I remember that while growing up, the Bitterroot Valley was not filled with smoke month after month in the summer. In those years logging was a strong industry in the Bitterroot Valley,Western Montana and Idaho. Now because of environmental pressure logging has all but stopped and the fires have begun. The environmental agenda is not about holding loggers or the Forest Service to a higher standard. It is not about an exciting future of innovation, new machinery and technology, education and promoting a renewable resource into the future. It is certainly not about jobs, common sense, money going into our education system and moving forward! The environmental agenda is about road blocks and stopping all logging and forest management.

Some years ago I went on a “show me trip” on a proposed timber sale. I was standing in a circle of Forest Service personnel and environmentalists. One of the environmentalists had listed elk habitat as one of the problem issues of this timber sale. I asked what damage we were doing by harvesting this dead and dying mistletoe fir. He blurted out without thinking that he did not know because he was in a hurry the day he signed the appeal and had signed it without reading it! I believe that most of the “road block” environmental issues on timber sales can be mitigated. The spotted owl and all the rest are simply vehicles to stop forest management. There motto should be: “I have moved here. I have my bridge across the creek, my log house, my log fence, my sewer in the ground, my no trespassing signs posted, my unobstructed view of the mountains and now nobody can do anything without me appealing it!”

There are designated wildernesses and they are wonderful needed places, but to let the rest of our National Forest go to waste is unconscionable and selfish. The proof of how wrong the environmental agenda is lies in the smoke you have been inhaling this last summer. The same smoke we inhaled in 2006, 2003, and 2000, as millions of board feet of timber become worthless. As it sits now the only forest management tool allowed is “let it burn!” There is a total disregard for timber, wildlife, livestock, homes and people’s lives and property. This disregard does not surprise me. These same environmental people have applauded their successful agenda as sawmills have closed, loggers and mill workers became unemployed, secondary businesses are impacted and one more segment of our economy ceases to produce anything. This I believe is a dangerous time in America when we are not allowed to produce a raw material.

Politicians have signed onto the environmental program as they worry about their environmental record. I am sure they enjoy the votes and the money. Instead of showing up in Missoula when a sawmill laid off hundreds of workers to help them get Federal Unemployment the same politicians should have shown up to help them to keep their jobs.

I have watched the Forest Service and the timber industry compromise down for years. If the timber sale is 200 truck loads we will settle for 100. If it is 100 we settle for 50. If it is 50 we settle for 10. If it is 10 we settle for 5. Soon it will be zero! We have been stepping backward for years trying to please an elite few that cannot be pleased.

Loggers and Forest managers should be held accountable. There are now in place: stewardship programs, best management procedures, streamside zones, certified loggers programs, education programs, Montana Logging Association, but above all there are people that care. People that have a vested interest in the outcome and are willing to work their hardest to do a good job.

The Forest Service has a mandate to care for our National Forests -- so do it! Many times the Forest Service is made out to be the big bad wolf, but in actuality they are local people trying to do the best they can. We need to stand behind them, support their efforts and allow them to work.

The environmental agenda is an emotional agenda that places no value on the raw material they are wasting. It is an unbelievable time! We no longer manage our timber on the front side and after it burns we do not even salvage it. We let it rot and go to bug infestations and fuel for future fires. All of this thanks to the environmental community, their lawyers and the appeal process, and many times the taxpayer gets to pay their court costs. I question a system that allows a group of people to close down our forests.

The environmental movement provides checks and balances to the forest industry, and I believe this is good. They should, however, be called preservationists instead of environmentalists and I believe therein lies their fundamental flaw. You cannot preserve a forest. A forest is a living, changing, growing and eventually dying entity. In trying to preserve the forest exactly as it is, they sentence it to disease, overgrowth, fire, erosion from fire, waste and eventually fire-sterilized ground that produces nothing but brush.

The environmental community is now 100% guilty of what they so pompously accused the logging industry of: a total disregard for the care of our National Forests.

I believe the loggers and forest managers that I have spent my life with in the forests of Montana are true environmentalists and stewards of the land.

Letters to the Editor

National Guard members need our help

Dear Editor,

Montana National Guard families are struggling in the aftermath of deployment. In addition to the mental and physical health issues, they struggle with financial issues. Many times because of the health issues, they are unable to maintain their income level which leads to more stress, which leads to more health issues. They become hopelessly caught up in a vicious cycle beyond their control.

We have families in crisis in Montana and few tools to assist them. We have families with extensive medical bills that have nearly bankrupted them. Through no fault of their own, they could not afford health insurance when they came off of Active Duty. Due to a tragic accident, they now face a huge medical debt. They are doing everything they can to recover from this but it has all taken a toll on the family. We have other families who are facing a financial crisis because of issues related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Members have been unwilling to ask for assistance with PTSD and have been swallowed up in the resulting side issues, such as alcohol or gambling, health issues, unemployment. We have members on the verge of losing homes because they cannot get caught up on past due mortgage payments.

