Opinion/Letters
A consensus for conservation is reflected in the many eloquent editorials and letters-to-editors published in Montana's major newspapers, celebrating Wilderness scenic and wildlife values and denouncing proposals to compromise those values. Every major Montana newspaper has editorialized in favor of protecting Wilderness, some repeatedly. Following are excerpts from recent editorials and letters-to-editors.
Crowning achievement for Front
Missoulian editorial | Posted: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 8:15 am
During the past several months, while Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act has been grabbing most of the headlines and capturing a great deal of attention in Montana, another collaborative effort to preserve one of the state’s last best places, long in the making, was finally unveiled.
It is called the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act, and it is being championed by a group called the Coalition to the Protect the Rocky Mountain Front. While it is similar to the three plans that make up the basis for Tester’s act in its collaborative approach, it differs from them in several key ways – and it is deserving of Montanans’ support in its own right.
Like the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, the Rocky Mountain Front proposal is the result of a collaborative effort involving public and private stakeholders, and the intense involvement of those who live, work and recreate on the Front. Like Tester’s bill, the proposed legislation would break new ground – and like Tester’s bill, it isn’t going to completely satisfy everybody. Some people will want more wilderness, and some people will argue for less.
The Rocky Mountain Front plan would lock in existing motorized uses and add protections to more than 300,000 acres of roadless areas, in addition to about 86,000 acres of wilderness to the Bob Marshall, Great Bear and Scapegoat wilderness areas, without requiring any amount of “mechanical treatment” or logging. The Rocky Mountain Front, renowned for its sweeping vistas, is not especially sought-after for its timber values.
Instead, the plan calls for a comprehensive attack on noxious weeds, and would create a weed-management area within the span from Rogers Pass up to the Old Man of the Hills area. This effort, which would depend upon coordination among local and federal land managers, would be funded with $200,000 a year if Congress votes to approve it.
Members of the coalition are hoping to bring the Heritage Act before members of Congress soon, either as a stand-alone bill or as part of an omnibus land protection bill. To that end, they have been conducting a series of presentations in Montana, hoping to provide useful information and answer Montanans’ questions so that when the act is introduced in Congress, it will come with strong statewide support.
As Montana Crown of the Continent Initiative director Rick Graetz noted in his public presentation earlier this month, the Rocky Mountain Front region boasts a rich history as well as current values that ought to live long into the future. Now that nearly all the oil and gas exploration leases in the region have been bought out or retired, the Front should be kept exactly the way it is in order to preserve that future and allow our children a chance to learn from its rich history.
That’s why many supporters of the draft Heritage Act refer to it as the “keep it the way it is bill” – and why those of us who love the Front hope the draft bill will soon accomplish exactly that.
By Bruce Farling - The Western News - 1/14/2010
That’s exactly what this landmark legislation does. It takes the hard work of people in the Yaak country of northwest Montana and in the Seeley Lake and Blackfoot regions north of Missoula, and of recreationists and those who make a living around the sprawling Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest in the southwest corner of the state, and it packages it into a measure that:
• Aids local mills by directing the Forest Service to do some sort of mechanical removal of vegetation for 10 years, through commercial logging, thinning or post and pole sales, for instance. This would affect extremely small portions of the Kootenai and Beaverhead-Deerlodge national forests – about one-quarter of 1 percent in one year. The value of the trees removed will be re-invested in the forest – used to help restore damaged
habitats. Full Article
Bozeman Daily Chronicle - Jeff Welsch - Sunday, January 10, 2010
The economy might have soured in 2009, but the world’s love of Yellowstone National Park certainly didn’t. Despite thinning pocketbooks and growing anxieties — or perhaps because of both — a record-shattering 3.3 million people visited the world’s first national park. The lesson here is that whether the economy is bullish or bearish, Yellowstone is a magical place where people of all backgrounds can restore their spirit. Full Article
Billings Gazette - Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Since Sen. Jon Tester introduced his Forest Jobs and Recreation Act in July, it has been praised as the first legislation in two decades to bring Montana wilderness advocates and logging advocates together. It also has been criticized by people on both sides of the public-lands debate who want more or less than the proposal would provide.
The bill, which deals exclusively with portions of national forests in Western Montana, had a Senate Energy Committee hearing earlier this month. Full Article
Missoula Independent - Aaron Olsen - Wednesday, December 30, 2009
It can be difficult to see the bigger picture when our immediate needs and wants are at stake. Ask a first grader this holiday season if they would rather have a new toy or the cash equivalent put into a retirement fund. The answer will undoubtedly be the toy. That's a first grader, though. As adults we would have really appreciated that retirement fund. This type of foresight is something that is sorely missing in legislation these days, and this is why the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act is so important. Full Letter
Helena Independent Record - Tuesday, December 29, 2009
It’s a positive step for Rep. Denny Rehberg to get out in Montana to hear public comment on Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, and we urge the Congressman to pay more attention to his constituents than the fringe groups claiming they had no voice in the development of the fundamentally sound, compromise bill. Full Article
Missoulian - Mat Seidensticker - Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, which was introduced by Sen. Jon Tester in July, had a committee hearing on Dec. 17. Getting a hearing on this bill amid the nation’s concerns over health care and climate change shows that Tester really is looking out for Montanans.
