No I-161

When you get into the voting machine on Nov. 2, make sure to vote no on I-161, which is completely against Montana. How many folks do you know that have outfitted or are outfitting now and what about the generations to come? I-161 will destroy that — your life-long memories would not have existed.

From a dollars-and-sense perspective in the economic climate we are in, it is important to note that outfitting generates $167 million per year, contributes $11 million in state and local taxes, and provides $50 million in payroll for 2,600 full-time or seasonal jobs.

I-161 is written in an attempt to provide Montanans with better hunting access. However, the bill is poorly written and falls short of its intention. So badly constructed that it not only will decimate the outfitting business as we know it in Montana, but will cause problems for wildlife management and funding for Fish, Wildlife and Parks and block management. It will end in more non-residents competing with residents and crowding into the most productive hunting areas at the most productive times.

I-161 circumvents the legislative process — Kurt Gephart saw to that. Legislators are born to write laws — some write good ones, and some just write laws for the sake of seeing their names on lights.

This is one of those laws that should not be passed and you, the Montana resident voter, is the one who decides this law. Gephart utilized prison labor paid by the State of Montana to collect signatures for getting this on the ballot and thereby bypassing the normal process of making law where the good values and the detrimental values would be discussed in an open forum.

Just not doing anything is not an option. If there are more people voting for it then against it, it passes. You must put this initiative where it belongs — in the trash can.

Dave Leishman

Whitefish