Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Opinion & Editorial

by Coleman Pape, Stevensville

From my front porch, the air is clear enough to see the entire length of the Bitterroot Valley, all the way to that distant point past Hamilton where the Bitterroot and Sapphire mountains finally converge. I call the Bitterroots my mountains because I have grown up under their constant guard. As I write this essay I sit outside on my lonely deck overlooking the view.

Beneath my mountains I am counting the deer in the field before me. First count I found six, but staring into the knapweed and dry grass I spot more dark ears, flicking intently in my direction searching for a predator in me, a reason to run. I just sit and write as those sixteen deer bed down for the coming rain. I come out here to sit and watch my mountains every day to remember where I'm from.

As a kid I practically lived outside on the six acres of forest and field my family owns. I spent nearly all my waking time constructing forts throughout our cottonwood forest; I built lean-tos against fallen trees, I made tee pees from long sticks, and I combed areas of grass for carpet. Most of my forts remain in our woods, warm with memories. Besides forts and buildings I made endless supplies of tiny leaf boats, sewn together with long prairie grass, to race down the stream that divides my family's property. I remember being left with a babysitter and making ships and boats to compete with hers, my vessels hewn from cottonwood leaf and dandelion and hers from pine bark.

Water running off the mountains forms streams and ditches, like the one flowing through the gully where now the deer have moved to seek shelter from the wind that bites and grabs at my paper. Both the stream on my property and that trickle of a ditch running through the gully, along with all the rest of the runoff, converge in the Bitterroot River. I believe second grade was the year my dad decided to buy a raft. Since then rafting has been a paramount summer activity. Floating down the Bitterroot like my leaves in a stream I learned to swim, to fish, to row. When we would stop on the small islands which are the result of ceaseless braiding of the Bitterroot, I would build forts of driftwood on the shores and catch minnows in the slimy pools and skip rocks across the river to the opposite bank.

Once I began to grow, my parents starting bringing me on hikes up into the Bitterroot Mountains. There, beaten trails guide hikers toward the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and beyond human influence. About ten miles up my favorite trail lies a lake. As I approached the lake for the first time I felt as though I had entered a secret dream. A break in the trees revealed that gem the mountain held - my lake. At my lake's deepest point, maybe forty feet, the water is clear enough to reveal the fish lurking on the bottom, as though swimming in glass.

The deer are stirring again; since last I checked three more have joined the herd, including a large young buck, five point, the kind hunters lash to their hoods to display as a trophy. He watches me and I watch him. When I entered high school, learned to drive, got a girlfriend, accepted mountains of homework, I had less and less time to spend cleansing myself in nature. Coping with society – its rules, its standards, its functions, and its responsibilities – is maddeningly stressful. Like that buck who now trusts his herd with me and has returned to eating what grass he can find among the weeds, I have to a certain degree accepted the responsibility for the confidence of those around me, including my friends, my teachers, and my family. When that pressure builds I rely on nature around me to remind me how foolish it is to worry; what does the forest, living and ageless at once, care about my problems? How many trials has the river won in its course? How long have my mountains stood against time, and will continue to stand? The view from my front porch is not just a gorgeous image, though in my travels I have yet to find anywhere near as lovely, but a release, a place where I can find relief and an understanding which governs my actions; I am alive, I need not worry about much else.

Coleman Pape, a senior at Stevensville High School, will be attending the Davidson Honors College, University of Montana, on a Presidential Leadership Scholarship. He is employed at the Bitterroot Star.

It’s o.k. to cross party lines

Dear Editor,

Please take the time, before you place your vote for the County Commissioners on June 5, to really know your candidates. I have been a registered Republican for 33 years. I am going to cross party lines in this election because Jim Rokosch, Kathleen Driscoll and Carlotta Grandstaff clearly represent what I want for the future of the Bitterroot Valley. It is not about partisan politics this time, it is about promoting economic development and responsible growth that is in balance with sustaining and improving our quality of life, our health, and opportunities for our grandchildren. Jim, Kathleen and Carlotta are the candidates who are best qualified to bring people together to work towards consensus and bring about that balance. These three candidates are the ones focused on serving the public’s interests. I know because I have done my homework. I have read the newspaper interviews. I have attended the candidate forums. I have watched them in our communities. I have seen them in action. Take the labels off the candidates and examine who they are, what they believe and how they will work for you. Jim Rokosch, Kathleen Driscoll and Carlotta Grandstaff care about our future and they are committed to seeing that everyone is represented. They will be responsible and accountable to the citizens of Ravalli County. They will represent us and our dreams for the future. It’s o.k. to cross party lines - this is America.

