By Marilyn Wolff, Stevensville
The January 10, 2018 issue of the Bitterroot Star brought out the special interest opinion pieces, claiming the release of five WSAs is good for Montanans to “enjoy these lands.”
Who are these special interests? They were the Montana Mining Association (let’s have more taxpayer funded mining reclamations when the mines go bust), the Montana Snowmobile Association (they can’t get into enough protected areas where wildlife can have some winter peace and quiet), the Montana Farm Bureau Federation (more grazing land at a bargain, my guess), Ravalli County Off Road User Association, and several partisan county commissions including Ravalli’s.
There were absolutely NO PUBLIC comment periods or meetings to discuss this proposed bill. Not surprising since Mr. Daines dodges public meetings with his constituents; he prefers teleconferences with pre-selected questions. So Steve moves his bill ahead with special interests’ support to usurp almost 500,000 acres of specially protected public land. Daines’ bill isn’t really about public recreation which already is allowed but degradation of these pristine areas that Stevensville-born Senator Lee Metcalf identified in the 1970s.
A recent poll by the Bozeman Chronicle asked for opinions on Daines’ bill. Respondents were 69% opposed to it. Steve, born in Van Nuys, California, likes to boast he’s a fifth generation Montanan but I question his Montana values. In my opinion Senate Bill 2206, falsely named The Protect Public Use of Public Lands Act, is stealth theft of high value public lands. Here’s why we should question this bill:
1. The Bitterroot National Forest Plan May 2016 “designates 2,246 miles of road and trails open to motorized use, nearly the driving distance between Hamilton and New York City. The plan also permits motorized over-snow use (snowmobiles) on 543,840 acres, one third of the National Forest.” The forest website posts this information. There is plenty of snowmobiling and ATV use without adding two WSAs.
2. Introduce biking and ATVs in lands managed for wilderness values and you can expect noxious weed introduction on their knobby tires, trail erosion, unauthorized trails, wildlife negatively affected, and trail conflicts between users. Hikers, horses, bikes and ATVs are a challenging mix. Add in cows if grazing is allowed.
3. Let me list the WSAs that will lose their designation and some of their values:
West Pioneers: 151,000 acres. Southwest Montana’s last remaining roadless area. High peaks with tributaries running both to the Wise River and Big Hole River, both outstanding fisheries. Elk habitat is excellent.
Blue Joint: 32,500 acres with beautiful forests and meadows, whitebark pine at high elevations and wildlife is abundant.
Big Snowies: 91,000 acres. Lewistown is said to have the best water in the state from the Snowies and their resulting springs. Big Springs is said to have the purest water in the nation. Wilderness features are excellent. Lewistown takes great pride in this area.
Sapphires: 94,000 acres offer lush wildlands, 20 some lakes and the creeks run to the Bitterroot River and Rock Creek, again excellent fisheries.
Middle Fork Judith: 81,000 acres near Great Falls in the Little Belt Mountains. River canyons offer nearly 30 miles of streams full of native cutthroat and rainbow trout. Again there is great wildlife habitat.
There is a strong, fierce pride held by Montanans for our beautiful state which brought in $3.29 billion from 12.2 million nonresident visitors in 2017, numbers courtesy of itrr.umt.edu. Tourists are coming to Big Sky Country for a reason and WSAs exemplify the values we want to protect. Over and over you hear “keep public lands in public hands.” WSAs are truly special and a decision on their status should have been made by Congress long ago but partisan politics locked them into a limbo. These five WSAs should continue as is until there is extensive public input. Daines’ bill, if passed, will be Montana’s greatest historical loss of exceptional public land.
Please call his office and let him know your opinion, 202-224-2644. Vote in 2018 and 2020 because we need local, state, and congressional candidates who will protect and value our public lands that bring in big tourism dollars and candidates that respect public opinion.