Kirk Millson doesn't address the underlying implications of Wyoming's glacier recession ("Faith in warming," Forum, April 5). If Millson has traveled to Wyoming's mountain ranges in the last 10 years, he would have noticed a disturbing recession of the glaciers in both Grand Teton National Park as well as the Wind River Range. He is correct that annual snowmelt accounts for the bulk of the Colorado River's flows, but when the snow runs out in higher elevations (as it does each August in the Winds) the river flow is supplemented by the melting of glaciers.

Recently, there has been an inordinate amount of glacier melting and supplementation. When Wyoming's glaciers disappear in the next 30 years (U.S. Geological Survey studies confirm this time frame) and the snowmelt is completed in the high mountain basins in August, the drainages will run dry and reduce or eliminate downstream water flow.

When water either becomes more expensive in farming communities, or altogether unavailable in late summer, this will affect local economies and world food markets. With food prices already rising, we need to recognize that all problems are interconnected in economics.

Brenton Peterson

Pleasant Grove