Keep heli-skiing out of North Fork
I can sympathize with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation in trying to find money through the school trust lands for Montana schools. It is not easy to balance environmental and social concerns while trying to get big bucks for the schools.
The two proposed locations for heli-skiing in Coal Creek State Forest are rather close to Polebridge. Winona Ridge, one of the proposed landing/skiing sites, is a little less than three and a half miles from Polebridge and roughly parallels the North Fork Road at a distance of 3/8 of a mile to almost a mile away. It is also not a high mountain which means more noise from helicopters. The other proposed, nearby skiing location is Coal Ridge which at the closest point is only four miles southwest of Polebridge.
I hope you can now understand why people become upset about heli-skiing or any frequent use of helicopters any time of the year when it is not an emergency. Most people, both residents and visitors, come to the North Fork for solitude and quiet.
Others have e-mailed you about the strong probability of people and wildlife being harassed by helicopters bringing skiers to places such as Winona Ridge in Coal Creek State Forest. Many other questions remain unanswered about the possibility of local heli-skiing.
What are the models, sizes and occupancies of the helicopters to be used? What are the decibels created by such machines? How far will the sound travel and be heard?
How many flights a day will be allowed? How many skiers? Triple X, one of the applicant helicopter companies, said they flew 260 helicopter flights over Whitefish during the fourth of July weekend. Hardly anyone wants that kind of activity in our state forests.
Would DNRC give permits to other companies who requested a similar permit?
What are the flight patterns? Do the helicopters go directly to the skiing location or do they swing over to Glacier Park for a scenic tour?
Has anyone at DNRC researched the location of bear dens in the vicinity of the flight paths?
How do the skiers return? By snowmobile or helicopter? And what is their route?
How much would you charge the operators of the helicopter skiing for a permit?
Has DNRC researched other locations in Alaska or British Columbia where heli-skiing has already taken place? Are there problems?
Heli-skiing has never been done in the Flathead Valley. Therefore, it might be a good idea to leave the comment period open for a while longer. There is a definite lack of information on the subject at this time.
Look at the Hungry Horse News article last week by Chris Peterson as it reflects the opinions of many North Forkers. There is a link to the article on the North Fork Preservation Association Web site (with new format) at www.gravel.org.
John Frederick of Polebridge is the North Fork Preservation Association president.
Repairing economy damage
To the editor,
The melt-down on Wall Street and Washington, D.C. brings into focus the wisdom of the Montana PSC to deny the acquisition of NorthWestern Energy by the Australian firm BBI just 15 months ago. In recent months, both the U.S. and Australian operations of BBI have crashed, proof that PSC foresight protected Montana utility ratepayers.
Decisions of the Bush Administration and their allies, including Sen. John McCain, to deregulate the financial services industry contributed to the house of cards which started falling on Sept. 15. Instead of maintaining a sound and prudent regulatory environment for the financial services industry, they celebrated an unfettered market place.
Barack Obama warned of the impending problems in the financial services sector and offered corrections for those problems. His concerns were pooh-poohed by the Bush Administration and their allies. The costly "bail-out" offers proof that "an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure."
Repairing the damage to our national economy caused by policies of the Bush Administration will be a long and difficult process. We should entrust that repair work to those, like Sen. Obama, who warned of the impending crisis before it occurred, not those who blindly created it.
Greg Jergeson, Chinook
Montana Public Service Commission chair
Zinke's response to letter to editor from Jordan
To the editor,
I would like to thank Mr. (Gil) Jordan for his recent editorial suggesting that I will go to Helena and fight. True, I have a distinguished record of fighting for my country to include conducting over 360 combat missions and being awarded two Bronze Stars — one of which was presented by Gov. Schweitzer. As a Commander in the U.S. Navy SEALs, I also obtained two master's degrees, had the privilege of leading over 5,500 talented men and woman during six separate conflicts, managed multi-billion dollar programs and budgets, negotiated agreements with foreign governments, was the Dean of the Navy Special Operations Graduate School, developed and taught accredited college curriculums, conducted multiple Environmental Impact Studies, and delivered life-saving medical supplies and food to war-torn villages. In my career of service spanning 23 years, I have seen the best and worst in humanity and prefer to believe that given the opportunity, most people will do the right thing.
