A real conservative

In response to Larry Wilson calling himself a “conservative conservationist” in the Aug. 22 Hungry Horse News, I would like to rebuke with, “No, Mr. Wilson, you are not a conservative conservationist, you are a liberal conservationist.”

Mr. Wilson wants the wilderness and backcountry in national parks and national forests to be liberalized with misuse. He wants snowmobiles, jet skis, motorboats, all terrain vehicles, pick-up trucks, recreational vehicles, motorbikes, cars, vans, sport utility vehicles, jeeps, helicopters, airplanes, spaceships and all forms of motorized transportation and recreation to be allowed in some of the nation’s most pristine natural areas. And with the machines comes the development. Machines require development and growth to function.

Mr. Wilson’s liberality and others like him are slaughtering the last wild places left in our nation. He might enjoy the idea of a parking garage in the meadow at Polebridge and a Pizza Hut on Trail Creek. Perhaps, a ski resort on Mount Thompson-Seton.

No, Mr. Wilson, you are not a “conservative conservationist” you are a liberal conservationist.

I am a conservative conservationist because I believe there should be a wilderness in the Whitefish Range, and the bigger the better. I want Montana’s wild land to be conserved. I want all roadless areas in the state to be designated wilderness right now. Horse, mule, foot or paddle — that’s my conservative ideology for travel and recreation in wilderness and backcountry.

Leave the machines at home in your living room, Detroit, Chicago, Omaha, Kalispell and Denny Rehberg’s impressive traditional Montana ranch. Please.   

Matthew Chappell

West Glacier