Readers write for Wednesday, Oct. 20

I found the Oct. 16 articles about the new tunnel under the Swiss Alps ("Subterranean dreams") and the St. Croix River bridge decision by the National Park Service ("St. Croix bridge is dealt a big blow") interesting.

Both situations involve a traffic problem: specifically, trucks interfering with treasured scenery. After 20 years, one country solved it with a tunnel; the other is still struggling with a bridge.

Why not a tunnel to solve the St. Croix problem? The Swiss accomplished a 35-mile tunnel! We are America; we can build a less-than-one-mile tunnel, can't we?

The article references U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, who commented that the locals would "benefit by a new bridge." Like the Grand Canyon, the St. Croix Scenic Riverway is a national treasure, not just a local one. Would we build a bridge over the Grand Canyon if it was good for the neighborhood? I think not.

Thank goodness for Walter Mondale and other political leaders who had the foresight to set aside these beautiful places and who made laws to protect them.

PENNY VAN KAMPEN, EDINA

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The Minnesota Department of Transportation's current statewide transportation plan talks about "Superior highway connections to adjacent states and Canada" and "strong connections to a national high-speed passenger rail network," as well as "upgraded highways and expanded transit service connecting the regional trade centers throughout the state" and "cost-competitive freight rail corridors and intermodal terminals."

In short, the state, regional and national surface transportation visions and plans call for multimodalism, and current tight economy and huge state budget deficits call for frugal spending.

The current bridge plan gets an "F" on all of the above.

There is need for a viable river crossing in the Stillwater area. MnDOT should get focused on its own new transportation visions, abandon the current wasteful bridge plan and get cracking on an effective multimodal plan connecting the Stillwater area to the rest of the state and region.

JEFF HAZEN, BLOOMINGTON

According to the Star Tribune's article, the only course of action following the U.S. Forest Service's recent decision against the proposed $700 million bridge over the St. Croix River is special legislation by Congress.

I guess that means Republican U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann will have to utilize her skills as a compromiser and negotiator to persuade her fellow representatives to support the bill she introduced last March that would give Interior Secretary Ken Salazar the power to approve the bridge.

Good luck convincing all those leftist, liberal members of Congress whom she accused of having "anti-American views."

TIM WIRTH, LAKELAND

The important point made in the Oct. 10 Star Tribune editorial "Censorship blights U's reputation" was the brief mention that the value of the film "Troubled Waters" is that it should start a much-needed conversation on the needs of a growing population and water quality.

At the same time debate was raging over censorship of the film, the Journal of Environmental Quality was publishing research by University of Illinois scientists that once more confirmed that agriculture and tile drainage create the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Importantly, those conducting the research put it in the proper context. "Farmers are not to blame," said University of Illinois researcher Mark David. "They are using the same amount of nitrogen as they were 30 years ago and [are] getting much higher corn yields, but we have created a very leaky agricultural system. This allows nitrate to move quickly from fields into ditches and on to the Gulf of Mexico."

There is no mystery and can be no debate about what is happening and why. It is not, in the words of the editorial, "one-sided advocacy" to point out that nitrogen leaks from our agricultural system. Agriculture knows this is commonplace.

But, as also demonstrated, researchers and farmers are working on solutions, and many of us are trying to do what we can to help them. Implying that there are two sides to the story, as expressed in the editorial, or, even worse, implying that the facts aren't fact, as Mulla chose to do, is not helping them or anyone.

BRAD REDLIN

The writer is director of agricultural programs for the Izaak Walton League of America in St. Paul.

"Troubled Waters" does an excellent job of helping us understand how we've managed to pollute the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Agriculture does itself a disservice to keep claiming somehow that overwhelming facts aren't right and that we should point the finger somewhere else.

In a sense, that's right: It's not agriculture, but us.

As a society, we've asked American agriculture to produce more and more, and, as a society, we haven't paid close attention to the consequences. Now we understand what our demands have done to America's river and to the Gulf, and, as a society, it's our collective responsibility to figure out how to solve this problem.

It's time to move past finger-pointing and denial and get down to the business of working together to save the river and the Gulf.

STEVE JOHNSON, STILLWATER

Society needs to change before anything can really be done about finding ways to fix the pollution in the Gulf. This will be challenging, but that is why you never hear of one person making an impact: It's the community and where they live. We can band together to fix this.