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Wednesday, July 1, 2009 Opinion & EditorialGuest CommentWolves part of natural balance of lifeby Marty Essen, Victor In response to some recent anti-wolf letters, I’d like to offer an alternative point of view. Blaming the wolf for fewer elk, without considering other factors, is disingenuous at best. Here’s what scientists know as fact: wolves and elk have a history together that goes back to before humans entered their territory. If wolves were going to wipe out the elk, they would’ve done so long before humans arrived. In a natural ecosystem, wolves and elk exist to the mutual benefit of both species. The real issue is whether it’s morally acceptable for humans to artificially manage our forests for the benefit of one special interest group: hunters. According to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, 129,708 resident elk licenses were sold in 2008, and there are an estimated 193,484 total hunters in our state. Considering that Montana’s population is 967,440, hunters are a much smaller group than their political influence indicates (and not all hunters are anti-wolf). On the other hand, many people, including conservation-minded hunters, won’t speak out in defense of wolves because they fear being threatened (I’ve been threatened more than once). That doesn’t mean their concerns should be ignored. Countless people head into the woods each day, hoping to spot a wolf. Yes, the reintroduction of wolves isn’t just for the animals—it’s for people too! One anti-wolf writer suggested that we have a public vote on the “wolf problem.” In essence, we already had that vote when we banned game farms. If we manage Montana’s wildlife solely to favor human-hunted species, all we’re doing is turning our state into one giant game farm. The best way to manage Montana’s wildlife is to strive for a natural balance. It’s good for animals; it’s good for non-hunters; and it’s good for hunters who believe in a fair chase. |
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Letters to the EditorCounty doing the best it can on road improvementsDear Editor, Here’s an interesting bit of local road history: Highway 93 began its long life as a game trail, was expanded by Native Americans, developed into a wagon trail and was eventually paved before being properly engineered. In October of 1910, Sen. Joseph M. Dixon, invited to address the crowds at the Great Ravalli County Fair, lavished great praise on the fair, the agricultural abundance, and the farmers who made it possible, but then proceeded to chastise the entire county for the deplorable condition of the road he was forced to travel from Missoula to Hamilton. “As I came up the valley by automobile this morning,” he is reported to have said in the pages of the Western News, “I was impressed with the disgraceful condition of the roads. I tell you the road is a disgrace to Ravalli and Missoula counties.” He went on for some time in that vein, overusing the word “disgraceful” to make his point. Which is not to say that some things never change, because they can and do. The pressure put on our challenged road network certainly has changed, and dramatically so in the past two decades alone. As one former county road supervisor put it, “We all used to drive beat-up old pick-ups on beat up old roads, and no one cared because everyone was in the same economic boat.” But as both population and prosperity have increased in the Bitterroot Valley over the years, so has the quantity and quality of the rolling stock. What has not kept pace are the funds necessary to maintain the approximately 540 miles of county-operated roads. Look at your own tax bill and on the right side you’ll see the road tax portion as a separate line item. You may be as surprised as we were at the relatively small amount of our tax dollars we have to invest in road maintenance. That road tax is the reason so many maintenance projects have been deferred over the years, and it’s why we’ve had to seek additional revenue to complete those projects. We’ve been successful in securing an additional $2.7 million for road repairs, thanks largely to the efforts of Sen. Max Baucus, and our own county road supervisor David Ohnstad who has vigorously pursued federal and state road dollars. Beginning in late June, the Ravalli County Road and Bridge Department began an aggressive five-month program to resurface or otherwise improve more than 40 miles of county roads. The additional funding comes from a variety of state and federal agencies that we fondly refer to by their acronyms: Secure Rural Schools (SRS), Treasure State Endowment Program (TSEP), Montana Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, or, more commonly, “stimulus”). The county road and bridge department has a good history of partnering with private business and other public agencies on road projects, and this summer’s improvement program is no different. For instance, the county has partnered with local highway contractor Blahnik Construction on the following projects. New asphalt surfacing on: 1.25 miles of Meridian Road south of Sheafman Creek Road 0.5 miles of Victor Crossing, west of the Eastside Highway 1 mile of Honey House Lane, south of Willow Creek .75 miles of Kurtz Lane north of Golf Course Road .79 miles of Ponderosa Dr. south of Skalkaho .60 miles of Golf Course Road south of Duus Lane .61 miles of Ricketts Road north of West Bridge Road 1.5 miles of Bowman Road north of Ricketts Road 1.25 miles of Bowman Road north of Dutch Hill 2.26 miles of Bass Lane north of Harvey Lane Asphalt overlays on sections of Hamilton Heights Road, Willow Creek Road, Middle Burnt Fork Road, Ambrose Creek Road (3.5 miles), Red Crow Road (4.28 miles) and Stevensville Airport Road will occur later in the summer. Chip seal projects on several roads are scheduled throughout August. Additionally, preliminary work, including drainage improvements, easement reclamation and surface preparation will take place in the preceding weeks on each project. Three county road bridges will also be replaced this year - Pleasant View Drive, Old Corvallis Road and Willow Creek Road. Our public-private partnership also includes our citizens, many of whom participate in the dust-abatement program. This year, we treated 45 miles of gravel roads with magnesium chloride – the most number of miles since we began offering the service five years ago. As we stated, the tax collections don’t keep pace with the ever-increasing number of cars, trucks and motorcycles on county roadways, many miles of which were never designed to accommodate more than the occasional tractor. This presents challenges. This year, we’ve done our collective best to meet those challenges by aggressively seeking other sources of funding and entering into public-private partnerships when we can, never losing sight of the ultimate goal, which is to keep our county roadways as safe as possible. For a complete list of road improvement projects, estimated progress schedules and information about project funding, please contact the road and bridge department at 363-2733. Happy trails and safe driving.
