Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Opinion & Editorial

by Kathleen Driscoll, Ravalli County Commissioner

Decisions, decisions, decisions! Everyone makes decisions in different ways. A large part of being your county commissioner is making decisions on issues that influence your health and financial well-being and I believe you have a right to understand how I make decisions that affect your lives. In a nutshell, my decisions are arrived at by 1) determining the facts 2) gathering public input from both sides of an issue and 3) ensuring that the decision does not violate my values.

First, I rarely make decisions with my “gut.” While “intuition” and “feelings” sometimes alert me to something that I need to investigate further, I am extremely uncomfortable making a decision without adequately researching an issue and understanding the facts. Luckily, county government is not a battlefield and the majority of decisions are apparent after careful investigation.

It’s unrealistic to think that we are experts in every area that commissioners are required to make decisions on. I come to this job with skills and knowledge gained over my lifetime, but natural curiosity makes learning new things enjoyable. These traits serve the public well in my current job.

For me, thorough research requires reading, fact checking, gleaning information from experts, and attending meetings and conferences. I attend a wide variety of public gatherings and meetings throughout the valley in order to better understand viewpoints and gain from the insight of citizens.

For example, I had little understanding about road maintenance and repair when I was elected, but since the road department is the county’s second largest expenditure, I knew I needed to learn basic road vocabulary and maintenance in order to determine if the department is running efficiently. (Bitterroot Star letter in April 09) This was also why I recently took a course in gravel road maintenance, complete with my turn in the seat of a grader. (It’s not as easy as it looks.) Similarly, reaching a conclusion about airport expansion required expanding my background as a small aircraft pilot to the various classes of aircraft and their take off and landing needs. (Bitterroot Star letter in Feb.09)

My next step is to listen carefully to the range of viewpoints on an issue. I do this primarily by attending public meetings, even meetings where my personal perspective may be challenged. It is a human tendency to pick out things we agree with, interpret things in ways that reinforce our beliefs and disregard the rest. Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, and Constitutionalists are all alike in this regard. Since I represent the county as a whole I want to make sure I do my best to make decisions based on understanding as many perspectives as possible. Recently, I attended a local lecture on the constitution delivered by Rob Natelson, a law professor well-known for his conservative views, hosted by the Constitutionalist Party. It was extremely interesting to not only receive a refresher course on our country’s founding law, but it helped me better understand this group’s understanding of the constitution’s role in protecting private property.

Finally, my personal values necessarily and rightfully weigh into decisions on those issues that are not and can not be entirely fact based. I am a Democrat and I place high value on personal freedom; wholesome community values that support and protect its most vulnerable and fragile citizens; a strong educational system that empowers our citizens to chose the best jobs to support their families; support for our local small businesses, and fair taxes.

Some say a compromise means that both sides of an issue lose. I prefer to view compromise as taking the best from both sides and crafting a decision that works best for our entire community.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at kdriscoll@ravallicounty.mt.gov or 375-6510.

Prepare to defend your rights

Dear Editor,

In the recent Corvallis Memorial Day celebration parade, various groups displayed patriotic emblems and messages. I was part of that parade and saw unparalleled enthusiasm for a return to the principles of our founding fathers. Gun rights advocates proudly (and legally) wore their side-arms and carried their shoulder weapons in the parade as a reminder to all of our God-given right to bear arms. We exercised these rights as Americans, under both the United States and state of Montana Constitutions.

I have been witness in recent days to perilous and unprecedented government intervention and take-over, causing the lives of American citizens to be irreparably harmed. Our solemn right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness is under siege, especially since the recent national election. True to the prophesy and warnings of our founders, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and others, it occurs to me in increasing measure that the time may soon come when our constitutional right to bear arms may have significant meaning.

While the vast majority of parade goers cheered the gun rights citizens, there were those few who chose to complain. I pity those out-of-touch Americans who have no concept of our great founding fathers and the message to our government they penned so eloquently.