This bill was built by local collaborative projects and provides local solutions to our forest problems, not the least of which is making sure we have access to the places to recreate. Full Letter
Helena Independent Record - Walter Walsh - Thursday, December 24, 2009
For many years, the timber industry has faced job loss and shortage of supply. Our communities have also been threatened by wildfire and our forests by beetle kill. We need to take action, and the time is now. Full Letter
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle - 12/20/2009
Home-grown solution is bestHelena Independent Record - Rosalie Robson - 12/20/2009
Montana has long been famous for its blue-ribbon trout streams, premier hunting and access opportunities for the public. For most Montana families, hunting and fishing on public lands and waterways is an important part of their outdoor heritage.
Our way of life here is unique, and people from around the world come to experience what we enjoy in our backyards.
But we’re not immune to the impacts of growth and development that can pose threats to our prized fish and game habitat. And there are those who make their living in the woods or in sawmills who will be quick to tell you about the stagnant management that has plagued our forests and agencies for decades.
Because of conflicts among various user groups, forest management has been at a virtual standstill for years. Our forests become more and more susceptible to catastrophic wildfire each year. Hunters and anglers looking for permanent protection in some of their favorite hunting and fishing spots have been left disappointed. Meanwhile, mills have closed and jobs have been lost due to lack of timber harvests on public lands. Full Article
Guest Opinion: Tester Wilderness bill: the right thing
Conrad Anker - Bozeman Daily Chronicle - 12/4/2009
Etymology: the history of a linguistic form shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another.
As I reflect on our family vacation this past summer to the Pioneer Mountains, there is no finer attribute for our state than its name. Albeit with a slightly different pronunciation, Montana is mountain in Spanish. The early explorers named the state after the dominant geologic features. For the peaks that ring our valley, that nurture our rivers and provide cover for wildlife, there is no finer attribute. To live in place as scenic and unspoiled as Montana is pretty special. We are, by our own admission, privileged to inhabit this state.
With rights come responsibilities. The beauty of Montana is in its unique wild feel. From the buffaloes and geysers of Yellowstone to the mountain goats and aquamarine lakes of Glacier, we have two iconic natural preserves within our boundaries. The parks, established by the federal government 137 and 99 years ago, are quite a draw for our state. Yes the parks are tremendous, yet between the two places is a large segment of nature that is home to animals, timber, water and opportunity for recreation. It is our responsibility, as the current generation, to take care of this heritage that defines Montana. Full Article
Guest Opinion: Forest Jobs Act embodies what Montanans value most
By GERRY JENNINGS - Great Falls Tribune - 11/23/2009
As a Montanan, I feel lucky to live in a state where everyone is a neighbor and no one is too busy to lend a hand. As a Montanan deeply committed to conservation, I am also lucky to live in a state that not only has spectacular wildlands, but also has a legacy of protecting those wild places.
Sadly, for the past two decades, both our tradition of cooperation and our legacy of wildland protection have been at a stalemate due to conflicts over forest management. With each year, conflict has grown more heated and more divisive, our forests have grown redder and Montanan's wildlands continue to be unprotected.
For the last couple years, local community groups have been trying to bridge the gap on conflicts over public lands management. These local collaborative efforts have been unceasing and are producing solutions that work for everyone—everyone, that is, who is willing to move beyond gridlock. Full Article
Letter: Tester should keep up the good work on forest bill
By Ray Thoen - Montana Standard - 11/17/2009
As someone who spends a fair amount of time outdoors and in the mountains. I want Sen. Jon Tester to keep doing what he's doing with the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.
I saw him give a presentation and spoke with the senator and his staff afterward about some questions I had about the legislation. Are there some things I would like to see different? Sure, but I also understand that I'm not the only one using our public lands. They belong to everyone, and every interest should be taken into account —that includes motorized and non motorized use, timber, mining, wilderness, fishing, and hunting. I understand that by working together, no one person will get everything they want. But, we will all get something.
I encourage anyone with questions or concerns to speak with the senator's staff in Butte if they didn't get a chance at the open house. The senator's staff are friendly, knowledgeable and ready to answer questions.
Letter: Baucus earned thanks with support of Tester bill
By Three Rivers Challenge Coalition - Missoulian - 11/16/2009
We’re thrilled to hear that Sen. Max Baucus has agreed to co-sponsor the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, a just-in-time experiment in finding common ground at the grassroots level.
We’re grateful for the jobs in the woods and convinced we can find places for thinning and vegetative management, creating jobs and reducing fuel loading around communities, and are excited also to have reached a few agreements with regard to motorized use and wilderness designation. Full Letter
Editorial: Time is right for Tester forest bill
By The Montana Standard Staff - 11/14/2009
Montana's remaining timber mills are struggling to survive right now, while the mountain pine beetle thrives. The dilemma demands action — to preserve what's left of the state's logging infrastructure, to harvest infested trees while they still have value, to reduce wildfire risk for communities near forest lands.
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester recognized this critical need for action and responded accordingly, by introducing a bill unlike any other to come before our nation's Congress. The Forest Jobs and Recreation Act is not just a bill that mandates logging — it creates wilderness and recreation areas, too — but the sense of urgency behind it stems from the depressed state of our forests and our timber industry. Both need major transfusions.
Sensing the need for drastic measures, coalitions in three different parts of western Montana came together in recent years to attempt the difficult task of compromise. Three goals emerged: to preserve more of Montana's wild lands, to designate areas most suitable for timber harvest, and to create permanent recreation areas for mountain bikes, snowmobiles, ATV's.