Marcia Bloom
Stevensville

Support for Rokosch, Driscoll and Grandstaff

Dear Editor,

Once again the Bitterroot Valley and, indeed, much of western Montana is facing a dry late-summer and autumn as the scanty snow pack melts early, and expectations for ample stream flows and irrigation water dry up along with the melting snow. And again and again, we hear angry shouts that property rights and the water that goes with them are “God given,” that planning and zoning are un-American, and that the aquifers that feed our wells will last until the second coming. Meanwhile, the county planning department is proceeding with a zoning plan sans any noticeable attempt to compile a data base of aquifer recharge in the face of increasing demand and decreasing input. Wow!

Last January, the county planning department held a meeting to seek public comment on their preliminary zoning work schedule. At that time, I asked the Planning Director what steps were being taken to collect data on water availability from the aquifers at different locations in the valley. The question, alas, was dismissed airily with the comment that “We have GIS capability.” Just how GIS capability translates into data on valley aquifers was not explained, and I am still scratching my head over that one.

This is an example of the kind of ineptitude that is rampant at the county level of government in Ravalli County. We deserve better, and the way to get better is to seize the opportunity to elect three visionary, intelligent Commissioners -- Jim Rokosch, Kathleen Driscoll, and Carlotta Grandstaff. Each of them is passionate about helping ensure that our valley remains a gem in the northern Rockies. They truly shine amidst the gaggle of candidates claiming to be “true Montanans” (or the equivalent in the case of the Real Estate Lady with the big orange signs). Please check their qualifications on their personal web sites, or on the web site of the Bipartisan Coalition for Quality of Life, www.bitterrootfuture.com.

Ted Kerstetter
Hamilton

Future transportation in Bitterroot

Dear Editor,

You're trying to get to your job site in Missoula. This is the third time this week that the road has been blocked by an accident. As you finally drive slowly by the scene strewn with emergency vehicles and crumpled trucks, you see the long line of traffic backed up from Highway 93 into the hills where that new development went in last year. Drivers from their homes up there race their neighbors to the intersection at Highway 93 each morning, hoping to avoid what can be a half hour wait just to get onto the highway. No wonder those frustrated drivers take dangerous chances. No wonder so many of them fail to make it; and lives and limbs are lost as trucks and cars try to occupy the same space at the same time.

You ask yourself as you look into their frustrated faces, how did this happen? Who is responsible for the lack of planning and the lack of funding that led to this mess? Then you remember. The answer to that question is quite simple. On June 5, 2007 you and the majority of your voting neighbors chose to postpone wise county planning. You and your neighbors voted for Hurtt, Lyons, and Weisbecker. If you had voted for Rokosch, Driscoll, and Grandstaff and then given them the support they needed to make sure planning and funding was in place before such developments were built, you could be patting yourself on the back this morning as you and your neighbor from that new development would have already met, shook hands, and begun work at your job site.

Paul Courteau
Stevensville

Support for Driscoll

Dear Editor,

Poor leadership has landed our beautiful valley in trouble. The county desperately needs commissioners who have the determination to stand up to special interests and to provide avenues for cooperation. Luckily for us, we can elect Kathleen Driscoll on June 5th. I've seen Kathleen calmly defuse tense situations and suggest solutions that brought people together rather than pushed them apart. She knows this valley and its people. She has participated in committees working on planning and economic development. She's creative. She understands that what this valley needs is planned growth, not the current chaotic growth or for growth to be shut down. With Kathleen in office, Ravalli County citizens will have a voice that speaks reasonably and represents all of our interests.

Joan Daniels
Stevensville

Thanks from Stevi Fire Department

Dear Editor,

The Stevensville Volunteer Fire Department would like to thank the Town Pump Charitable Foundation for their generous gift of $1500. This money will be used to purchase a 4-Gas Monitor, a vital piece of equipment used to protect firefighters and victims in hazardous environments.

