The latest issue of ‘Smithsonian’ magazine carried a story, “In Search of Siddhartha” and beginning with the last paragraph on page 53 (which included a highlighted item: “People are very happy to develop the sites for tourism but they don’t consider the carrying capacity of the sites”) and continued with many details how this lack of concern creates a myriad of serious problems. Problems which should be understood. Problems that can and do affect all places that seek tourism to ‘thrive.’ Places, like this county, where the benefits to the ‘economy’ are touted with little regard to what this is doing to the infrastructure, physical, environmentally and cultural. Perhaps our visitors group should start paying attention to what the impacts, of what an ever-increasing tourism, is doing to this place many of us, human and non-humans, call home!

Jack M. Pedigo

Lopez Island