Independent of one another, the coalitions approached Tester — the Beaverhead-Deerlodge Partnership, the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project and the Three Rivers Challenge. He combined their plans into one bill and then set about gathering yet more input from Montanans on what should be in the bill and where the various borders should be drawn. Full Article
Letter: Montana senators to be commended on forest bill
By Craig and Jackie Mathews - Montana Standard - 11/12/2009
We are pleased to learn that Sen. Max Baucus has recently co-sponsored SB 1470, Sen. Jon Tester's Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. Both of our senators are to be commended for their leadership in moving this innovative bill forward.
Born from the collaboration of many Montana citizens looking for a new path forward for our forest lands, this bill will put citizens to work in the woods restoring our forests and protecting our outdoor heritage. SB 1470 will protect some important wild lands in this part of Montana — places like the Snowcrest and Centennial Mountains and Cowboy Heaven in the Northern Madison Mountain Range. These places we, as Montanans, enjoy many times each year. These are areas we go to enjoy hunting and fishing, hiking and camping. Full Letter
Letter: Forest bill good for Montana
By Bernard Rose - Helena Independent Record - 11/11/2009
Forest bill good for Montana I would like to thank Sen. Max Baucus for joining with Sen. Jon Tester in supporting the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.
People who don’t live and work here often decide many of the issues that concern Montana’s land and resources. The Forest Jobs and Recreation Act is a bill that came from the ground up. It was created by Montanans working together — neighbor to neighbor. I am proud that our two senators are working together to do what is best for Montana’s forests, communities, and families.
Let’s hope that Rep. Denny Rehberg will see how important this bill is for the future of all Montanans — forest and recreation jobs, recreation opportunities and clean water.
Guest Opinion: Support for forest bill overwhelming
By SUSIE BROWNING - Helena Independent Record -
As a Montanan and as a Granite County commissioner, I'm grateful for Sen. Jon Tester's willingness to carry the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act in Congress.
The courageous new bill represents hope and new opportunity for our state, because it aims to break the decades-long logjam on forest policy. It will cut down the risk of wildfire. It will create and save jobs.
Any plan as bold and courageous as this is of course going to see its share of criticism.
But the facts of the legislation are indisputable. And based on the facts, the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act enjoys overwhelming support.
On Oct. 5, the Independent Record published an editorial about the results of its own unscientific poll on the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. The question: "Do you Support the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act?"
The results were skewed. According to the paper, opponents of the bill got the word out, sending e-mails to their friends and members asking them to answer "no" to the poll. There was even the possibility that these opponents paid people to answer "no." Full Article
Letter: Wilderness bill: Put agendas aside; make it work
By Sandra Treadaway - Missoulian - 11/9/2009
I wanted to send a letter of thanks to our senators. First, to Sen. Jon Tester for writing the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. This bill will be the first time in 15 years that we, as a state, have had the opportunity to do something to protect our natural resources and have more of a say in the management of our beautiful backcountry.
Tester has put forth legislation that will add almost 700,000 acres to wilderness, will bring logging in to clean up areas near communities to reduce fire danger and provide jobs, and will continue to allow multiple-use recreation. Full Letter
Letter: Wilderness bill: Real solutions involve compromise
By Adam Tew - Missoulian - 11/9/2009
On Oct. 26 in Missoula, Sen. Jon Tester held an open house to promote the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, an innovative piece of legislation that seeks to change public land management for the better here in Montana. Significantly, among the information provided was the news that fellow Sen. Max Baucus would be co-sponsoring the legislation.
Montanans, I'm sure, are familiar with the influence that the senior Sen. Baucus now holds in the United States Senate. It's a position that can't come easily, especially when one considers that Baucus is a Democrat in a state that tends to vote the other political direction. Baucus doesn't provide his endorsement fickly; he recognizes that a state with a prevalent conservative inclination will show him the door if he fails to produce on progressive legislation.
It must be a trying balance to maintain, but the ultimate effect is sensible and responsive representation. Full Letter
Guest opinion: Forest bill would provide great hunting opportunities
By Matt Clyde - Billings Gazette 11/7/2009
As I walked past the "entering wilderness" sign with my hunting partner, Zach, I couldn't help but smile. We were going to spend the next few days hunting elk without the sound of old trucks rattling down the road or ATVs zipping up the trail around us. With only our bivvy sacks, sleeping bags and bare essentials, we headed up the mountain knowing that a few miles of designated hiking and elk trails will lead us into the middle of some of the best elk country in the West. Although we knew being in a secluded, natural, and peaceful part of the country would bring us a very gratifying hunt regardless of an elk harvest or not, we had no idea that this would be one of the most memorable hunts we would ever experience.
Zach and I have shared memorable hunts in Montana's wilderness areas. Elk and other big game reside in areas where they feel protected and secure. There are two main types of areas where elk find this security: private lands that are inaccessible for most hunters, or in wilderness areas that are accessible by everyone. Most of the existing wilderness areas are composed of some of the best elk habitat found anywhere in North America - mostly due to preserved natural resources and no disturbance from motorized use. Full Article
Letter: Forest Jobs and Recreation Act: Baucus’ support deserves thanks
By Jess Grennan - Missoulian - 11/6/2009
I would like to thank Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., for his support of the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.