Accordingly, I can't stress strongly enough that it's time we all wake up and observe the smoke of impending warfare our forefathers warned us about, looming on the horizon. Lest anyone hadn't noticed, we American citizens are being taken over! Just as in the day of Paul Revere who rode his horse through the colonies yelling, "The British are coming!" if we don't wake up and defend our Second Amendment rights, we forever give up our right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness. American countrymen, prepare to defend our precious Constitution and America itself against those elitist traitors who would turn us into a socialist, Marxist and/or communist oligarchy.

Bob Kubiak
Victor

Heads up re: Florence water and sewer board

Dear Editor,

As a resident, landowner, taxpayer and interested party, I believe it should be made more public that the board of directors of the Florence county Water and Sewer District are acting in a questionable, if not illegal, manner. I challenge all residents and taxpayers of the district to be alert to these actions and to attend the board meetings. The agenda for the meeting is only posted in one location, the Post Office, so watch the announcement board carefully. Meetings are not held on a regular basis as required by law.

Reimbursements to the board president are being made without a policy in place listing the costs that are eligible for reimbursement or the amount of reimbursement for each cost.

The public is being restricted from public participation in decisions by the board by being ruled “out of order” with no basis of Robert’s Rules of Order.

And, in my mind, the biggest violation of all manner of common sense, this board of which a majority fought against the construction of a wastewater collection, storage and treatment plan, has amassed almost $14,500 of your money, taxpayers of the district! Why?

Come to the board meetings and ask the board questions on these issues.

Judy Sass
Florence

Rail service needed

Dear Editor,

Yes, Ravalli County needs a rail service to Missoula! The tracks are there and the uses mentioned in your article show it has numerous potentials. A commuter service, if only one round-trip a day, would help a lot of us reach Missoula for other needs, even if we had to spend the whole day there, waiting to return.

I hope the Commissioners and Hamilton's Chamber of Commerce will continue to work for rail service.

Joan Sisson
Hamilton

FFA creates partnership with Torgerson’s

Dear Editor,

The Montana FFA strives to make a positive difference in the lives of its members across the state; through agriculture education, leadership development opportunities, career development events, and the promotion of community based projects. The Montana FFA has seen an increase in the number of students taking part in these opportunities and everyone knows the quality of person the members tend to become.

Many people owe their success to their experiences in the FFA while others realize the difference the FFA has made in the students’ lives and strive to be a part of creating those opportunities by supporting the organization. Since the beginning the Montana FFA has worked to incorporate businesses into the FFA through sponsorships, donations, assisting with workshops, and presentations. The Foundation has a long list of strong supporter’s state wide and the FFA gratefully acknowledges that the organization would not exist without these great sponsors and considerate individual donors.

This year, while at the State FFA Convention in Great Falls the Montana FFA Foundation received a sponsorship that took the members’ breath away. While on stage during the Thursday night session Torgerson’s, LLC increased its support to the FFA by committing to a $25,000 sponsorship.

One of the key comments Lin Torgerson shared, speaking to the 1,500 FFA members and guests present at the State FFA Convention, was, “The Torgerson family and extended family wanted to thank the Montana FFA for this wonderful opportunity and this pledge is a prime example of our continued commitment to our country, state, community and neighbors.”

The FFA in 2009 will use this donation for scholarships, aid in the cost of the State FFA Convention and many other events that the Montana FFA offers to its members.

Torgerson’s realizes that over 90% of their customers were in some way affiliated with the Montana FFA, either as a member, alumni, or relative of a FFA member. Along with their customers Torgerson’s also takes pride in the number of employees, mechanics, sales people and managers that were also past FFA members.

The FFA encourages their members to get involved and develop a truly positive set of attitudes and skills that will enable them to become tomorrow’s leaders today. Programs like the FFA teach the youth of our communities some of the most valuable lessons they will ever receive. This is our future and Torgerson’s wanted everyone to know that they support the future of agriculture in Montana.