Use of this monitor gives us critical information about the cause and nature of threats to public safety during a hazardous materials (Haz-Mat) incident. It also helps our department to move our tactical capabilities to the Haz-Mat Operations level, allowing us to be more proactive in protecting lives and property in hazardous conditions.

The Town Pump Charitable Foundation was established in 1999 with the mission of providing financial support to Montana charitable or governmental organizations with a priority of supporting/meeting basic needs and education for Montana citizens. For the past three years they have made available funds for firefighters in the form of grants. This year they are expected to make awards in the amount of $250,000.

We are greatly appreciative of the support Town Pump has provided our department this year and in years past. It is difficult to find funding to improve and expand our mission within our operations budget. This program has had a direct effect on our ability to protect the public and the firefighters who volunteer to serve their community.

Greg Trangmoe (for)
Stevensville Volunteer Fire Dept.

Montana info wanted

Dear Editor,

Each member of my fifth grade class is working on a project called "Parade of States." We are responsible for gathering as much information as we possibly can to help "sell" the state. This project is due in the beginning of June 2007.

I have chosen your state, Montana, for my presentation. If any of your readers could help me by sending pictures, postcards, used license plates, facts, products, etc., from your state, it would be greatly appreciated.

Send to: Carson Jennings, c/o Foothills Elementary, 10621 234th Ave. E., Buckley WA 98321.

Carson Jennings
Buckley, Washington

Vote for the best candidates

Dear Editor,

This is an open letter to encourage Republicans to consider voting for the best candidates for County Commissioner, instead of just any Republican politician on the ballot. Our valley is being ruined by the three Republican Commissioners we already have. They are funded and supported by Realtors and developers and their decisions reflect that control. After all their years in office and thousands of tax dollars for their salaries, we the public are not getting the leadership we are paying for. These Commissioners have managed to gut the strength of our Growth policy. They have stacked the planning board with pro developers. They have failed to protect the quality of our air and water. They have failed to protect the Bitterroot River from pollution and development. They have no long range planning, no building codes, and no standards for large blinking signs, glaring unshielded lights, landscaping or sidewalks. They support the pumping of thousands of additional gallons of water from our aquifer every year and the overloading of our sewer treatment plants, the overcrowding of our schools and an increased burden on our police department.

Developers are attracted here because our Commissioners' allow our valley to be taken advantage of regardless of the damage it causes. It is obvious that these Republican politicians are telling the voters what they think you want to hear about protecting our quality of life, then doing what the Realtors want, no planning, few requirements and no support for public services.

We Bitterrooters have an awesome opportunity to elect new leaders. These decision makers will have the power to determine the future of our beautiful valley before it is too late and it almost is. The best candidates are the ones that truly intend to do what is right for the general public and those are Driscoll, Rokosch and Grandstaff. The candidates backed by the real estate industry, Lyons, Weisbecker and Hurtt, will not work for the public interest. Please don't be fooled again by the smoke and mirrors of the Republican, real estate, rip-off candidates. Put aside the gang mentality of partisan politics and vote for authentic public leaders, vote for Driscoll, Rokosch and Grandstaff.

Phyllis Bookbinder
Corvallis

Response to Wood letter

Dear Editor,

Once again Floyd Wood is spouting off the most ridiculous statements about Dave Campbell and trying to push the “killing trees by burning is a way to cut down old growth” nonsense.

If dead trees by fire opened up the damaged area for logging our mills would be back in full force, the folks in Missoula facing layoffs due to lack of timber would instead be getting raises and the chances of more fires would be diminished instead of increased as this drought continues.

I hope people new to life in Montana are starting to wake up and recognize that much of the rhetoric from the “save the trees” crowd is more directly responsible for the huge forest fires and loss of habitat than any logging company or Forest Service attempt at urban interface clean up could ever achieve.

Fact, we have thousands more trees in the Bitterroot National Forest than our climate and rainfall amounts can support. Going from no fires for 100 years to let it burn was a mistake. Going from allowing livestock grazing the understory and shrubs to no grazing on public lands and at the same time putting a halt to all logging on public lands has set us up to burn and burn hot and big due to huge amounts of buildup of dry fuels.