Over the last few years, various stakeholders worked together to find solutions to the problems plaguing our forests. Then in July, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., had the courage to step forward and do something out of these tough issues. Over the last few months, I have been following the progress of the bill and the public's reception of the legislation. Full Letter
Letter: Wilderness legislation: Examine bill; you’ll be pleased
By Bill Early - Missoulian - 11/5/2009
I want to comment on Sen. Jon Tester's recent open house in Missoula to discuss the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.
His presentation was very informative and well-done. I also appreciated the opportunity to comment and speak with the senator afterwards. I really think this is an important bill and I'd encourage anyone not familiar with it to have a look. It addresses some very important issues for all Montanans. One is wilderness creation or expansion; it's been a long time since any new wilderness areas have been designated in Montana and it's time. It will also be a boost to the timber industry and create a lot of jobs by providing much-needed logging in areas that are becoming huge wildfire risks. It already has the support of a wide array of people including hunters, anglers, conservationists, loggers and firefighters. I think that's a good indication it makes sense.
So thank you, Tester, for introducing this bill, and Sen. Max Baucus, for his co-sponsorship of this bill.
Letter: Montana big enough for wilderness and much more
By Paul Olson - Montana Standard - 11/05/2009
I've missed attending Sen. Jon Tester's open houses on the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act but have read his bill and although it isn't perfect I think it is pretty good.
Montana is changing very fast. There are many of us who love to ride ATVs, motorcycles, snowmobiles, mountain bikes, horses and ride in pickup trucks. Just because I own a snowmobile doesn't mean I should be categorized as only a snowmobiler. I also cross- country and downhill ski. I ride a trail bike and mountain bike and drive a four-wheel drive but also love to hike and I think I'm like a lot of Montanans.
Montana is a special place where we can do a lot of different things. It's big enough for the proposed new wilderness that will ensure places for wildlife and fish and those folks who like to go into remote, wild, exciting country on a horse or just on foot. Montana is big enough for us to ride or drive the many miles of open motorized roads and trails on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. Full Letter
Letter: Wilderness Act: Local logging is sustainable
By Brian Fauver - Missoulian - 11/3/2009
I attended two events in Missoula last week. On Oct. 26, a talk from Sen. Jon Tester about his new land legislation, the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, and on Oct. 27, a talk and book-signing from Mike Roselle, co-founder of EarthFirst! These events are two ends of a conservation spectrum.
The opposition seemed too good to pass up: moderate compromise against radical unyielding. One of the biggest opponents of the proposed Tester bill is the group of dissatisfied conservationists. Thinking Tester compromised too many wilderness areas, many have abandoned his bill. Full Letter
Letter: Praise for Tester's forest jobs and recreation bill
By O. Alan Weltzien - Montana Standard - 11/03/2009
I write in support of Sen. Jon Tester's Forest Jobs and Recreation bill. This bill's strength derives from the range of interests and degree of compromise that led to its genesis. It will put folks back to work in the woods, and begin harvesting our beetle-damaged and killed forests.
It also protects a host of special places for a variety of outdoor recreation uses. Those places designated wilderness areas belong to all Americans and all generations, not merely those of us living next door right now.
I laud Tester for taking an initiative Montana has been missing for many years. The Forest Jobs and Recreation bill appeals to many stakeholders, present and future, and reflects the truth that some for-mer antagonists have shown the courage and wisdom to work together. I look forward to the bill's pro-gress through Congress.
Letter: Tester’s forest bill has something for everyone
By Laurel Faurot - Billings Gazette - 11/2/2009
The importance of wilderness can never be stressed enough. It puts a person in an area where there are no obligations to be met, no cell phones to be answered, and one is living simply with just the supplies in a backpack. Wilderness is as much a part of American history as the cities are. We can no longer "head West" to seek adventure; instead we have wilderness to explore, to go somewhere no one has been.
Jon Tester's new legislation, the Forest Jobs and Recreation bill, designates nearly 700,000 new acres of wilderness in Montana but is not just for hippie-dippie conservationists like me. This bill has something for everybody, whether you snowmobile, are involved with local timber mills or simply care about Montana's economy. For a stable economy to take place here in Montana, we need to have a stable industry to live off of. Historically we have timber. Most of Montana's culture and income has been based off the land and our working forests. Full Letter
Letter: Now it’s Rehberg’s turn to back forest bill
By Bernie Rose - Billings Gazette - 11/2/2009
I would like to thank Sen. Max Baucus for joining with Sen. Jon Tester in supporting the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. People who don't live and work here often decide many of the issues that concern Montana's land and resources. The Forest Jobs and Recreation Act is a bill that came from the ground up. It was created by Montanans working together - neighbor to neighbor. I am proud that our two senators are working together to do what is best for Montana's forests, communities and families. Let's hope that Rep. Rehberg will see how important this bill is for the future of all Montanans - forest and recreation jobs, recreation opportunities and clean water Thanks again to Baucus for supporting this important legislation. Full Letter
Editorial: Tester bill creates jobs, protects forest
Missoulian - 11/1/2009
Montana has waited for nearly 30 years for new wilderness with nothing yet to show for it. When the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act passed in March, not a single acre of the 2 million acres newly designated as wilderness was located in Montana.
Meanwhile, Montanans have watched as our timber industry has dwindled to a bare skeleton of what it used to be, and in recent years, the nationwide decline in housing construction that hastened the shuttering of several western Montana mills.
