Ravalli County commissioners will meet Wednesday with the county’s streamside setback committee to discuss the interim setback regulation developed by the group, at the commissioners’ request, in November.

The setback committee requested the meeting to explain the interim regulation to the commissioners and allow them to ask questions of the committee, said committee member Eddy Olwell.

The county commissioners created the Streamside Setback Committee last April. Members were tasked with developing a permanent streamside setback ordinance. The committee is made up of 17 members from a broad section of county interests and expertise, including streamside landowners, surveyors, scientists and conservationists.

Last summer the commissioners asked the committee to develop interim setback regulations that could be put into place while the county was working on the baseline-zoning project, Olwell said, “because it was feared that a lot of development along the riparian areas could happen.”

Olwell emphasized that he wasn’t representing the opinions of the committee, only his own experience as a member.

The committee developed the interim regulation and worked hard to incorporate the expansive public comment they received. The draft regulation they delivered to the commissioners was the eighth draft the committee developed, he said.

“I think we have an interim regulation that’s drafted by the people with a lot of input from the public,” Olwell said.

But the commissioners have made no decision on the interim regulation.

“They haven’t spoken to us (about the interim regulation) specifically as a group,” he said. “I don’t know where they stand.”

Initially, the commissioners had the committee draft the interim regulations because they felt ongoing development near the county’s rivers and streams was an imminent threat to water quality, wildlife habitat and public health and safety, said commissioner Carlotta Grandstaff. But they may have been wrong to ask for an interim regulation to deal with the issue.

“I feel that we kind of jumped the gun,” she said.

The countywide zoning project is a big project and she’s worried that implementing the interim setback regulations would take away from that effort.

“What I favor doing is just telling them, take your interim regs and start tweaking them into permanent regs,” she said.

It’s not that the threats posed by streamside development has diminished or are less important to her, but she doesn’t want to take any focus away from the countywide zoning project, she said.

“I think if we do it now then we’re taking a huge risk,” Grandstaff said. “We’re gambling with our baseline zoning.”

If the commissioners initiated the interim setback regulation, it may mean the planning department would have to devote staff to its administration. This would take away precious staff time from the countywide zoning project, which is scheduled to be completed by November, she said.

The streamside setback ordinance is really a phase two zoning regulation, Grandstaff said. The first thing is to get baseline, countywide zoning and then add other regulations, like streamside setbacks.

On Wednesday, it will be important to make a final decision on what direction the commissioners are going to take with the interim regulation, she said.

“I really do not want to leave that room without having come to a decision of some sorts,” Grandstaff said.

The meeting will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6 in the commissioners’ meeting room at the county administration building in Hamilton.

Forest Service getting lots of comment on draft Travel Plan

By Greg Lemon

The Bitterroot National Forest has taken inventory of its roads and trails and is taking public comment on the first phase of its plan to change the amount of access for forest users.

The crux of the draft plan would reduce the miles of roads and trails open to motorized use on the forest from 2,851 to 2,487. This has drawn criticism by those who support more motorized access on the forest.

“I think they need to go back to the drafting table,” said Sen. Rick Laible, R-Darby.

Laible feels the Forest Service has missed the mark with the draft plan. The agency recognizes there is more demand for access to the national forest, yet they propose to reduce the miles of roads and trails open for motorized use. It doesn’t make sense, he said.

Forest officials released the initial draft of their travel management plan in September. The actual work on the draft began in the spring of 2007, said Dan Ritter, Stevensville District Ranger.

The Forest Service spoke with several groups around the county – both motorized and non-motorized – and asked them what trails they used and how they would like to see them designated: motorized or non-motorized.

The public response from the initial meetings was good, he said. Many people gave the agency specific trails or roads they used and would like to see remain open, expanded or closed to motorized use. Some of the trails were user-created routes, which the agency neither created, managed or even knew about.

All the trails and roads suggested were put through a screening process that looked at things like amount of use, encroachment of noxious weeds and wildlife habitat, Ritter said. The draft plan was developed, in part, from this screening process.

Another reason the agency began this process was because of the 2005 travel management rule. This agency rule said national forests must have revised travel management plans by December 2009. The last time the Bitterroot National Forest took a comprehensive look at roads and trails was in the mid to late 1970s.

Since then, all road and trail closure decisions were made on a project-by-project basis, Ritter said. That’s meant the overall effect of closing roads and trails wasn’t looked at.

The Forest Service’s goal through this process is to find a way to provide quality experiences for non-motorized and motorized users, clarify and simplify use designations on roads and trails, and give people a clear idea of what they can expect when they recreate on the forest, he said.

Since the release of the draft plan, the agency has received a lot of comments and suggestions through three public meetings. The first meeting in Darby gained a lot of notoriety because of the frustration some people had with the agency and members of the crowd.

The Darby meeting was an anomaly, said Bitterroot National Forest public relations officer Nan Christianson. The next two meetings in Hamilton and Stevensville were much calmer and forest officials were able to get a lot of really productive comments.

“The Hamilton and Stevensville meetings were probably the best two public meetings I’ve ever attended,” she said.