Our foresters, miners and drillers are more than capable and ready to responsibly harvest our renewable resources here in America and to do so would drop our dependency on Third World countries and drop the prices of everything from fuel to diningroom tables.

Instead, we are being led like sheep to accept giving up harvesting renewable resources at home in a responsible way so that we can become totally dependent on Third World countries with no rules or regulations to protect the environment. How can all of these self professed “environmentalists” think this is responsible behavior?

Our country is under attack from the Middle East to South America, from Islamic fruitcakes to socialist dictators, yet they all love selling us their resources. We are funding the very countries who have made it clear they want to destroy America and all she stands for.

How about we all get truly responsible and deal with facts, not fear tactics and lies. How about we put our priorities in their proper place: country over pocketbook, healthy forests over big lies paid for by Washington DC financed green groups. Al Gore has publicly admitted that his movie was more half truths and outright lies and he lives a lie with his huge electric bills and SUVs. Let's start thinking for ourselves and base our beliefs on the truth rather than cry wolf tactics and name calling. The health and safety of life in these United States depends on each and every one of us to educate ourselves on issues before we jump on bandwagons or allow ourselves to be led by the fear and hate crowd.

Suzy Foss
Hamilton

Let’s all vote for planning

Dear Editor,

We already voted for planning on November 7 when we approved the “emergency zoning” that is in effect for one year. It is six months later and there has been no action. Now we need to elect commissioners that will move forward with our wishes to create a fair and sensible countywide plan. While there were several Republican commissioner candidates that were committed to this, they did not get elected in the primary. Unfortunately, a distinctly non-partisan issue (growth management) is to be decided in a partisan forum. Grandstaff, Rokosch, and Driscoll have all shown a deep commitment to respecting the voters’ mandate to create a countywide plan. Decide for yourself at the debate on May 16th at the Bedford Building at 6 p.m. Let’s all vote this time: Tuesday, June 5. Please don’t just vote party lines, listen to what the candidates have to say and vote for commitment, integrity, and planning.

Sarah Roubik
Corvallis

Daly Hospital celebrates EMS Week

Dear Editor,

This week is National EMS Week and marks the fourteenth month of ambulance service operations provided by Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital. We should all be proud of the dedication the EMS staff demonstrates to all of Ravalli County and the advancements in quality and "run volume" they have achieved.

In December 2005, the Hospital Governing Board made a decision to re-enter the provision of ambulance service in Ravalli County. At that time the service was fragmented, care quality was deteriorating, staff morale was low and public confidence was decreasing. Many parts of the county were not covered and wait times were increasing. While continued improvement will always be our goal the service is now stable, quality of care is improving and public and personnel safety is "on-the-mend."

Dr. Clint Adkins, Medical Director, and Donna Rennaker, EMTP, Paramedic and Director of Ambulance Services, are invaluable to the EMS team leadership and improving the care quality. The hospital provides financial support to the Ravalli County EMS Council. The council sponsors education offerings around the county and provides important operations feedback to the hospital.

Our strategic goals include: Improving Care Quality; Collaboration with QRU, Fire and Law Enforcement agencies; Advancement of Operations Standardization; and, Improving Public and Staff Safety.

Financially the department is stable, although a continuing challenge the hospital faces includes the replacement of an aging ambulance fleet. This month the hospital is purchasing one new and one used ambulance and retiring two ambulances built in 1985. The total investment for the replacement vehicles is $85,000.

Many thanks and congratulations to Dr. Adkins, Donna Rennaker EMTP and the ambulance staff for their continued support and on the advancements they have made over the last year.

Tim Engberg
Director of Physician and Professional Services
Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital

Fires in Montana

Dear Editor,

Here we are, another year, we are so dry and not enough rain, possible drought and believe it or not, the Forest Service under Bush's burn policy is out there lighting fires. Prescribed fires they call them - spot fires all over the place, left unattended and burning the live trees. Does the Forest Service not know that trees are important not only for lumber, but because they exude carbon dioxide into the air, the air we need to breathe. Trees protect our streams, our water, and keep things cool. What kind of mentality is running the Forest Service policies that believe we should burn and cut down most of the trees so that we prevent fires? What a bunch of bull, excuse the pun. He is the Forest Service head placed here in the Bitterroot valley by the Bush administration and is following this stupid "burn policy." He recently went to DC to get his orders.

