Letters to the editor

Is Schweitzer's proposal 'corporate welfare?'

According to the July 23 Daily Inter Lake, Brian Schweitzer "proposes establishing a 15 percent tax credit . . ." to filmmakers who make films in Montana.

The Democrats have long complained about us Republicans giving "corporate welfare" to the big corporations, thus allowing them not to pay any taxes in Montana. I have on my desk a letter from John Kerry where he states, "And we're going to put an end to the Bush administration's obsession with lavishing tax breaks on the wealthiest Americans and doing the bidding of powerful special interests."

Now Brian Schweitzer wants to give the big corporations of Hollywood a 15 percent tax rebate when they make movies in Montana. Why is it corporate welfare when Republicans give tax rebates when attempting to improve the Montana economy but just good business when Democrats do it?

Jerry O'Neil

Columbia Falls

Money to spend, but no stores open evenings

I was just recently visiting Whitefish and Glacier National Park. I enjoyed it tremendously and I loved the town of Whitefish. On my last evening in Montana, my father and I went out to dinner and then wanted to walk around to the shops while we digested our delicious dinner from Truby's. But all the shops were closed. It seems a shame to me that they close so early because there are many people out there that want to spend money in the evening and see the scenery during the day. I was fortunate to have a few hours in the morning to venture out but I feel sorry for those that have an early flight the next morning and never make it to the shops. Thank you for your time.

Bria Franklin

Mechanicsburg, Pa.

'Cooking for Cause'

benefit a success

Sunday night, July 25, 2004, Hellroaring Saloon held a "Cooking for Cause" dinner for the benefit of the Big Mountain Firefighters Association. It was a wonderful meal prepared by four guest chefs: Stuart Allen, Hellroaring Saloon chef; Andy Blanton, executive chef at Cafe Kandahar; Zachary Bernheimhas, general manager and executive chef at Corner House Grille; and Jim Wasinger, chef for Distinctive Gourmet and The Summit at Big Mountain.

The money raised will be used toward the purchase of fire-fighting equipment for the Big Mountain Firefighters.

The Big Mountain Firefighters Association would like to express their appreciation to Kari Saad, the owner of Hellroaring Saloon, the chefs and all the individuals who participated in this wonderful meal and made it so successful.

Rhona Meislik

Big Mountain Firefighters Association

Who owns public lands?

When the Friends of Spencer Mountain first alerted Whitefish residents to the possibility that State Educational Trust Lands could be privatized we asked a question: "Who owns these lands?"

It has been over a year since that beginning and a great deal of work has been completed by a committee that deserves the gratitude of all of us. However we would like to point out that 50% of the land in what is known as the "Western States" is owned by the 270 million of us that call ourselves Americans. These lands are a heritage…our heritage…the heritage of the generations to come.

The State Lands Advisory Committee, comprised of an extremely broad spectrum of Whitefish Residents, has held fast to a program that has collected and presented a vast amount of information. It's the sort of effort that only concerned groups can do…it is truly democracy at work. As they approach the crucial "end stages" of this work, however, it is clear that the DNRC have little interest in the democratic process and are beginning to posture in ways that lead us to believe that they are going to proceed unilaterally no matter what the results of countless hours of research reveal.

The DNRC has shown that they are willing to talk to local developers and businessmen but unwilling to talk to a local bike club whose proposal would have resulted in an immediate increase in revenue without changing current land use. At last weeks meeting the committee was informed that some aspects of their deliberations were in error because they had not taken into account a proposed new road running from Highway 93 through Plum Creek land to the north end of Whitefish Lake. This road has purportedly been under consideration for the past two years and was not part of the information given to the committee because of an oversight.This oversight is of such magnitude that even the DNRC's own two committee members did not know about the road proposal until two weeks ago!

We encourage the committee to continue with its work. To represent the people of this area to the best of their ability and in no way respond to the bullying pressures of an administration that has forgotten it's charter.

We applaud the courage of Mike Jopek and Dan Weinberg, who last week took a stand that would result in legislation to protect these lands if they are elected. This is not a partisan issue and we invite politicians from both sides of the ticket to show the courage that these two have. We feel that this process is a ground breaking event and that the work done by our citizen committee is the leading edge of a wave of civic partnerships with the DNRC that will be mirrored around the state…perhaps even the nation.

The DNRC hierarchy in Helena 's main focus in this process seems to be the privatizing of our public land. They have forgotten that they work for all of us…AND the generations of the future. Whitefish residents…these are our lands. Be active. Attend the meetings, and above all, support the committee that has done such a good job in representing us. Who owns these lands?…..WE ALL DO.

From the Friends of Spencer Mountain Steering Committee: Don Gaynor, Bonnie Hodges, John and Souheir Rawlings