By Larry Campbell, Darby
A poll released by the U. of M. last week regarding Montanans’ views of Wilderness Study Area protections reveals much…not only about the subject matter itself but also about politics, state-wide and in Ravalli County.
Poll results showing overwhelming citizen support for keeping WSAs protected as they are should not be surprising to anyone but the most ideologically blinded. Public testimony at the Ravalli County Commissioners’ meetings regarding their ill-advised letter supporting WSA release bills demonstrated even greater local support for WSAs.
The fact that Senator Daines and Representative Gianforte complain the poll was rigged, i.e. a ‘push poll’, is laughable given the degree to which they pushed falsely manufactured ‘local support’ for their unpopular bills. Their stealth blitz to get County Commissioners to endorse the bills before the general public became aware took advantage of the fun-house mirror state of ‘representative’ democracy in Montana and Ravalli County. Politicians are simply representing their own venal interests or ideology, leaving interests of large constituencies completely unrepresented.
Fifty-seven percent of poll respondents, Republicans and Democrats, want WSAs “to continue to be protected.” This clear majority is being ignored by politicians, and it is not represented by members of the Ravalli County Collaborative, all of whom either voiced support for WSA release or for “collaboration” on what remains protected and what gets sacrificed to motorized/industrialized development. Only 24 percent of Montanans polled “said they wanted a more case-by-case review of how the areas should be used.”
Splitting the baby in half is not a reasonable approach to babies and some other issues, even when using a collaborative process. Arguing that the Bitterroot has more than its share of wilderness is like arguing we have more than our share of natural beauty or clean water. Do we want to collaborate away those blessings?