Didn't we breathe enough smoke and ash the last few years to give us all a good case of emphysema and other health problems? How about a summer without smoke and fires? How about a beautiful clear blue sky and air you can actually fill your lungs with?

Last year we had at least 22 manmade fires, fires that cost millions of dollars to fight, fires that were let go until they destroyed a lot of our wilderness areas, because they were quote, "natural fires."

Those of us who like to camp, ride horses, ATVs, hike, ride bikes and other outdoor activities that require breathing, would love to have a summer without fires and smoke and tree destruction.

Check out Hughes Creek from the West Fork, fires smoldering everywhere, look at Coyote Coulee south of Hamilton, with trees marked everywhere for cutting and slash piles in the middle of the forest ready to burn.

This is only the start of another fire and smoke filled season, in a year that everyone knows is extremely dry.

We know that there is a lot of easy money to be made by all these groups that want to be on the fire "fighting" list, but in the end we are seriously hurting our economy by damaging the forests for outfitting and wildlife and tourism, the things that Montana depends on.

The easy money to be made by starting fires is a huge temptation to people like the man who started 20 some fires here last year, to the woman who worked for the Forest Service in colorado, who is still in jail, to the forester who burned Mount Jumbo in Missoula, and on and on.

It is time to make this a serious offense to deliberately start fires for profit and we need to protest the Forest Service burn policies, policies that start fires and allow them to get out of control to the point it costs the taxpayers billions of dollars and the loss of our most precious commodity.

K. Gervais
Corvallis

Thanks from Lone Rock School

Dear Editor,

Lone Rock School community would like to say thank you to the Barnyard Bunch 4H group for their commitment and dedication to the beautification project at Lone Rock School. They donated a weekend of their time and many supplies to clean up trash, build a new fence, grade the parking lot, install new concrete curbing and groom the school grounds. Under the leadership of Theresa and Matt Pendergast, this group of young adults has shown what it means to be productive, contributing citizens in our community. There are many people to thank for their contributions: Ken Gebert of Green Diamond Contracting, Mark and Tracey McGrann of Hydraulic Services, Bitterroot Disposal, Pastor Jon Meek and countless others who volunteered their equipment. We greatly appreciate their hard work and the improvements they have made to our school. Lone Rock community says, “Job well done, Barnyard Bunch! Thank you!”

John Jay Miller, Superintendent
Lone Rock School District

Choose wisely!

Dear Editor,

On June 5th, you will have the opportunity to vote your candidate preference for three (3) Ravalli County Commissioner seats. What an exciting and historic time it is for us in the Bitterroot! Your decision at the polls will determine the fate of the "quality of life" we so profoundly cherish in Ravalli County. I urge that you study the candidates carefully and sift through the campaign rhetoric until you have unearthed the underlying hidden agendas and self-serving alliances.

Having formerly been a candidate for this office, I am well aware of the extremes those in power will resort to when challenged. Although I am a life-long registered Republican, I was included in the public lambasting put forth in the editorial by Mr. Brainard, Chairman of the Ravalli County Republican Central Committee. I was perceived as a threat to the fiefdom and challenged the job performance of those in control.

Why? Because I represented change, because I was willing to take a stand and I owed no special interest favors, because I did not support the lingering, malignant status quo mentality that yet governs us today. And, perhaps more importantly, because I happened to be one of the Republican candidates that was endorsed by a valleywide group known as the Bi-Partisan Campaign for Quality of Life (BCQL).

I do not apologize for being endorsed by BCQL. In fact, there were over 20 candidates that vied for their endorsement - including those that are running now! Does this make me a "bad" Republican? Is partisan politics really more important than the contentious issues we now face? Or is it in our best interests to elect those that truly have the best interests of our community at heart? Perhaps it is now time to set aside partisan politics at the local level and vote your conscience.

If you truly covet our "quality of life" in the Bitterroot and if you have concerns for unplanned, unregulated growth, as well as concerns for our air quality and water resources, then I urge you to vote for those candidates that will work tirelessly in your behalf -- unfortunately, none of those now running are Republicans. The choice is yours. Choose wisely.

Richard (Rick) O'Brien
Hamilton

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