The report below my comments is from our Senator Curtis and it very important for all Montanans to take note of and respond to immediately.
Besides this there is a group in the Yaak which is pushing hard for passage of federal legislation creating more Wilderness in the Yaak under the false representation that if they get their Wilderness, they will deliver jobs to Lincoln County. It is also important to vocally oppose the Lincoln County Coalition’s draft bill now called
THREE RIVERS CHALLENGE
COOPERATIVE STEWARDSHIP, RESTORATION AND CONSERVATION ACT OF 2007
Soon you will be asked to express your preference of what you want your County to become in the near and far future for us here and now and for our heirs and future generations to come. My view is if we continue to neglect these forests we will soon have wildfires which will make the 1910 fire look like a practice fire drill, Large high intensity fires will ruin our watersheds and wildlife habitat and our economy and eventually make it impossible to maintain our tax base. This will depopulate our communities and vacate our beloved rural lifestyle.
Please respond to Senator Curtis’ request to act by following the links she has provided below. I have and I hope you will. Thank you
Gary Callihan
Legislative Report
Aubyn Curtiss
October 11, 2007
WILDERNESS/ MULTIPLE USE NIGHTMARE MATERIALIZES
Thursday, October 18th, members of a U.S. Congressional Committee will be hearing proposed legislation to dramatically change the lives of people living in 5 western states. This legislation would designate approximately 8 million acres of new wilderness in Montana, over 9 million in Idaho, over 3 million in Wyoming, over a million in Oregon and about three quarters of a million in Washington. It also provides for establishing a 285,000 acre Flathead National Preserve Study Area adjacent to Glacier National Park which will surely prohibit most development.
In addition to the proposed wilderness designations, the bill sets aside millions of acres of connecting wildlife corridors, sets aside wild and scenic river reaches, and would have us believe it is being done in the name of creating jobs and promoting economic development. Examination of the bill indicates the “economic development” is embodied in the creation of short term jobs, but those jobs are abhorrent to anyone dependent upon access to our public lands. Those jobs are to obliterate forest roads, and when the roads are gone, so are the jobs, along with all the other long term resource jobs lost because of changing forest policies. More disturbing yet, is the fact that the huge appropriations bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives allocates to USDA Forest Service $ 65 million dollars earmarked for the decommissioning of roads. The money cannot be used for any other purpose, without again going through the appropriations process.
In April the Montana Legislature passed a resolution which expressed strong opposition to the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act. That action was taken primarily because the wilderness legislation is all about eliminating access to our public lands. Access to maintain forest health, suppress wildfires, preserve wildlife habitat, protect our watersheds, access for the elderly, fishermen, berry pickers, wood gatherers, and the entire gamut of multiple public land uses, including grazing allotments.
FALSE WILDERNESS DEFINITION
The wilderness proposal becomes even more troubling after the forest service in January of this year took it upon themselves to issue FSH 1909.12 which expands areas to be considered for wilderness to include heliports, airstrips, cell towers, television/radio towers, radio repeaters, associated access roads, power lines, phone lines, structures, fence lines, areas with less than 70% federal ownership, developed campgrounds and tree plantations which formerly would not qualify as Wilderness “untouched by the hand of Man.” Now all of the above are perceived to be areas to be considered for future Wilderness additions.
ARE WE TO BE ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN?
In addition to the possibility that millions of acres of new wilderness will limit Montanans, enjoyment of their traditional heritage, customs and culture, other federal action looms in the form of the new Forest Service Recreation Site Facility Master Plan, which some report appears to be proposing to decommission or close about 50% of the National Forest’s developed recreation sites. This is supposedly in order to make our forests pay for themselves. We understand that 93 million dollars of user fees have been authorized to fund the closure of recreation facilities to save the expense of maintaining them. So how much, of what, will remain for our multiple users of public lands?
While some form of the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Act has languished in Congress for several years, it has not always been marked up on the hearing calendar. To our knowledge, it has never before been tied to an enormous appropriation for the purpose of economic development—no matter how incredible that claim. Montana’s lone congressman will have a very difficult time prevailing among the hundreds representing more populous states, as will those from Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon, defending their states interests. Washington State, considering the mere 750,000 acres designated in the Colville National Forest, will probably not even register much public outcry.
Ideally, NREPA can be stopped in the sub-committee and all those opposed to permitting other jurisdictions to dictate what goes on in Montana are advised to visit the SAVE the WEST web site to register their opposition. http://savethewest.net/takeAction.htm
Congressman Dennis Rehberg has also issued a news release urging Montanan’s multiple use community to join him in opposing what he has characterized as a “top-down approach that doesn’t properly take into account the impacts on the local economy nor does it adequately protect access for hunting, fishing and other forms of recreation.”
In addition to the previous web site, readers are asked to record their opposition at http://www.house.gov/rehberg/survey.shtml to assist Congressman Rehberg’s efforts to protect the interests of Montanans.
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