Yet we haven't spent the last three decades sitting on our hands. Many individuals and groups too numerous to name here have worked hard to make sure Montana's interest in our most treasured public lands and in the forest products industry that still provides good-paying jobs has not gone ignored.
The folks behind the Beaverhead-Deerlodge Partnership, the Blackfoot-Clearwater Stewardship Project and the Three Rivers Challenge, in particular, helped further a relatively new approach to overcoming Montana's unique forest management challenges: collaboration. Conservation groups, timber interests, government officials, landowners and many, many more had a hand in shaping the drafts of federal legislation ultimately offered to Montana's congressional delegation. Full Article
Letter: Tester’s public-lands bill is worthy compromise
By Lewis Kogan - Billings Gazette - 11/1/2009
I would like to congratulate Jon Tester for proposing groundbreaking new public-lands legislation. In the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, he has brought together an immense diversity of home-grown interest groups representing the full spectrum.
In all honesty, the plan is not perfect from the standpoint of any one interest group. I personally don't think it sets aside nearly enough new wilderness. I have a friend in Dillon who wants guarantees for larger timber harvests. Another friend in Lincoln thinks more country should be opened up for winter motorized access. Full Letter
Letter: Get involved with Rocky Mountain Front proposal
By Jonathan Matthews - Helena Independent Record - 10/28/2009
I attended a meeting in Helena recently put on by the Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front, about their Rocky Mountain Front Heritage proposal. Their proposal respects all traditional uses of the Front and has involved all traditional users in its formulation. From its extraordinary wildlife to its human communities living in harmony with the land, the Front is a special place to a lot of folks, and special places deserve special actions to protect them.
Like most Montanans, I will do what I can to make sure that my home state doesn't lose what makes it so special. I look forward to seeing what comes next as the Coalition works to incorporate attendees' suggestions into their proposal. I'm going to stay involved, and I hope all who love the Front will either stay involved or get involved.
Thanks again to the Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front for making the effort to come up with a solid, grassroots-based proposal.
Letter: Coalition’s Rocky Mountain Front plan appears responsible
By Ted Cooney - Helena Independent Record - 10/27/2009
Following a long history of seeking ways to further protect the world-class attributes of the Rocky Mountain Front, many are presently discussing what should happen next to keep the region the way it is - open and accessible for everyone to enjoy. Few argue that the Front is one of our state's greatest gems with some of the best wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities found anywhere in the Rockies.
After attending one of the four open meetings that the Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front hosted to present their proposal, I came away with the impression that the Coalition has been very careful to design a responsible plan that respects the present uses of the Front, while affording modest future protections.
The Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Proposal does that by maintaining the way the region is used today for future generations to enjoy - including motorized travel where authorized and increased weed management. Authors of the plan received many comments and suggestions, so it will take some time to assimilate that input and come up with revisions based on what was said. Personally, I'm excited to see what the next step will look like, and I applaud the hard work the coalition has already accomplished.
Letter: Help protect the Rockies
By Robert D. Nicholson- Helena Independent Record - 10/25/2009
I would like to thank the Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front for the time and effort that went into a series of public meetings which were recently held in Great Falls, Helena, Choteau and Augusta. Hundreds of Montanans attended these meetings and had opportunities to ask questions and comment on the proposed Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act.
It was an undertaking that should be commended. The democratic process revolves around an informed public and healthy debate and the members of this coalition are doing the right thing by sharing their draft proposal with a large audience of Montanans. By opening this discussion up to many interested parties, the coalition will produce a higher quality product that will ultimately gain more support in the state. Montanans appreciate the transparency. Full Letter
Guest Opinion: Forest bill will leave legacy for outfitters
By Smoke Elser - Missoulian - 10/22/2009
The other day, as I watched the leaves whip through the forest near my home, I thought of an old friend. He and I used to visit the Bob Marshall Wilderness every hunting season. We would leave camp in the morning before first light. Once we got him close to an elk he would place it squarely in the rifle sights four or five times. Then he would lower the gun, clap his hands, and head back to camp happy as could be.
For him, the payoff wasn't a trophy or filling up the freezer.
It was the journey of getting far from civilization and experiencing something my outfitting mentor, Tom
Edwards, once termed, the hush of wilderness.
I know this hush well. For more than five decades I've packed guests and sportsmen into Montana's Bob Marshall country. Over the years, my old mules and I have taken in famous politicians, doctors, lawyers, blue-collar plumbers, electricians and the CEOs of major corporations. Full Article
Letter: Diverse groups give thanks to Tester
By Three Rivers Challenge - Misosulian - 10/21/2009
We'd like to thank Sen. Jon Tester and his staff for coming to Troy for a presentation and listening session about the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. Tester asked our community to help him make this bill the best bill possible for Troy and for Montanans. We appreciate his efforts to listen to what we like and what we'd like to see added and/or improved. We heard Tester tell many of the folks who visited with him that this is the beginning of the process - our input is important. Full Letter
Guest Opinion: Front Heriatge Act is a good compromise, partially satisfies most stakeholders
By CHUCK JENNINGS - Great Falls Tribune - 10/19/2009
Thirty-five years ago, I was a young physician with the opportunity to practice in one of many different areas of the country. As a young boy growing up on a farm in Kansas, I was awestruck by the wild mountain country of Colorado, first encountered during a family vacation.
Through many years of education and professional training I retained the dream of someday living close to wild country. Great Falls was the size community that my wife and I desired and it was close to the most magnificent landscape I had ever seen. At the time we assumed that it would remain that way.