Kathy Hundley, president of the Selway-Bitterroot Backcountry Horsemen and member of the Quiet Use Coalition, wants the Forest Service to provide more opportunities for people on foot or horseback.

Horses and machines don’t mix, she said, and keeping good backcountry trails closed to motorized use is important. She likes that the agency is proposing to further limit motorized access on the west side of the valley.

But more important, she said, is enforcement. It’s one thing to designate which trails are open for motorized use and which aren’t, but without an enforcement plan, the designations won’t mean much.

“If they don’t have a way to monitor and enforce, to me the whole process is really moot,” she said.

Dave Olson, owner of Hamilton Polaris, isn’t thrilled about the draft plan either.

“The bad part about the plan is it’s a restriction thing – it’s denying access,” Olson said. “Instead of denying access we need to add access.”

The hardest hit with the draft plan are the ATV users, he said. The plan cuts back on trails currently used by ATVs, when it should be looking for ways to add new trails.

“There’s very few ATV trails in the Bitterroot Valley, and there’s very little going to be added,” he said.

The plan does propose a few places to build trails to connect road systems, which would provide loops for ATV use. Olson says the Forest Service needs to do more.

Ritter agrees. He acknowledges the plan could have done more to look at loop routes and the agency is going to focus on that when they revise the plan.

“I think the key thing, from our standpoint, that we missed – that we know that we missed – is identifying more of those ATV opportunities,” Ritter said.

During the public meetings, citizens have pointed out opportunities where the agency could build short trails to connect road systems and open up more of the existing road network to ATV users, he said. Those opportunities are going to be looked at when the Forest Service goes back and develops another draft.

The forest is big and should be able to accommodate all user groups. The key will be clear designation, Olson said.

Better and clearer signs would help, he said. That way when someone goes on a trail or road they’ll know what to expect. If a motorcycle wants to use a trail that is open for horseback riding, and it’s clearly marked, then the rider will know to expect to encounter people on horses. And the opposite would hold true.

Better signs alone, could help alleviate conflicts between users, Olson said.

Laible also believes that the forest can accommodate both motorized and non-motorized users. But to do that access must be expanded, not reduced, he said.

“For them to say we’re getting more use, so now we’re going to close down some of that access, doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

Laible is also concerned with how the Forest Service is going to use the public comment they’ve received. The Forest Service’s initial attempt at meeting with groups around the valley last spring didn’t produce a product that seemed to incorporate what they were told, he said. If the agency had incorporated those ideas, more trails and roads would be proposed for motorized use, not less.

“I’m disappointed they didn’t do a better job on the initial travel plan,” Laible said. “And they didn’t appear to recognize input from motorized users.”

The agency screened more than 600 trails suggested by the user groups, and now they’re willing to go back and look again, Ritter said.

And the suggestion that with more motorized users, should come more access is valid, he said. But it’s not just as simple as building trails or opening up roads. The agency needs to go through and look at resource implications of building or opening roads.

“We’re looking at a demand that is increasing and a supply that’s static – public land,” Ritter said.

The Forest Service is going to have one more public meeting before public comment closes on the draft plan Feb. 29, but the date and time hasn’t been determined yet.

The plan is to have a draft environmental impact statement ready in August. The draft EIS will have several alternatives for the public to comment on. The final EIS should be ready by early summer 2009 and a final map available by December 2009.

In the meantime, people interested in commenting on the plan can mail comments to the Stevensville Ranger District, 88 Main Street, Stevensville MT 59870, or e-mail comments to: comments-northern: HYPERLINK "mailto:bitterroot@fs.fed.us" bitterroot@fs.fed.us.

The Forest Service is also offering one-on-one meetings for the public at the supervisor’s office in Hamilton. The meetings can be scheduled on Wednesdays between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. until the close of the public comment period. To schedule a meeting call 363-7700.

Dispatchers and county reach contract agreement

By Greg Lemon

Ravalli County commissioners and the county’s 911 dispatchers have reached agreement on a two-year contract.

The final points of the contract were hammered out with commissioners and the dispatcher’s union representatives last week and agreed upon by commissioners Friday.

Dispatchers had been negotiating a contract for the past few months. The crux of the disagreement between dispatchers and the county was salaries. The dispatchers wanted wages to be on par with the state average for 911 dispatchers. The county initially was proposing only a cost of living increase, said Ladonna Morgan, 911 dispatch shop steward.

A mediator was brought in to work with both sides in December, but talks failed and the dispatchers were prepared to strike.

“We didn’t want to go on strike,” Morgan said. “We needed something to show that we were serious about what we wanted.”

The deal agreed to on Friday included the cost of living raise plus a $1 raise for dispatchers who have at least three years of experience, a raise for trainers and two more paid holidays.

Ravalli County has 13 dispatchers, but only four have three or more years with the county, Morgan said. The office has a high turnover rate, she said, which is tough. Hopefully, this pay raise will help keep people from moving on.

However, the raise is still $1.50 short of bringing salaries up to the state average, she said.