You are right, Mr. Jordan, that when I said that I will "fight for working families to live, work, and play in Montana," that is exactly what I intend to do as state senator. I strongly believe that when the working family prospers, so prospers Montana. Working families are Montana. I come from three generations of Flathead Valley master plumbers and I understand the meaning of work and why it is important that small businesses thrive here.
I understand that better wages, improving our education system and developing a forward-looking conservation and energy plan is critical to our future. Fighting for families in Helena is far from combat, it is moving forward based on principle, truth, integrity, open dialogue and hard work. It takes leadership, experience and having respect for those who may see the world differently. My endorsements from the timber industry, businesses, hunting and sportsman associations, local educators, contractors, Montana Conservation Voters and other diverse organizations suggest they did their homework and trust that I will do what is "Right for Montana."
Ryan Zinke
Candidate for Senate District 2
Get Baucus out of D.C.
To the editor,
We all know corruption occurred throughout our Federal government, but the people got a real glimpse into how bad it really is with this Fannie and GNMA collapse. Now with this knowledge what do we do about our senator, Max Baucus, who voted for the $700 billion bailout plus $150 billion more for added pork? Jon Tester, our other senator, voted against the bill because he hasn't been in Washington long enough to be influenced by the elite there.
Max Baucus voted for this monstrosity of a bill when the majority of Montanans did not want it. He then instantly did damage by putting out ads throughout television and radio saying how he does Montana's business and how he represents us.
I think Max has been in Washington too long. It is time to clean house. We can't do anything about Barney Frank and his part in all of this but we can do something about it in Montana and that is to vote Max out. Don't be fooled by his, "I'm all for Montana speech." We can find that in another senator who hasn't been influenced by Washington.
Judy Territo
Columbia Falls
Where will that bailout money be spent?
To the editor,
Are people aware that McCain's main economic adviser for his campaign and future administration is Phil Gramm, the ex-senator from Texas? Gramm was Reagan's right-hand financial man that pushed for deregulation. Older people may remember that before Reagan came into office, health care was basically nationalized in the US.
For example, Blue Cross Blue Shield was a non-profit organization. It is now for profit. Major hospitals throughout America were also non profits. Back then we had one of the highest standards of living in the entire world.
We are now 47th in the world in life expectancy — there are countries in Africa that have higher life expectancies than America! Gramm is also author of the Gramm/Leach/Bliley act of 1999, which completely deregulated the financial markets and created the financial instruments we are hearing about today called "derivatives." Derivatives are totally unregulated by the federal government.
The value of world-wide derivative market is 1,000 trillion dollars. The GNP of the entire world is only 60 trillion per year. So the value of derivatives outstanding in the world currently is over 16 years of world economic growth. They may all be bad. Are you worried yet? And the government wants us to believe that $700 billion of taxpayer money will solve the problem when in fact we have to give it to one of the ex-CEO's of one of the companies we are bailing out, with no oversight! We don't even get to know where the money goes or how it's spent!
The fox has already eaten all the eggs and the chickens and they want us to build a bigger door. Hold on tight because here it comes; vote Obama. He's our last best chance.
Tracy Kasuba
Whitefish
Grandma right to forgive
When I was a child, my grandma used to make me frankfurters and mashed potatoes if I was upset or not feeling good. I miss those days dearly, grandparents are graceful and just knew how to make it right.
She also had some great insight into how best to deal with others when they treated you poorly: forgive people and move on. This simple act of generosity toward others is something that politicians could greatly benefit from.
Folks across our great Nation have started to vote. It is an honor to participate in our civic duty to select our leaders and to move us forward. While our system may not always be perfect, it is great compared to other areas of the world, thanks in much part again to our grandparents who fought for our right to be free.
In Montana we are lucky; we live in the greatest place on earth, our economy is stronger that most in the nation, our fiscal budget is in order with enormous surpluses, and we are blessed to still have wild and open public lands surrounding our valley. These lands offer us solace, tranquility and peace in turbulent times. We Montanans are a self-reliant bunch and make it through tough times with the help of our families, our neighbors and our faith.