Bill Jimmerson, FFA Advisor
MSU-Bozeman

Rehberg gets it wrong, again

Dear Editor,

Montana’s far-right Rep. Denny Rehberg got a lot of ink with his tirade against H.R. 980, the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA) and his mean-spirited attack upon Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, who is sponsoring the Act, along with 70 other members of Congress (for his testimony, see http://www.newwest.net/pdfs/testimony_rehberg.pdf.)

Rehberg claims “96 percent of us who live in these areas oppose this bill.”

In reality, 78 percent of all Montanans support full protection for our region’s remaining National Forest roadless wildlands. Montanans overwhelmingly support the “Roadless Conservation Rule” that safeguarded the 6.4 million acres that are included in NREPA.

The Roadless Conservation Rule received the most public participation of any proposed federal regulation in the history of the nation. In Montana, 34 hearings were held across the state, while over 600 hearings were held throughout the country. 

In total, more than 1.6 million Americans wrote comments on the roadless protection policy. An overwhelming majority – 78 percent of all Montanans and 95 percent of all Americans – supported full protection for our country’s roadless wildlands.

Rehberg claims that NREPA “federalizes” these public roadless wildlands and that “bills like NREPA create more federally controlled land.” Apparently, Rehberg does not know basic American history: His fellow Republican, President Theodore Roosevelt “federalized” these lands in 1907, over 100 years ago!

Rehberg evokes the most passion with his stirring defense of gun rights. “There’s a new concern looming in the minds of the folks around Montana and the country,” he warns. “There aren’t many things folks in the Northern Rockies care more about than their Second Amendment rights. Bills like NREPA create more federally controlled land, but they don’t guarantee Second Amendment rights on that land.”

Huh? Rehberg, one of the richest members of Congress, is a land developer and spokesman for big oil. Were he a hunter or outdoorsman, he would know that, since our roadless wildlands provide the best habitat, they are the preferred places for big game hunting. With guns. Has Rehberg ever heard of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area, our region’s hunting mecca?

Montana has the best hunting season in the country, and it’s not by accident. Our five-week-long hunting season is due directly to the prime habitat provided by these 6.4 million acres of roadless wildlands. Montana hunters and anglers want these lands protected.

Rehberg is just plain WRONG when he claims Montanans do not support these priceless wildlands. Rehberg is WRONG when he says we don’t appreciate their pure water, clean air, and abundant fish and wildlife. Rehberg is WRONG when he claims Montanans and other residents of the Northern Rockies want to destroy these public wildlands with taxpayer-subsidized road-building, logging, mining, and other development.

Despite Rehberg’s claims: Private land is NOT affected by NREPA; grazing and existing mining claims are NOT changed; gun rights are NOT taken away; and environmentally-sustainable logging outside roadless areas will continue. We’re NOT talking about already-developed national forestlands. These are federally-inventoried ROADLESS AREAS, for God’s sake! They have been wild for millennia. Their remaining so will not bring about apocalypse.

Rehberg apparently has no concept of leaving future generations a public lands legacy. Our future citizenry will need these wildlands for psychological, spiritual, scientific, economic, educational, biological, ecological, and societal well-being. Public wildlands are simply too valuable to be recklessly squandered away by short-term politicians like Rehberg.

The biggest lie that Rehberg and other extremists perpetuate about NREPA is that it is “top-down” management, forced upon us locals by “outsiders” like Rep. Maloney. First, these National Forest wildlands belong to ALL Americans, not just local anti-wilderness rednecks.

More importantly, Rehberg is just plain wrong about NREPA’s origins. After consulting with numerous Montana conservation organizations and wildlife biologists, I wrote the first draft of what was to become the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act in 1986. After involving about a dozen more regional conservation groups, I wrote the text of the second draft of what was to become NREPA in 1987.

I’m not an “outsider.” I was born and raised in Helena. Growing up in Montana, we always heard about “multiple use” for our National Forests. When I was a kid in the 1950s and 1960s, that meant hiking, backpacking, wildlife viewing, hunting, grazing, and fishing. 

In the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, however, we saw more and more National Forest wildlands converted into single uses: roads, clearcuts, same-species tree plantations, scars from off-road vehicles, open pit mines, and toxic mine waste dumps.

