By Rich Morrisey, Corvallis
Like to hunt? Fish mountain streams? Hike? Snowmobile? ATV? Trail ride?
All Republican office holders in Ravalli County, Commissioners as well as State legislators (with the sole exception of Pat Connell), are on record as favoring the transfer of federally owned land in the County (and the whole State) to State management. They say the State can manage the lands better than the federal government.
Really? The State does not have personnel, fire fighting funds, road maintenance funds, and forest management funds sufficient for all these lands. Ask DNC. Even if the State could better manage the federal lands, which is highly dubious, the State manages lands it controls for income, not recreation. The US Forest Service is legally required to take into account recreation values.
But this argument is beside the truth. This Montana Republican Party position is really a subterfuge to privatize the federal lands. They want the lands you recreate on to be sold to private land owners, as has happened in all other states where this has occurred. And they are not telling you the truth about this.
It is simple economics. Ravalli County in 2016 received from the federal government $895,754 in Secure Rural School (SRS) funds and $2,238,057 in Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funds. These two sources of federal funding, totaling $3,133,811, constituted 8% of Ravalli County’s entire budget for 2016. The federal government makes SRS and PILT payments to local governments to compensate for its exemption from state and local real estate taxes. If the federal government ever agreed to transfer its lands to Montana State, the federal government will no longer make these payments to the County. Who is going to make up the over $3 million difference? You, the taxpayer?
Our County Commissioners and local legislators would be screaming bloody murder to have these formerly federal lands sold off and quickly, at bargain prices, to generate sales proceeds and real estate taxes to make up for lost SRS and PILT. So quick buck artists, buying in panicked sales, will now own the lands on which you used to recreate. There will be unregulated clear cutting and mismanagement. Remember what went on in Darby? Who will pay for wild fires? More to the point, there will be “No Trespassing” signs on the land and orange posts across streams. You, your kids and grandkids will have lost forever the ability to recreate in the mountains.
This ideologically driven movement would be a disaster to hunters and all others who now enjoy federal lands. So, why are they not telling you the truth about this? And do you really want this result by voting Republican? Maybe you could take up knitting.