Fast forward 35 years and we see that Colorado's wild country is largely confined to Wilderness areas. Colorado's Rocky Mountain Front is a continuous megalopolis. I now see the potential for the same thing
happening to our Rocky Mountain Front. Full Article
Guest opinion: Tester bill is best forest solution
By Terry Schultz - Montana Standard - 10/17/2009
In reference to their guest opinion printed on the editorial page of the Thursday, Oct. 15, Montana Standard, I believe Beaverhead County commissioners Mike McGinley, Tom Rice, and Garth Haugland were right to be concerned how the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act might affect their constituents. The Butte-Silver Bow Council of Commissioners is also mindful of our constituents and their concerns. While those concerns are not the same, they are similar.
Programs like Secure Rural Schools provide much-needed federal funding for schools and roads. The program is meant to help sustain education and transportation funding in counties hardest hit by the slump in the timber industry.
I am sure that it is of some comfort to our colleagues in Beaverhead County that Sen. Jon Tester has been a leader in Congress to keep this program fully funded and has been successful in renewing this funding for this year. While addressing some of the effects of the downturn in the timber industry, this program does not address the cause of the industry woes. Full Article
Letter: A step forward
By Leo Brett - Missoula Indepnedent - 10/15/2009
Sen. Jon Tester’s new Forest Jobs and Recreation Act has lately been the topic of much discussion and some controversy among conservationists, recreationists and other stakeholder groups who all value Montana’s vast tracts of public wildlands. In the past, these different issue groups sat on different ends on the metaphorical table, and the granola-munching wilderness advocate wouldn’t be seen giving a Skoalspitting logger the time of day. As a result, both causes suffered—big wilderness bills protecting the wild, undeveloped places which make Montana paradise failed time and time again, and the timber industry, for the most part a cadre of men and women simply out to make an honest living in the woods, has fallen to the point where many question if it will ever be a viable industry again.
Tester’s bill is a chance to step beyond the deadlock of the past and make real progress. Forest health, timber production, backcountry travel, motorized recreation and even biomass utilization—all of these are encouraged by Tester’s bill, and for the first time such a bill has the support of conservation groups and local timber producers. The bill may not be perfect, and will perhaps not please everyone; there will always be fringe groups on every side eager to yell “No compromise!” That said, the vision this bill presents—a vision of collaboration and integrated forest management—is one-of-a-kind, and I’m excited to see it succeed.
Letter: Wilderness is a gift to the county
By Pete Bengeyfield - The Dillon Tribune - 10/14/2008
Last week the people of Dillon had a rare chance to see history repeat itself in what Barack Obama might call a "teachable moment." The dissatisfaction with Senator Tester's public meet¬ing was evident on these opinion pages as many locals expressed their outrage that the Senator introduced a bill that would allow Wilderness in the county. No surprise there.
The teachable moment came during the Ken Burns series on National Parks that was broadcast nightly on PBS. In watching the various episodes one could not help but notice that in virtually every case park establishment was accomplished over intense opposition from local mining/logging/ ranching/development interests of much the same sentiments that were expressed in the various letters. Furthermore, it could not be missed that in every case; park establishment benefited both the country as a whole and the local economy. Full Letter
Editorial: We all win with Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act
Great Falls Tribune - 10/4/2009
Call it a classic case of “politics as the art of the possible.”
It’s been 26 years since new wilderness was designated in Montana — the Lee Metcalf Wilderness in the Madison Range signed into law, in 1983, by President Ronald Reagan. Five years after that, Congress passed a bill that would have given wilderness protection to an additional 1.4 million acres of federal land in the state, but in a summer of massive forest fires and with sponsoring Democratic Sen. John Melcher in a fight for his political life with Republican Conrad Burns, Reagan vetoed it.
In the intervening decades, conservationists’ and politicians’ strategies have evolved from the often-partisan development of forest management plans to a grassroots, kitchen-table approach that attempts to find consensus before legislation is even introduced. Full Editorial
Letter: The next chapter
By Zach Porter - Missoula Independent -10/1/2009
Alex Sakariassen’s September 17 article on Roderick Nash (see “Montana’s place in ‘Big W’”) offers an excellent jumping-off point for a closer look at Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, a bill that has been discussed extensively in the Independent and elsewhere.
From the get-go, Montana has been ahead of the curve on the wilderness debate. It’s no news to most readers that Montana’s wild lands were the inspiration for some of our nation’s most visionary wilderness philosophers and advocates, and that several of the first wilderness areas designated along with the passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act fell within our borders. In following the story of Bob Marshall and other Wilderness heroes in his 1967 book, Wilderness and the American Mind, Nash would agree that Montana played a leading role in helping to shape our nation’s evolving perceptions of wild landscapes. Full Letter
Guest Opinion: Help us preserve the Rocky Mountain Front
By R. Fred Ritzpatrick - Helena Independent Record - 9/30/2009
It doesn't matter who you are, or where you come from. The first time you see the Rocky Mountain Front rising up from the plains you can't help but feel moved.
