Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Opinion & Editorial

by Jean Thomas, Stevensville

After reading Mr. Hoffman's letter in your last edition, I couldn't help but think it's all in "the eyes of the beholder." I have been attending the Creamery Picnic for 21 years and appreciated the Civic Club's leadership in making the change to the park before Hwy. 93 is being rerouted through Stevensville during construction for four lanes. The Lewis and Clark Park was in great shape! The parents and children appeared very comfortable, the bus drivers on the shuttle buses were delightful... yes, I took the shuttle from LDS to the Park and returned. It was so much easier than trying to park. At 10:30 Friday night, both Main Street and the Park appeared busy! It is always difficult to "change" but the Civic Club officers are taking notes and suggestions for next year to accommodate as many as possible. From my observation, the 2007 Creamery Picnic was a great place to be and my sitting in a booth both on Friday and Saturday, I had plenty of time to evaluate the new change and I certainly wouldn't want to be at the top of St. Mary's with Mr. Hoffman next year.

Facts on medical marijuana

Dear Editor,

Facts: The federal government ships 300 marijuana cigarettes to seven patients in seven different states every month. That's 2,100 joints, shipped by the government, across state lines, month after month. That same government sends the DEA into states that have voted to allow medical marijuana to pursue the sick and infirm, who abide by the law as written, and don't import across state lines.

There has never been an overdose on marijuana.

Approximately 75% of medicines prior to 1934 were based in tincture of cannabis.

Every human being, every animal, save for insects, has an endocannabinoid system in their brain.

The newest weight-loss drug acts by blocking the endocannabinoid receptors in the brain, and has been shown to cause depression, suicidal ideation, and multiple sclerosis, which reversed when the drug was discontinued.

I have a perfect driving record and I use cannabis daily.

You're allowed to drive on Oxycontin, morphine, Fentanyl.

The FDA continues to allow pharmaceutical drugs to remain on the market even after proof they cause heart trouble, stroke, and death.

Nicotine is an addictive drug. Yet it is not regulated by the FDA nor the DEA - it comes under the category of alcohol (another addictive drug), tobacco, and firearms.

Just thought you ought to know.

Robin C. Prosser
Missoula

Bike stealing cowardly act

Dear Editor,

On August 7, 2007 my son and his friend rode their bikes to Bitterroot Community Market for a soda. They left their bikes out front for no more than 3 minutes. When they came out, the bikes were gone. We were told that two teenage boys took them.

This is to all the parents out there. I think these boys are bullies. There is no reason to STEAL other people's property for the fun of it. My husband and I work very hard for what little we have and to have two selfish and immature boys take two bikes is a disheartening reality that we have to face. People think that since we live in a small town that things like this can't happen. It did. Now my children are faced with wondering who they can trust and no longer feel safe taking a ride downtown. That is pathetic. Granted, the bikes were not chained up and that is a hard lesson for my son and his friend to learn. But what hurts worse is that they will probably never see their bikes again because they are now stolen property and now belong to a cowardly teenager.

Jami Jackson
Stevensville

No wonder they have no money

Dear Editor,

FOB (Friends Of Brandborg) appears to be running out of both steam and financing as indicated by the quarter page ad in the 8 August Bitterroot Star, asking for money, as they continue to oppose growth with their Chicken Little mentality.

Is it possible that M & R Statistical Services of Washington D.C. and the local Missoula office have cut them off?

David S. Hurtt
Florence

2007 Legislature

Dear Editor,

Well, it's nice to know that the 2007 Legislature actually accomplished some important business during their session. Raising the speed limit on Highway 93 South certainly qualifies as a priority action, particularly at a time when Montana is recognized to be among the most dangerous highway systems in the country and most thoughtful people are concerned about energy conservation. Why a bunch of politicians in the legislature is adjusting speed limits, rather than the professionals in the Department of Transportation, is beyond my comprehension.

Mel Walters Stevensville

Best wishes from outgoing Postmaster

Dear Editor,

I wish to announce that I have recently been awarded the position of Postmaster in Hardin MT effective August 18th, 2007, thus I will be leaving my current position of Postmaster in Stevensville. My last day here in the Stevensville office is August 17th, 2007. Janice Finch, the Postmaster of Clinton MT will be the Officer In Charge (OIC) of Stevensville until the position of postmaster is filled.

