Candidate wants to stand up to federal mandates

County commissioner candidate Ben Stormes, of Whitefish, believes there are steps the county can take to address federal mandates and regulations on water quality, timber harvesting, mining, stream access and wolves.

“We live in a day and age where Rosa Parks can sit in the front of the bus, but we can’t drink raw milk,” he said about increasing federal regulation.

One of seven Republicans vying for the north valley district formerly held by Jim Dupont, Stormes spent 25 years in the manufacturing industry before moving to the Flathead in 2004. He worked his way up to CEO and president of his family company in Oak Park, Mich., which made diamond grinding wheels. Stormes has a bachelor’s in marketing management from Ohio Wesleyan University.

Stormes admits he went through a “mid-life crisis” of sorts when he got to the Flathead. Needing to stay active, he pursued his lifelong interest in extreme skiing by starting Whitefish Backcountry, a business that provides training for wilderness guides and ski patrollers. It was 2008, however, and the recession severely impacted his new business.

That’s when Stormes began to pursue a second interest — politics. It wasn’t just idle time. Obama’s election to the White House was also a factor. Stormes says he joined Montanan For Multiple Use in 2008 and learned how non-government organizations (NGOs) like the Wilderness Society, Sierra Club and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were using federal environmental laws to close public lands.

“Logging is good for forests,” he said. “The Forest Service is not doing a good job maintaining them.”

Stormes says he appreciates these federal laws, but not the way NGOs use them to promote land grabs under the United Nation’s Agenda 21. He says he attends meetings of other political groups in the valley but hasn’t joined them. He attended a John Birch Society meeting about law and order on April 26 and said they had a “great speaker.”

According to the Flathead Valley Ron Paul Meetup Group’s Web site, Stormes has been a member of Oath Keepers since Oct. 16, 2011. Members of the group take a sworn oath to the U.S. Constitution that they believe grants them the right and duty to refuse to follow orders they consider unconstitutional.

Stormes also applied for the interim Flathead County commissioner position, which ends shortly after the general election in November. He said the Flathead County Republican Executive Committee forwarded three names to the Flathead County Republican Central Committee, which voted them down. Stormes said he was then nominated by Rep. Jerry O’Neil, R-Columbia Falls, and was among the three candidates presented to commissioners Dale Lauman and Pam Holmquist for final selection.

“My experience after living here for eight years is that the ‘red state’ I thought I was moving to has a lot of liberal ‘extreme green’ activities,” Stormes said in his letter of interest for the interim position. “I never thought I would get involved in politics, but with what has been happening at the county, state and federal levels in recent times, I feel an obligation to my fellow citizens and my children to get involved and do something.”

Stormes says he wants to see the county employ what’s called “the coordination process” to have more say about federal mandates. He said he’s worked with Montanans For Multiple Use members Clarence Taber and Clarice Ryan on the idea, which is based on language in a federal land-use policy act.

“Different government entities should be working together at equal levels, not one subordinate to the other,” Stormes said. “It’s a law that most people aren’t familiar with.”

Stormes, a firm believer in property rights, also says he’d like to follow the direction Dupont appeared to be heading in handling Whitefish’s dispute with the county over the “doughnut” planning and zoning jurisdiction there.

“It’s regulation without representation, and I think that’s wrong,” he said.