Real environmentalists left out of Whitefish Range Partnership plan

I am taking time out of working hard at snow removal on my little wilderness ranch near Glacier National Park and the Whitefish Range. I have had over 10 feet of snow this season to clear from my 120-yard driveway and around my house for ingress/egress. But seeing the Whitefish Pilot opinion page on Feb. 14 , 2018, requires that I set the record straight for the general public that does not know the truth about the Whitefish Range Partnership plan at the core of the Flathead National Forest Service management planning report.

I will repeat the names of these people who proudly signed their names in their op-ed and in the previous plan itself that they produced with the illegal inspiration and incentive from Joe Krueger of Flathead National Forest Service, while meeting secretly, along with others, by invitation only, for over a year: Amy Robinson; Paul McKenzie; Don Sullivan; Bill Walker; Larry Wilson; Heidi Van Everen; Noah Bodman. Their interest in personal fame, power, and successful career paths is notable for its absence of caring for the survival of wildlife within its necessary habitat. The animals are not a natural resource to be manipulated for fun and profit, but rather they are living, breathing organisms that deserve to share the planet with humans.

As I write this, the true environmental groups and individual wildlife biology consultants are busily finishing up on their latest rewrite of the Flathead National Forest Management Plan with its illegal inclusion of the Whitefish Range Partnership plan at its core. I say “latest” because they have been providing their management plan corrections for many years, using their vastly superior knowledge of forest ecology and wildlife biology to that of politicized FNFS personnel, even as those plans went unheeded. Politics trumped science. It always does.

The Flathead National Forest team is comprised of several staff members who publicly plan for and provide multiple “wreckreational” use for bikers, snowmobilers, various other motorized vehicles, and also for loggers, et. al, however, nary a one staff member dedicated to speak out publicly for the survival of wildlife.

This travesty of lies and false news reminds me of the Donald Trump era that has taken over America. People need to comprehend this attack we are all under ... especially in order to save the wildlife. Show your outrage and lend your voice against false news and lies. If you don’t, the bad guys will win.

Bill Baum describes himself as an advocate for wildlife and their necessary wilderness habitat. He lives near Glacier National Park and the Whitefish Range.