Letters to the editorLakeside park is a good thing

The proposed Lakeside Park is not a bad thing. Interestingly, we were entertained by Noel Bartlett's recent letter (WSN 4/8/09) telling us how harmful a Lakeside park would be for those with adjacent shoreline property and how hazardous it would be for swimmers because the near-shore area serves as a boat cruising lane. Apparently it is OK for the non-public to swim from the many private beach areas in Lakeside including Mr. Bartlett's multimillion dollar property, but if a property - God forbid - goes public, swimming instantly is just too dangerous.

As for the concern of noise, yes, expectedly there would be children laughing and playing, but let's keep in mind that the lake belongs to everyone not just beachfront property owners. The highest dollar value for the proposed park parcel would likely be a townhouse complex similar to the one immediately north of Mr. Bartlett's property which he brokered several years ago. Ask yourself, how well does that townhouse project serve the Lakeside community?

I do agree with Mr. Bartlett that it is most unfortunate that the proposed park is only about 70ft. wide. Might Mr. Bartlett consider adding some of his land to the park as a gift for the many decades that Lakeside has served him well in the real estate business? As for parking issues, where was Mr. Bartlett when the neighboring businesses expanded to the maximum footprint possible with minimum parking provided? Many believe that the Lakeside community needs more and better public access to Flathead Lake and that private lakeshore owners should understand that the lake is there for everyone's enjoyment. Let's move forward with the park proposal to expand lake access for Lakeside residents.

Bruce Barrett

Lakeside

Gravely concerned about gravel

I would like to call attention to an issue of profound importance to the future of Montana and the integrity of our communities and the quality of life that we enjoy and that our economy depends on. This is the application by Spoklie for a major gravel mining operation right next to Glacier National Park and surrounded by private residential properties. The Department of Environmental Quality has called for a public comment period and recently did the wise thing by ext ending the period of public comment from a mere 10 days to May 1. This was important in that it removed the impression, for many people, that this was a "fast track" process to favor private interests over public rights. The existing Environmental Assessment proposal appears to many people in the community to be superficial, arbitrary, subjective and lacking in the hard scientific data to support the scale of the proposed gravel mining operations. Significant environmental impacts are not even addressed. The degree to which such a gravel mining operation would permanently diminish our national treasures, Glacier National Park and the Middle Fork of the Flathead River (a Wild and Scenic River) and the tourist economy it supports, is evident in the outrage already expressed by local resi dents, businesses, and public land agencies that have the interests of all Americans, not just a local corporation, in mind. Please write to the contacts below and demand a full scale Environmental Impact Statement and public hearing so that this decision is made with true scientific data and full adherence to the law and policies of Montana and the USA and doesn't become another example of corporate benefit over common citizens. We've seen enough of that with bailouts and economic melt downs. Let's have real accountability be the order of the day for a change.

Ann Casler-Fagre

West Glacier