Letter from the editor

Lake report some encouraging news

At one of the countless public meetings I’ve been to in the last few years, someone argued that protecting Flathead Lake should be paramount to everyone who lives in the Flathead, because without it we have nothing to draw people to the area.

While the contention isn’t completely right (cough, Glacier Park, cough), it’s a far cry from being wrong.

There’s no question the Lake is a massive economic driver for Bigfork and other communities that surround it. In fact, we think Flathead Lake is so important at the Eagle, we even capitalize “Lake” whenever we refer to it without “Flathead” in front.

So then, Jack Stanford’s annual State of the Lake report is a much anticipated — and potentially anxiety inducing — event.

Things might look fine to us, but the scientists down at Yellow Bay might have uncovered something in the depths that spells doom for the Village’s way of life.

Happily, though, Stanford’s report this year told an encouraging tale. Certainly there are threats; coal mines in Canada, air pollution wafting our way from God-knows-where and a steady warming of the Lake’s deep waters. But incredibly, with erosion and leaky septic tanks and gas spills and busy highways bounding it in its entirety, Flathead Lake remains among the cleanest large lakes on Earth.

It is astounding that we could be so lucky and laudable that this Valley has made the commitments necessary to keep it in such a condition.

Flathead Lake might not be everything to the people who live here. But it’s certainly the biggest thing for us. It’s nice to know we’re not taking it for granted.

Doubt at your own peril

As I mentioned in the column a few weeks ago, we hosted a Bigfork High School student here at the Eagle for two weeks as an intern. Ernie Cottle’s time with us is done (though you can see his work on pages A3 and A8), but I speak for my staff and myself when I say he left an impression.

It’s easy to dismiss high school students as doughnut-spinning hooligans looking for their next kegger, but Ernie proved once again that Bigfork is particularly fortunate for its crop of high school kids.

Bright, hard-working and — get this! — polite, Ernie was yet another in the long line of impressive students we’ve seen BHS produce. The community would do well to take note of some of their names so we can all claim we had something to do with it when they make it big.

—Alex Strickland