swath and hikers a 1/2 mile swath.

Outdoor recreation is often at odds with wildlife conservation. Multiple use turns into multiple abuse.

The Forest Service must manage public lands first for “integrity, stability, and beauty,” the three terms that Aldo Leopold described in his “land ethic.” Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Kevin Duval stated that if trail building in critical habitat continues, “it will be a biological desert.”

When is enough, enough? It is time for restraint.

— Katherine Webster, Littleton

Our complicated tax code

Re: “Focus on reforming our tax code,” Jan. 1 editorial

The Sunday editorial is quite important for many reasons. First, the tax code has been so inflated with deductions, reductions, and outlandish tax avoidance schemes, which most Americans don’t understand or utilize at a cost that is a threat to our country.

Second, the anti-government, anti-taxation propaganda since 1980 deflects away what former President Trump’s tax returns reveal onto the inefficiencies of government, which stymies bipartisan legislation from reigning in these enormous tax loopholes (tax avoidance).

Third, tax evasion is a crime. The IRS is responsible for policing it, and it has been decimated during this anti-government era. Too many citizens and businesses have accepted the “everyone does it” mentality when deciding to cheat on their tax preparation. This amounts to a significant loss of tax revenue every year.

And finally, the incoming U.S. House Republican majority has announced that they will reduce the money in last year’s legislation meant to fortify and empower the IRS to modernize its technology, manpower, and mission. Republicans define crimes that fit their narrative. But as they denounce the IRS and continue to prevent it from doing its work efficiently, we ignore the main reason that we have a growing debt and deficit challenging our country.

We need to expose the excesses of tax avoidance and evasion as quickly and clearly as possible. Let’s reform our tax code and use some of the additional resources to fight crime effectively.

— Mark Zaitz, Denver

The misguided focus of the editorial board is on the wealthy. The tax law is embedded in Title 26 of the U.S. code. The federal tax law, with added regulations, rulings and clarifications, is approximately 6,900 pages long. Then there are the court cases. This is a complex mess that no one understands.

It is so complicated the University of Denver offers a graduate degree in taxation. If there is going to be reform, then the tax law must be simplified to tax one amount of income for all at the same tax rate and with no deductions. Once a deduction or some other incentivized item is added, the complexity will balloon again. The federal tax law is Congress’ playground for social and economic incentivizing. As long as Congress does this, every taxpayer has the right to minimize their tax liability.

If The Post is really serious about tax reform, please publish these ideas. Otherwise, taxpayers are going to do whatever it takes to pay what they are legally required to pay in income taxes.

— Jeff Jasper, Westminster

The editorial board promotes electing people to “implement a tax policy that requires everyone to pay their fair share…”. That statement is a problem in itself. Liberals and conservatives have totally opposite definitions of “fair share.” The Oxford Dictionary provides this definition of fair: “impartial and just, without favoritism or discrimination.” Perhaps the editorial board will suggest a policy that meets this definition.

— Cal Switzer, Castle Rock

Hit and misses in Kafer commentary

Re: “We saw the violence coming and still we did nothing,” Jan. 1 commentary

While I agree with Krista Kafer that “we saw the violence coming and still we did nothing” with regard to Club Q, I see a disconnect with her other two examples of “aurions dû voir.”

“Loss of education due to kids being out of school during COVID”? This was a 100-year pandemic for which we were unprepared. We had to handle the public health crisis that caused shutting down — schools included. There was no alternative at that point.

Do “reduced legal penalties” really lead to rising crime? It’s a Conservative talking point, I know. A 2017 report from the Vera Institute of Justice shows that increased rates of imprisonment have no effect on violent crime rates.

Violent crime did increase in 2020. The Brennan Center for Justice notes that it is too soon to explain this increase. Certainly, the 28.9% increase in murder and 11.7% increase in aggravated assault would not be due to lack of impending punishment.