There are so many financial tools available to assist a military family when their member is deployed overseas, but there is little to assist them with once they return to the community and are no longer on Active status, said Dorrie Hagan (State Family Program Director).

Mrs. Hagan indicated that their resources are very limited to help our members once they come off active status. Many need immediate help and they are caught up in the red tape that by the time the assistance arrives is too late. Mrs. Hagan also indicated that the amounts of needs are increasing rapidly as our members return home with the effects of war.

A recent article "Who's caring for our Veterans," published on the front page of the Montana Standard on January 5th, really brings to light the problems our veterans are facing. This is why two years ago the National Guard Military Family Assistance Fund was created to help our veterans and their families when they are deployed and when they return, in times of need when our system does not seem to act quick enough or is unable to help. The National Guard Family Assistance Fund is a non profit organization that is operated by volunteers and is funded totally by community and corporate donations. Our board is made up of retired military and civilian personal. Since its creation we have helped many families with the donations received however, the needs are increasing and we are finding ourselves with not enough money to help. Last year we gave over $10,000 in donations and were able to help several families in needs, but we are very low in donations currently as they dropped at the end of last year. We would like to increase our program to include scholarships to the children of our guard members who have been affected physically and financially by their deployment, but weíll have to wait until we are able to raise enough donations and are consistent enough.

Mrs. Hagan also said we have relied heavily on the community to support these families and the American Legion has been one of our best support systems. We have arrived at a point in which the community, the American Legion, the VFW, and others, need help from the corporate side of the community. I appreciate all that you have done for our members and their families. Many organizations and individuals came to the rescue many times for our families, and we sincerely hope we can continue to count on your support.

Please help us to stand behind those who stand in front for us to protect us and keep harm from our shores. They sacrifice themselves with their lives, their limbs and their families for the good of our country, for you and me. Can you help us stand with them and show that we care and support them, can you help us bridge the gap? Please send your tax deductible donation to the NGMFAF, or involve yourself with any of the organizations Mrs. Hagan mentions above and find out how you can help.

Our previous address was in Belgrade, but now we have moved to McAllister. For donations or if anyone needs to contact us they can call or write to: NGMFAF, P.O. Box 100, McAllister MT 59740; (406) 682-7989, fax 682-7907.

If anyone knows of a family whose family member has been deployed and are having financial difficulties, please have them call: STATE FAMILY PROGRAM at (406) 324-3024 and request and application for financial assistance. They will forward it to us after review and verification.

Let's show them we care!

Raul Luciani, President
National Guard Military Family Assistance Fund

Thanks from Operations Christmas Child

Dear Editor,

Thanks to the generosity of our neighbors in Missoula, many children around the world have something to smile about. Operation Christmas Child, the world’s largest Christmas project, collected 1,016 gift-filled shoe boxes from local residents during last year’s collection season. These gifts from right here in our community are now on their way to hurting children around the world.

With the donations of shoe box gifts from churches, individuals, businesses, and community groups, Operation Christmas Child will be able to hand-deliver over 7.6 million gifts to children in more than 100 countries. Many of these distributions are taking place right now. On behalf of our community, I would like to thank all the local collection sites for providing locations for collecting the gifts and all the volunteers who served with this amazing project for children.

To everyone in the Missoula area who packed a shoe box gift, please be encouraged by the fact that these simple gifts will serve as powerful messages of joy and hope to needy children around the world, thank you for joining our community in this amazing outreach, and for giving to others at Christmas.

Though the Missoula drop-off locations are closed until November 2008, it is not too late to send gifts to children overseas. Gifts are received year-round at Samaritan's Purse, 801 Bamboo Road, Boone, N.C., 28607. For information on packing a shoe box, go online to http://www.samaritanspurse.org or call 1-800-353-5949.

Thanks again to everyone who participated in the project. We look forward to seeing you next year!

Erin Forsythe, Regional Director
Operation Christmas Child

Zoning targets low income

Dear Editor,

I went to the recent zoning meeting at Lone Rock School. There was so much information, I think you would have to be an attorney to understand it all.

One item, however, Baseline Zoning Regulations, page 55, under Penalties, caught my eye. A person not in compliance could be fined $500 per violation, imprisoned for six months plus case costs.

Now it’s clear to me that if you are a low income, fixed income or elderly citizen and cannot keep up with the Joneses, you could be fined, imprisoned, maybe even to the point of losing everything you have including your property. I’m sure the county could repossess your property because you couldn’t pay your property taxes or I’m sure some higher income person could come in for next to nothing also.

Now I’m starting to understand how our Native Americans felt. I guess all of us targets can be sent to a low income housing “reservation.”

Ella Buckallew Wothe
Stevensville

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