It has been an honor serving as Postmaster for the Stevensville community the past 3-1/2 years. The growth in the area really kept me busy. I will greatly miss the employees of the Stevensville post office, they truly are a great group of people and the community is fortunate to have them to entrust with the delivery and processing of their mail. I have never met a better, more dedicated work force than the one here in the Stevensville MT post office.

Janice Finch is an excellent choice by our Manager of Post Office Operations in Missoula MT as the incoming OIC. Janice transferred to our district from Grand Rapids, OH and brings with her a vast knowledge of the postal service systems and regulations.

Good luck to Janice, and best wishes to the employees and customers of the Stevensville post office. It has been a pleasure.

Kim Hammond
Stevensville Postmaster

What compels the BLM?

Dear Editor,

"Compulsion" is defined as "an irresistible impulse to perform some act." When the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP), a national conservation coalition, recently filed a formal protest of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to lease 127 parcels in Montana's Garfield and McCone counties, it was responding to this kind of overpowering urge.

TRCP's protest covers almost 285,000 acres of land where BLM has cleared the way for energy development without proper analysis or conservation planning for elk, pronghorn, mule deer and greater sage grouse. TRCP was compelled to file these protests for the same reason it protested earlier leases in the Beaverhead Valley, and across Wyoming and Colorado. The federal government is failing fish and wildlife – and anglers and hunters alike – by repeatedly neglecting to properly assess and address the effects of energy development.

The parcels in question sprawl across the northeastern part of the state in Garfield and McCone counties, south of Fort Peck Reservoir and west of the Big Sheep Mountains. It's a wide-open, lonely place, the kind of landscape that exemplifies 'Big Sky Country' and a place to which many Montanans rarely venture.

One group that does venture to this country is sportsmen. Every year, thousands of hunters and anglers travel to this region from all directions, from places as close as Billings and as far-flung as Dallas and New York, making significant contributions to Montana's $1-billion-plus annual hunting and fishing industry. They do so for good reason: These 285,000 acres comprise prime habitat for mule deer, pronghorn, elk and sage grouse.

This habitat is in jeopardy from mismanagement by the BLM. In offering these parcels for lease, BLM does not address how it would coordinate with state resource professionals at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) to meet population objectives. BLM does not cover impacts to hunting and other recreation. BLM says it cannot predict impacts to mule deer and other species. Yet the possibility exists that hunting opportunities in Garfield and McCone counties could be lost for 75 years or more.

After receiving protests from TRCP, the Montana Wildlife Federation, Trout Unlimited and Hellgate Hunters & Anglers, State BLM Director Gene Terland announced his decision to defer leasing on 73,600 acres in three counties, including 59,415 acres in the parcels protested by TRCP, to review research showing that sage grouse populations cannot be sustained under conditions of oil and gas development currently allowed. In recent years, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that oil and gas development had become a significant threat to sage grouse, eclipsing impacts of suburbanization, development of land for agriculture and avian diseases such as West Nile Virus. The remaining, non-deferred parcels were offered at auction on July 31, but industry buyers made no bids. The protested parcels will remain available for sale for two years.

The BLM is required to use the best information available when making decisions, and that includes input from the public. But when the people speak – and we at TRCP have seen this firsthand in our earlier protests – the agency tells us that our views are invalid because we don't understand the leasing process.

In fact, we understand quite well how the process works, or, more correctly, doesn't work. We've even put our finger on why, because the agency leases first and asks the important questions about fish and wildlife later. The problem is that once the leases are issued, there's a contractual obligation to develop the land. This old way of doing business does not give fish and wildlife what they need.

At the very least, BLM needs to address historic corridors for mule deer and pronghorn in the Garfield-McCone region. Resident herds of both species spend their lives in the lease area. Loss of migratory corridors could jeopardize their ability to connect with habitat. Areas impacted by energy development near Pinedale, Wyo., have seen a 46-percent decline in mule deer populations over the last five years in what was the state's prime big buck hunting district. We still can make sure the same thing doesn't happen in Montana.

BLM has not conducted new, on-the-ground inventories or environmental analysis as required. So, in short, including these parcels in the upcoming lease sale very likely violates federal law.

TRCP is working hard to ensure that development of oil and gas resources on public lands in the Rockies is balanced with the needs of fish and wildlife resources and stands ready to assist the Department of the Interior in devising a new conservation strategy that fits with a sound mineral extraction program.

Until such a strategy exists, TRCP will be compelled to continue to act in the best interests of American sportsmen and conservation.

William Geer, TRCP initiative manager
Missoula

©2006 Bitterroot Star
This site was Done By Dooney