The ultimate goal, Morgan said, is for local dispatchers to be compensated the same, on average, as other dispatchers around the state. She called this agreement a “baby step” toward that goal, but was glad the agreement was made and a strike avoided.

“We want to be here for the public,” Morgan said. “We don’t want to leave the public hanging, so that’s why we settled for something less than what we wanted.”

County commissioner Carlotta Grandstaff was also pleased a strike was avoided. While commissioners were frustrated with the struggle to reach an agreement for the past few months, the issues at hand were really minor, she said.

The final agreement will hopefully give the dispatchers a greater ability to hold on to people and reward those who have stayed with the county, she said. However, Grandstaff isn’t quite sure what the agreement will mean for the county budget.

“I’m not sure what the ultimate fiscal note is but I think it’s going to be around $25,000 more,” she said.

Full day kindergarten comes to Bitterroot

By Greg Lemon

All but one of Ravalli County’s school districts have, or are planning for, full-day kindergarten, and the report card thus far is positive.

“They come to school with a smile on their face and they leave with a smile on their face,” said principal David Cluff about the kindergartners at Lone Rock elementary school.

Lone Rock, like Victor and Darby, started full-day kindergarten at the beginning of the 2007 school year. Stevensville, Hamilton and Corvallis will have full-day kindergarten next year. Florence isn’t currently planning to implement it due to space limitations.

Full-day kindergarten was a key to Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s 2007/2008 budget proposal. It was approved by the state legislature during the 2007 session. The initial funding was $10 million, said state superintendent Linda McCulloch.

The plan was to use the money to fund start-up costs for schools deciding to offer full-day kindergarten, she said. In Corvallis and Hamilton, part of that money will go toward purchasing modular trailers to house students. In Darby, Victor and Lone Rock, that money was used, in part, to hire teachers and purchase the necessary equipment to teach more students.

The specific decisions about how the start-up money is spent are up to local officials, McCulloch said.

“I trust those folks to make whatever decision is best for their local school districts,” she said.

In Hamilton, the plan is to install three classrooms in modulars placed at Washington School, said superintendent Duby Santee. The modulars would cost about $180,000 with a lease option over three years. He also predicted additional set up costs of about $55,000.

The school district would offset the costs with about $100,000 in full-day kindergarten start-up funds from the state. The rest should come through allocation from the state for each full-day kindergarten student, he said.

Schools receive funding from the state based on enrollment. Full-day kindergarten students are considered full-time students for funding purposes. So once schools provide full-day kindergarten, they’ll receive more money per student, McCulloch said. So far, this money, plus the one-time start up money has been sufficient for schools around the state.

The Hamilton school district is expecting about 100 students to enroll in full-day kindergarten and the increased funding from the state would be about $235,000 above the start-up money, Santee said.

The benefits of full-day kindergarten are readily apparent, said Orville Getz, superintendent for the Victor school district.

“I think it’s a really good opportunity to get kids reading a lot earlier,” Getz said. “I think you’re going to find better readers. You can probably find a few more problem areas a little quicker by going to (a full-day schedule) at the kindergarten level, rather than waiting until the first grade.”

The full-day schedule also allows kindergarten students to begin developing their math skills, said Cluff. In Lone Rock, kindergarten teachers already have had more time with their students this year, than they had with kindergartners all of last year. That time is precious for teachers and students.

“A lot of what you do in kindergarten is getting kids to address interpersonal behavior – just the skills of being in an elementary school and what that means,” he said. “So now they have twice as much practice.”

However, the one school in Ravalli County not offering or planning to offer full-time kindergarten is Florence. But that’s not from lack of desire, said superintendent John McGee.

“We’re going to try and plan and see if there’s a possibility in the next few years,” McGee said. “The things that prevents Florence from offering full-day kindergarten is classroom space. There’s a strong interest in all-day kindergarten, but the problems that we face with it is simply facility.”

The school doesn’t have enough room now for the students they have, he said. Students, in some cases, are trying to work with teachers in what used to be closet space.

“We have classes that are taking part in nooks and crannies – in closets and that’s not right,” McGee said. “It serves the need for now. We hope in the future we can get these kids moved into more idealistic setting”

McCulloch hears that same problem from other schools around the state and she sympathizes. The idea was the one-time money for the program would help, but she realizes even that isn’t enough for some school districts.

“We also left it optional for school districts, knowing that some of the districts might not have the space for it,” she said.

Still, the full-day kindergarten program has been successful. Currently about 79 percent of Montana kindergarten students are enrolled in full-time classes, McCulloch said.

In schools with full-day kindergarten, parents have the option to enroll their kids for half-day classes as well, she said.

In Lone Rock, one concern parents had initially was the pressure of all-day school on young kids, but Cluff said the students are doing very well. The school’s schedule was changed to allow the kindergartners to have lunch before the other grades.

“It’s unbelievable how simple it was and how accepted it was and how it just fell into what we we’re doing here,” he said. “It just started like it was a normal school year and it just kept going that way.”

Editor’s Note: Michael Howell contributed to this story.

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