Motorized use rebuttal

In the Dec. 12 Hungry Horse News, Mr. Stephen Peters wrote, “The environmentalists and outfitters got their way, and we motorized users had no say ... What happened to the public lands for all of us to use?”

I would like to clarify and state that motorized users have had the majority of say with our public lands. Their voice, money and political power have certainly won the bulk of the public domain for motorized use. The ATV has won and wilderness has lost. Here’s why:

• Federally designated wilderness in the state of Montana comprises a mere 3.7 percent of the total land base.

• Only 12.9 percent of all federal land (National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) in the state is designated wilderness, and 5.4 percent remains as proposed wilderness.

That leaves over 80 percent of federal lands open to motorized use in some form or fashion.

Mr. Peters, yes, you have had your say, and if this was a truly democratic system overseeing our federal land, then there would be even more wilderness to tip the scales of balance.

Fly across the United States and look down at the landscape below. Do we need even more acreage for motors and engines? They’ve had their share.

But perhaps you do need the last crumbs of wilderness because the entire cookie jar wasn’t enough. A machine’s gut is never full.

Matthew Chappell

West Glacier