I must admit that I was a bit ticked by the recent mailings from opponents smearing our work, my family and my character. These folks attempt to distract us with insults rather than talking about what is important to small business, retirees and working families.
Montana is clearly on the right road. We've returned historic tax dollars back to homeowners, put huge amounts into all day kindergarten while increasing teacher pay and capping university students' tuition. We've created nearly 60,000 new jobs and done right by our elderly with Rx programs, and funded the children's health insurance programs.
If you're willing, I'll continue to work for you: to grow our economy to provide better paying jobs, to lower fuel costs, to eliminate business equipment taxes for Montana small businesses, to lower property taxes during reappraisal, to invest in our schools and universities, and keep public lands in our hands.
Our job should be to help make peoples lives better and easier in turbulent and uncertain times, to help others.
To the folks who try to smear my character or say bad things about me, I'll take my grandma's sage advice: I forgive you. But please stop, as it's simply not true or nice.
Rep. Mike Jopek
Whitefish
Support 'Champions of Business' in election
To the editor,
As a long-time business owner, I am very concerned about legislation that affects small business. It will be of paramount importance in the next Montana legislative session due to our current economic turmoil. Small business is the backbone of our country and provides the majority of private sector jobs in this country.
With that said, seven Flathead County legislators received a "Champion of Business" award for the 2007 legislative session from the Montana Chamber of Commerce. Those legislators are Bill Beck, HD6; Mark Blasdel, HD10; George Everett, HD5: Jon Sonju, HD7; Craig Witte, HD8; and Sens. Greg Barkus, SD4; and Verdell Jackson, SD5. All are Republicans. The Chamber created the award to recognize efforts of legislators who stood up for economic development during the 2007 legislative session.
Their Democratic counterparts did not fare well in their pro-business rating by the Montana Chamber of Commerce, with Dan Weinberg and Mike Jopek receiving a 0 percent pro-business rating.
Jim Dupont, Republican county commissioner candidate, will be a "Champion of Business" in the commissioners' office. Jim currently owns and runs a small business and has successfully run and operated small businesses in the past. This experience gives Jim a unique perspective on the importance of small business to our economic well being.
I would encourage you to support candidates who are pro-business. The above mentioned "Champions of Business" that are running for election need our support. Please join me in supporting these fine pro-business candidates for election this fall.
Donald Larsen
Kalispell
Dupont's response to environmental questions
To the editor,
Jim Dupont, candidate for county commissioner, was sent a questionnaire about the environment by Citizens For A Better Flathead. In it the group stated that the response would be printed verbatim, without corrections of spelling or grammar in their upcoming newsletter. Although Mr. Dupont responded to the questionnaire with a single condensed statement addressing all six questions, he was informed by the group's leader, Mayre Flowers, that he did not answer questions according to their "guideline" and therefore, his response would not be published. Below is Mr. Dupont's response:
Dear Friends of CFBF:
Thank you, for the opportunity to respond to the recent survey you sent me with the following statement:
This isn't a perfect world, nor can we be all things to all people; however, we can think and reason together. We all hope we have common sense and consider our assets, our commitments, our goals and above all the goal to accomplish what is within our reach.
#1 Flathead County is over 5,000 square miles.
#2 Approximately 87 percent is owned by Federal, State, County, and City entities.
#3 A touch over 9 percent is owned by Plum Creek and other timber groups.
#4 3.7 percent is owned by THE TAXPAYERS.
(Taken from the Flathead County Growth Policy)
Now if we look together and use common thought and sense, we must believe our base is very small and to reduce or hinder reasonable growth will cause an undue burden on our taxpayers. The answer to many of the needs of our county will have to come from cooperation of our State and Federal entities.
Remember, there is a point each of you can personally contribute to any cause no matter how worthy. There is a point a business or charity has to say NO. There is a point when law enforcement has to draw the line. There is a point be it Federal, State or local government must say NO.
Still, we all want our suggestions and concerns considered, and that I will always do!
Thanks again, I hope you all will vote on Nov. 4th!
Sincerely,
Jim Dupont
Submitted by Mickey Lapp, Campaign Chairman
Dupont for Commissioner
Kalispell