Now, in the National Forest nearest my home, two-thirds of the Forest has been developed. We who grew up here have first-hand knowledge that roadless wildlands are fast disappearing. Roads on National Forests in Montana increased from 8,600 miles in 1945 to 32,900 miles in 1997. Nationally, the Forest Service is now overwhelmed by more than 380,000 miles of roads, eight times larger than the entire Interstate highways system!

We who grew up here know that it is time to protect ALL of our few remaining public roadless wildlands in the Northern Rockies. Twenty-three years is long enough to wait; NREPA’s time is now!

For more information, or to lend your support, go to: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Support-NREPA.

Paul Richards
Helena

NREPA bad idea

Dear Editor,

The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA) was again considered by a congressional committee on May 5th. It was a bad idea, and it failed to pass from the committee. Unbelievably, this bill (HR 980) is now being brought before the entire Congress. NREPA would place over 11% of our state under ‘Wilderness designation,” which means around 6 million acres would no longer be open to management of the forest resource. Western forests must be managed to control the widespread deterioration of forest health and the steady accumulation of dead trees and debris that would otherwise fuel future wildfires.

Since designated Wilderness cannot be mechanically managed, wildfire is the only management tool available. For that reason, a Wilderness must be configured in such a way that it is most able to accept and contain wildfire within its border, or the Wilderness must be large enough to accommodate wildfire - larger than most of Montana’s existing inventoried roadless areas (IRAs). Wilderness management by

wildfire is too hazardous to be located near areas of habitation or economically important managed forests and watersheds. Additionally, forest management by wildfire flies in the face of our nation’s efforts to control air pollution and its possible effect on global warming.

Even though Montana has ample large Wilderness with high quality wilderness values, NREPA would have included most of Montana’s Inventoried Roadless Areas regardless that they may be of low wilderness value or be of an inappropriate small size.

Wilderness designation must be on an area-by-area basis. Each area must be carefully considered, be popularly supported by local residents, and must pass the USFS Wilderness evaluation criteria proscribed under F.S.H. 1909.12 chapter 70, amendment No., 1909.12-2007-1. A blanket designation like NREPA is bad policy.

This bill would have taken away the ability for Montanans to decide what is best for each IRA within our state. It would have resulted in an unnecessary and egregious interference and violation of our right to decide how to best manage our public resources for a wide variety of forest uses and values.

Roger and Marion Lund
Paradise

Montana businesses depend on strong education foundation

Dear Editor,

When I was younger, summer meant one thing: It was time to get a job. When school was out, kids raced to the favored local businesses to fill out applications for just about any position. Back then, quick feet kept you ahead of the pack. Today, the business standard is a strong education.

Earlier this week, I urged United States Education Secretary Arne Duncan to seek input from the business community when discussing education reforms that will affect Montana. Secretary Duncan and Secretary Shaun Donovan of the U.S. Department of Housing and Development arrived in Billings on Wednesday to consider education and housing issues in rural America.

Montana businesses depend on a well-educated and well-trained workforce that is prepared to face the challenges of our changing economy. In a letter to Secretary Duncan, I asked that he keep some of the goals outlined in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), including high standards for math and reading, focusing on groups of minority children and children with various learning disabilities, and providing help for schools that are not doing well. I also requested an end to the one-size-fits-all method that erodes local control and has been counterproductive to the education system.

Montana’s economy requires people who can learn and work in different businesses and environments and who can create their own companies and jobs. Educational excellence is the foundation to a strong economy and Montana businesses rely on this foundation for success.  

Too often in the past, national guidelines have been written solely in Washington, DC, without input from the state and local communities tasked with implementing the policies. Not only it is up to the presidential cabinet to seek input from our community, it is up to Montanans to reach out to these national leaders.  

An active voice brings an issue to life, and Montanans cannot afford to be passive when it comes to securing a bright future for our children, our local businesses, and our state.

Linda McCulloch, Montana Secretary of State
Helena

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