Thanks for the letters. Thoughtful comments from readers are an editor’s most prized reward.

There is so much indifference, inattention and information overload in the world, that a person in this business wonders sometimes if you’re being heard above the noise.

When you get a crop of insightful letters to the editor like we have in this issue, you know there’s a conversation taking place. That’s exciting.

Veteran Traveler writer Bill Cooper gets some of the credit. His piece last month blaming shrinking wild turkey numbers on coyotes produced three responses.

During production of the April issue, I emailed MDC news writer Jim Low for some turkey harvest statistics, and mentioned that Cooper had a story fingering coyotes for the drop.

Jim said he thought Bill was mistaken and asked if MDC biologists could weigh in.

There wasn’t time or space in April, but I invited MDC to send us something for May. On Page 8, resource scientsts Jason Isabelle and Jeff Beringer make a good case that habitat management, rather than predator control, is key to boosting turkey numbers.

Let us know if you agree with Cooper, Isabelle and Beringer or have your own take on the subject.

Assistant editor Jo Schaper is not one to carelessly put something into print. Her knowledge, attention to detail and habit of careful research are big reasons we value her services at Traveler. It’s the nature of this business that different people know different things and see things differently.

We are all educated by the give and take between Jo and the readers who add their views and knowledge to what she has