I've ridden a lot of trails and worked with many of the people who live on the Front. Over the years I've come to realize that both the wild country and the working landscapes deserve our respect and care. The Front is one of those rare places where folks are firmly rooted in their ranching and agricultural heritage but willing to look forward and plan for the future rather than be swept up in the ultimate changes that are taking place, with regards to people seeking that all so elusive last best place to build a trophy home. Full Article
Letter: Heritage Act a good coalition effort
Missoulian - 9/28/2009
As a long-time resident of Choteau, I greatly appreciate the grandeur of the Rocky Mountain Front. It's wonderful to hike on the front with my dog Charlie; we both enjoy the rugged peaks and the dramatic rivers and waterfalls. We are truly blessed to have such pristine open beauty at our doorstep.
The Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front proposal has been designed to preserve the front the way it is for future generations to enjoy. The proposal is a product of years of work by local Montanans. This has been a grass-roots effort of ranchers, farmers, hunters, businesspeople and conservationists who live here and share a common vision of saving this precious landscape.
There is also a history of bipartisan effort by our senators over the last decade. Conrad Burns, Max Baucus and Jon Tester have all been instrumental in supporting critical pieces of legislation that have preserved the front. Now is the time to pass the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act.
Guest Opinion: Celebrate our forests on National Public Lands Day
Heather Day - Missoulian - 9/25/2009
President Theodore Roosevelt, perhaps the most influential conservationist in American history, argued equally that "attention must be directed to the preservation of the forests" and that our forests should be "the means of preserving and increasing the prosperity of the nation." As the early Americans journeyed beyond the Eastern forests of Massachusetts and the agricultural haven of the Midwest, they quickly became enamored of the vast wildness of the Rocky Mountain West.
And though the idea of widespread conservation of public land was still a long time coming, the forward-thinking conservationists rejoiced when million acres were designated and protected as Yellowstone National Park on March 1, 1872. So was born a new way of thinking: the conservation of land for the greater
benefit of the American public. Full Article
Guest Opinion: Front proposal creates a sense of place
By R. Fred Fitzpatrick - Montana Standard - 09/22/2009
It doesn't matter who you are, or where you come from. The first time you see the Rocky Mountain Front rising up from the plains you can't help but feel moved.
I've ridden a lot of trails and worked with many of the people who live on the Front. Over the years I've come to realize that both the wild country and the working landscapes deserve our respect and care. The Front is one of those rare places where folks are firmly rooted in their ranching and agricultural heritage but willing to look forward and plan for the future rather than be swept up in the ultimate changes that are taking place, with regards to people seeking that all-so-elusive last, best place to build a trophy home. Full Article
Letter: Heritage Act balances land use
By Dawn Baker - Missoulian 9/23/2009
If you are one of the many folks who has enjoyed hiking, riding, photographing, etc., on the Rocky Mountain Front, you will understand the importance of maintaining this majestic area for future generations. The Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front - which includes local Montanans, farmers, ranchers, anglers, hunters and businesspeople - has put forth conservation legislation called the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act. Full Letter
Guest Opinion: Tester’s bill can break logjam on forest policy
MARC RACICOT - Billings Gazette -9/13/2009
I was blessed to be born in northwestern Montana and to grow up in the middle of the majestic and towering forests surrounding Libby. I loved those trees then and, like so many Americans, I love them even more now. My ancestors were involved with logging for a very long time, starting with my grandfather, a logging camp cook who came to Montana with a timber company from Minnesota early on in the last century before the advent of logging trucks.
I have been deeply saddened for a long time by the condition of our Western forests and the catastrophic damage, in the form of disease, wildfires, destruction of wildlife habitat and the degradation of water quality and fisheries, that constantly threatens and all too frequently destroys them.
I'm confident I'm not unlike everyone who cares deeply about the quality of life and natural environment we share in Montana. Full Article
Guest Opinion: Sen. Tester's wilderness bill represents progress
Chris Naumann - Bozeman Daily Chronicle - 9/5/2009
Sen. Jon Tester's Forest Jobs and Recreation Act is truly a unique piece of legislation that recognizes the diverse demands and expectations placed on our national forests. Historically, public land legislation has promoted a single use out of context thus not seeing the forest for the trees. Rather than propose a stand-alone logging bill to promote jobs or a wilderness bill to preserve pristine areas or a recreation bill to ensure access, Tester utilizes collaboration and compromise as the cornerstones of the comprehensive forest stewardship legislation.
In Sen. Tester's own words, the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act is "a common-sense bill that will create jobs in Montana's forests, keep communities safe, protect clean water and safeguard Montana's hunting and fishing habitat for future generations." One objective of the bill is to create and protect timber jobs from logging operations to sawmills. Tester's "light-on-the-land" approach proposes logging in areas already containing road networks and specifically targeting beetle-kill timber harvest that will reduce community fire risk. In conjunction, forest restoration projects will be funded to improve water quality and wildlife habitat by installing culvert drainage systems, decommissioning and restoring logging roads plus conducting weed abatement and prescribed burns. Full Article
Letter: Forest Act helps us work together
By Walter Walsh - IR Letter to the Editor 8/28/2009
When I read a recent article about Sen. Tester's Forest Jobs and Recreation Act and how it all started, I can't understand what is being criticized. For decades, Montana's loggers, conservationists and motorized users have been in serious conflict. As the article said, over the last 25 years there has been no new wilderness and no logs for the mills. Because of the timber wars, management became stagnant - nothing changed to alleviate these contentious issues. Full Letter
Guest Opinion: Finding Common Ground On Protecting Montana Wilderness
In the Yaak Valley of Montana, environmentalists have been talking to loggers, snowmobilers and other longtime opponents of wilderness protection about the future of public lands. Their accord is part of a cooperative effort that could lead to the first wilderness-area designation in the state in a quarter-century.
