Letters to the Editor

Support purchase of Plum Creek land

My name is Russ Abolt. I reside in the Swan Valley where I maintain my retirement home with my wife Larrine. We have owned our land in the Swan since the winter of 1997.

We support the passage of HR 14 wherein funds would be provided through general obligation bonds for the state acquisition of Plum Creek land to be included in the state educational trust fund. This is an appropriate investment of Montana taxpayer funds in order to support the ongoing education of our young people for the foreseeable future.

The state is presented with an unprecedented opportunity to acquire at an incredibly modest price ($800 per acre), highly productive forest land that will provide a sustainable yield of timber and revenue for the educational trust fund for the foreseeable future. If we lose this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire this land, we will not have another opportunity. The land will be sold into private hands, subject to future development.

Further, these forest lands need to remain undeveloped in order to minimize the rural/urban interface fire burden that increases with every additional new home construction. It is already a huge and growing financial and management burden. The cost of fire protection will only increase with residential sprawl into our forest land.

For folks who live in rural areas of the state, and earn their living based on the forest, the trend of reduced demand for forest products, mill layoffs and closures, and reductions in harvest creates added uncertainties in their lives. Bill HB 14 provides a vehicle by which we can conserve the forest lands for future Montanans.

Our legislators have an exceptional opportunity to serve the citizens of Montana and particularly our young people. A “yes” vote on this legislation provides proof of your commitment to the long term well being of our public educational institutions in Montana.

I am a retired trade association manager who served a manufacturing industry for 35 years. I have come to know, observe and appreciate good business and management practices over these many years. The passage of HR 14 is good business.

Russ and Larrine Abolt

Swan Valley

Bailout blowback

All three of the Montana legislators were raised on the land either farming or ranching. My wife came from a ranch in the Sweetgrass Hills and I from a small Montana town and like them, were taught basic economics and common sense. However, I know they have become exposed and indoctrinated in the DC Beltway thinking, which sometimes can result in a breakdown of common sense and forgetting they were sent there to represent Montana interests.

I meet weekly with a group of men and not one of us feel the “bailout trough” should be extended to the point of our bankrupting the USA and placing a profound burden on our children and their children’s children! Some stimulus is no doubt in order, but a trillion dollars is ruinous.

You are now about to have many states such as California get in line for the “bailout trough” feeding frenzy. I can assure you, Montana Constituents are saying “NO!”

Why should states such as Montana who have lived within our means be punished? I know they are saying that we Montana people don’t see the big picture, etc., but we do. Unlike California, we have kept our spending for entitlements, welfare and stupidity under control. Yes, California has an immigrant problem, but they have not addressed the situation by realizing these immigrants are ILLEGAL and not entitled to special treatment.

Please consider the Montana constituents and say “NO” to any state bailout requests.

Richard and Beverly Sherman

Fix those pets

One of the best things a responsible pet owner can do for a cat or dog is to have her or him spayed or neutered. Millions of homeless cats and dogs in shelters await adoption. Tragically, an estimated four million each year are euthanized. Spaying and neutering also improves pet health and behavior, saves tax dollars, and increases the quality of life for all. Additionally, pets who have been spayed or neutered are less likely to roam, which means they are less likely to get in fights with other animals or get hit by cars.

The Flathead County Animal Shelter is partnering with the Spay & Neuter Task Force to promote Spay Day USA for the entire month of February. The Spay & Neuter Clinic has three specials to help pet owners in need of having their animals altered. Pit bulls/pit crosses will be $20, dogs over 40 pounds are $20 and female cats are $15. Dogs and cats must be at least six weeks old and in good health. Pet owners need to contact the appointment line at 881-4500 and mention the promotion. The event will run the entire month of February and anyone calling in during that time will have their animal scheduled at the special prices. For more information on services, contact the Spay & Neuter Task Force at 892-7387.

Cindie K. Jobe

Kila

Highway 35 injustice

A serious injustice has been done to the citizens who live on Highway 35 along the East Lakeshore of Flathead Lake. The Montana Department of Transportation has recently decided that they do not feel that the risk of future contamination of the pristine waters of Flathead Lake, nor the imminent possibility of a serious accident involving long, heavy, trucks trying to navigate the narrow roadway, warrant any preventative action on their part.

The fact that Highway 93 is far better suited to safely accommodate longer, heavier, truck traffic is as plain as the nose on your face. The argument that the East Shore route is more economical for the trucking industry should not be used to seriously jeopardize the health and welfare of those who live and travel on Highway 35 along the East Shore.

It has been reported that video evidence shows that long rigs can stay between the lines as they drive on Highway 35. I don’t doubt this when the announcement of the day and time of the filming was widely publicized in advance. The question should not be whether long rigs can stay between the lines on Highway 35, but whether they should be driving on Highway 35 at all.

I have attended a number of the public meetings which have been hosted by the DOT and by East Shore residents as well. It seems to me that the DOT has used selected information that they have gathered in this process to substantiate their wish to keep trucks on the East Shore. The overwhelming sentiment of the testimony from these meetings has been that the logical solution to the problem of dangerous truck traffic on Highway 35, is to divert long, heavy, through traffic hauling hazardous material to the more suitable, safer, Highway 93. Imposing a no-passing regulation for the entire East Shore Route and creating some turnouts will not significantly lessen the possibility of a serious accident and long-term contamination of the soil and water along Highway 35.

We have already seen five families displaced from their homes and any number of other serious accidents involving large trucks along the East Shore. It is time for the Department of Transportation to put health, safety, and the welfare of the East Shore residents ahead of profits for the trucking industry. Does the fact that the head of the DOT has historical personal ties to the trucking industry have anything to do with the inaction that has taken place to date?

Edd Blackler

Bigfork