Carlotta Grandstaff, chair |
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Regarding Governor’s late vetoesDear Editor, Not all bills passed by the legislature are acted on by the Governor before the end of the session. Because of printing and legal review requirements, some bills don’t reach the Governor’s desk until the session is over. This year there were ten such bills that the Governor vetoed. Vetoed bills go back to the legislature for an opportunity to override. So, what happens when the legislature has already adjourned and left town? Well, there is a process in law that says the Secretary of State must conduct a poll of the legislature, by mail, to see if they want to override the veto. The poll is only conducted on those bills that passed by at least a two-thirds vote of the legislature. The rationale being that if the bill did not get two-thirds in the first place, it would not get the necessary two-thirds to override. Four of the bills did not pass by two-thirds and were not polled. The six bills that qualified were: HB 629 by Glaser (R-Huntley) - Deposit School Trust Land interest and income in excess of $1 million shall be transferred to the school flexibility account for distribution to schools. The bill passed the House 95-4 and the Senate 35-15. SB 291 by Black (R-Shelby) - Establishing the Montana Railroad Development Authority. Passed the Senate 31-19, and the House 74-26. SB 349 by Tutvedt (R-Kalispell) - Clarifying that certain information is not public in state bidding or contracting processes. Passed the Senate 49-1, and the House 95-5. SB 460 by Story (R-Park City) - Creating a Federal Economic Stimulus Oversight Commission within the legislature to oversee expenditure of Federal Stimulus money. The commission would terminate after expenditure of the funds. Passed Senate 50-0, and House 95-5. SB 371 by Perry (R-Manhattan) - Revise definition of “Employee” or “Worker” with respect to Worker’s Compensation Act. Passed Senate 39-11, and House 82-17. SB 403 by Gebhardt (R-Roundup) - Would give credit to utility companies toward the Renewable Portfolio Standard for renewable energy they purchase from small suppliers. Passed Senate 39-11, and House 76-24. The poll on these bills ended June 12 and the results were posted June 18. None of the overrides passed. It is interesting to note the final votes, comparing the total votes when the bills passed to the total votes in override poll.
These represent an astonishing swing in attitudes. Four of the bills did not even get enough votes to PASS during the poll, let alone two-thirds to override! Why do such large swings occur? I believe it is simply because too many legislators are unwilling to buck the Governor. If the head of their party says “no”, then “no” it is. It is particularly unfortunate that two of these bills did not become law. SB 371 would have defined when a worker or employee is really working for the employer or not. If a worker leaves the work place on a lunch hour and is injured, this would no longer qualify as a work-related injury. SB 371 would have gone a long way toward reducing Worker Comp costs in Montana. This is one of the major reasons cited by companies who choose not to come here - Worker Comp costs are too high. The other was SB 460 which would have provided legislative oversight of the Federal Stimulus money that was appropriated by the legislature to ensure that it is spent as the legislature intended. It is difficult to spell out all the intent of the legislature in a bill during the session. We have Administrative rules to spell out implementation of regular legislation, and this would have provided a means of implementing the fiscal intent in this one time only legislation. Sheduled Interim Committee meetings and agendas, as well as information on past legislation, can be found at HYPERLINK "http://www.leg.mt.gov" www.leg.mt.gov.
Gary MacLaren |
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Bicycle riders face unsafe driversDear Editor, The death of the woman bicycle rider, who was walking her bike across an intersection in Missoula, is a tragedy. I am surprised things like this don't happen more often. I hadn’t ridden a bike in 10 years, but we now have wonderful bike/walking paths all around Stevensville, so I got a bike and began riding instead of driving my car. I have been astounded by what I see and hear from car drivers. People back out of parking spaces without looking. People park and open car doors without looking. People yell obscenities at you. If a driver believes, for whatever reason, that a bike rider has "broken the rules of the road," you get a loud hateful earful. And, the most dangerous, I think, is when people in cars are making a turn they seem to look everywhere except where they are going. Everyone is in such a hurry in their cars. It's a war zone out there… Let's just slow down and be a little kinder to each other. Perhaps everyone should be required to ride a bicycle everywhere for a few days before they can get a drivers license...Then they could see what life is like on two wheels.
Patricia Don Diego |
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Hats off to sports editorDear Editor, Jean gives 110%! A big thank you to Jean Schurman whose sports coverage of all our Bitterroot athletes is greatly appreciated! From state track to rodeo, she’s been there and done her very best to give our young adults the recognition they deserve. Jean, thank you for your hard work and unbiased representation of all our Bitterroot Valley athletes.
Tony and Twyla Smith |
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