By Rick Bass - Yale Environmental 360 - 8/20/2009
Occasionally, while cleaning out files, I’ll come across old screeds and op-eds and newsletters in which I express hope that we are almost there, that wilderness designation for certain of the wildest lands in northwest Montana’s Yaak Valley is imminent.
Known as the Land the Wilderness Act Forgot, the Yaak Valley is the lowest valley in Montana — the confluence of the Yaak and Kootenai rivers is 1,880 feet. It’s also the wettest valley, and from that fecundity, it nurtures the greatest biodiversity in the state.
Relative to other, drier regions of Montana, my home valley of the Yaak grows big timber, and for this reason primarily was excluded from earlier Montana wilderness protection bills in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Yet the Yaak’s wildness is amplified by its extremely low human population — roughly 150 people live year-round in the half-million-acre upper portion of the valley, and not many more than that in the lower half. In addition, 97 percent of the valley is public land, part of the Kootenai National Forest. Full Article
Letter: Tester’s bill will help halt development in unspoiled lands
Gerry Jennings - Missoulian - 8/7/09
When I moved to Montana 35 years ago, I was struck with how much open land there was and how beautiful and seemingly unspoiled it was. Then I fast forward to today and there is still beautiful and unspoiled land. However, the reality is that subdivisions dot the mountainsides in many communities and motorized recreation as braided many meadows and forest trails. We have accommodated every wish and every new motorized invention. We even have airstrips in national monuments and wilderness areas. We also haven’t seen areas preserved as wilderness in 26 years. Full Letter
Editorial: Tester steers toward middle-of-road land bill
Billings Gazette - 8/5/09
The Montana map on Jon Tester's forestry bill Web page ends just east of Bozeman and Great Falls. It shows that this isn't a bill to end all wilderness bills. It wouldn't decide forever the decades-old argument of whether Montana has too much or too little public land protected from roads, motorized use and development. However, Senate Bill 1470 is the first effort in a generation to set aside Montana wilderness and also the first effort to combine forest conservation and logging. By calling the bill "Forest Jobs and Recreation Act," Tester even avoided that controversial W word. Full Article
Guest Opinion: Montana forests suffer from beetles, political stalemate
Bob Brown - Billings Gazette - 8/5/09
My friends from Norway were astounded a few years ago as we drove through the forests of Western Montana. Their shock was at the waste they saw. In Europe, timberlands intensively managed for the sustained use of forest resources. What is not milled into building material becomes biofuel for heating and electrical generation. There are almost no forest fires in Europe because there is no jungle of combustible material helter-skelter across the landscape, and no massive insect infestations.
With the vastness of our public domain we Americans enjoy our magnificent wildlands in a way Europeans cannot. For doing so, we a pay a price. Today, 3 million acres of our national forests are dead or dying from the pine beetle, and next year the number of acres is projected to go as high as 6 million. The infestation won't grow endlessly, of course, because the more bug-killed forests the more catastrophic the inevitable fires will be. The Forest and Jobs Recreation Act recently introduced by Sen. John Tester is the first serious effort in nearly two decades to address Montana's out-of-control forests. Full Article
Letter: Tester's bill a positive step forward, deserves support
Russell O'Leary - Bozeman Daily Chronicle - 8/3/09
As a teenager I discovered the thrill of hunting elk, climbing peaks and fishing in high mountain lakes. I suspect I’ll continue doing this for a long time. Part of the enjoyment is being able to see vast areas untouched by man, places that look and feel as they likely did hundreds of years ago. Unfortunately, as I hike through the mountains of southwest Montana I also see land damaged by pine beetles, illegal motorized trails, weed infestations and camping practices which fall short of Leave No Trace. Full Letter
Letter: Tester listened to Montanans before introducing forest bill
Ray Thoen - Montana Standard - 08/04/2009
I want to thank Sen. Jon Tester for listening to Montanans. Southwest Montana is a land bursting with this state's recreation heritage. One of the most important parts of my family's recreation has been fishing. The Beaverhead-Deerlodge National forest is home to world-famous streams and rivers like Rock Creek, the Big Hole, the Madison and the Beaverhead. These watersheds are home to the healthiest habitats and the finest fish. As Montanans, we are proud — protective even — of our fishing heritage. Thank you, Tester for being a leader in protecting what we treasure most. This legislation will forever guarantee that Montanans can continue fishing their favorite streams and waterholes.
Letter: Forest legislation puts Montana in charge
Diego Rivas - Helena Independent Record - 07/28/09
It truly is an exciting time to be in Montana. With Sen. Tester’s recently introduced forest bill, Montanans can be excited about preserving our natural heritage, protecting our hunting and fishing traditions, and prolonging our backcountry experiences. It’s not every day that we Montanans get to decide the fate of the lands in our state; it’s not every day that people can come together and break the gridlock; it’s not every day that our elected officials capture the efforts of people on the ground and run with it. Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act accomplishes all of these things, with people from all walks of life contributing to and supporting the effort. An exciting time indeed.
Letter: Hunters, anglers should support Tester bill
Greg Munther - Billings Gazette - 7/28/09
Sen. Jon Tester's jobs and recreation bill protects and improves some of the best hunting and fishing habitat in America. That's why Billings-area hunters and anglers who hunt or fish the Lolo, Beaverhead Deerlodge or Kootenai forests should su