Much of the increase in violent crime has involved firearms. My own gut feeling is that the proliferation of guns cannot be ignored as a factor.

Yes, we should have known that a pandemic was a real possibility and been better prepared.

Yes, we ought to know you can’t make gun ownership widely available to those who are not mature enough to use them responsibly and expect people not to get shot.

In the case of Club Q, we had only to enforce the laws already on our books to prevent this tragedy.

— Frances Rossi, Denver

“Feeding a war that cannot be won”

Re: “Is it time to wind down the war and start peace talks?” Jan. 1 commentary

I am writing to support a ceasefire and negotiations to end the war in Ukraine as suggested by Nicholas Goldberg in his op-ed in the Perspective section of The Post.

By feeding a war that cannot be won by either side with weapons only prolongs the war, escalates its intensity and increases the death, destruction and suffering. Worse still there is a risk of a wider war and direct confrontation between the United States or a NATO country and Russia, which can lead to a much higher risk of a nuclear exchange.

It is clear that the U.S. and NATO have a great deal of influence over, if not de facto control of, this conflict as they are providing all the weapons and funding. The U.S.

has been avoiding negotiations in hopes for a stronger hand, but it’s clear that is not going to happen. It’s time to end this thing while there still is a Ukraine and more productively direct our treasure toward the long-neglected needs of Americans.

— Rob Prince, Denver

Editor’s note: Prince is a retired senior lecturer of international studies at the University of Denver, Korbel School of International Studies.

Taking aim at TABOR?

Re: “Let’s fix the ballot issue process,” Jan. 1 letter to the editor

Most taxpayers would disagree with former state Sen. Lois Court’s assumption that the ballot process is broken. In fact, the process is working as intended. This can be confirmed by the $750/$1500 TABOR refunds our Colorado taxpayers recently received. Her comments are a veiled attack on the TABOR amendment. Sen. Court claims our state is a “fiscal morass” and the problems can only be solved by the legislature. Not true.

The reason we have the TABOR amendment is the legislature and local governments refused to control their high tax and unrestrained spending. After the voters approved TABOR, there have been several attempts to weaken or overturn the constitutional amendment. All have failed by a vote of the people.

— Carl Miller, Leadville

Editor’s note: Miller is a former state representative.

Adding higher costs to cash-strapped residents

The new year is upon us and increases in costs will arrive with the New Year. I wonder, has anyone informed our state legislature that we are in an inflationary period?

Not only do we have Xcel Energy wiping out personal budgets, but we now will have higher costs at the grocery store in the new year that could be avoided. Why is it necessary to mandate extra costs on our groceries when times are difficult, as the state legislature did this past session?

They seem to care more about hens than our low-income children. At least a choice for shoppers should have been given as to our preference of cage-free and not mandates also on the agricultural and business communities. Hens have been producing eggs in confined quarters for many, many years without problems.

Charging for plastic bags is a nice environmental issue but is wrong at this time. Besides, it always gives better results if you use a carrot, not a stick. They will say it is only 10 cents, but that adds up with large families. Why not give 5-cent rebates for use of your own bag?

Again, loss of common sense when times are difficult.

— Norma Anderson, Lakewood

Editor’s note: Anderson is a former state senator.

New mountain construction outpacing much-needed rebuilding

Re: “‘I can’t do it alone’,” Dec. 30 news story

What a touching article about the people who lost their homes in the Marshall fire a year ago. It is unimaginably sorrowful for these families to have lost everything and then to have had to wait so very long to rebuild. The reasons for the delay float around like ash — the supply chain disruption, the lack of workers, the slow clean-up, and insurance companies slow to pay out.

Yet whenever I visit any mountain town, new condos and single-family second homes are sprouting up like mushrooms, literally from one weekend to the next. Construction sites are bustling, materials are stacked, ready to be used, workers swarm on roofs, and the smell of money is everywhere.

How is this possible?

— Suzanne Welles, Littleton