Pot holes need fixing
To the editor,
I am a member of the Boy Scouts of America in Columbia Falls, Troop 1920. I am working on my communications merit badge and I’m am cutting close on time. I am supposed to write to the editor or a newspaper about my views on a topic of my choice. I have chosen to talk about pot holes.
I live far away from the town of Columbia Falls, but still run into a lot of pot holes. There are a lot of potholes in town, of course, but I’m not sure everything is being done to solve this problem. This slightest pot hole or bump to a person’s car can set off their alignment — costing them money to fix it.
It isn’t that big of an issue, but it really bothers me that there are so many of them and little is being done to fix them. It just really annoys me when I hit a pot hole that been there for over two months and no one is doing anything about it. It just keeps getting bigger creating a bigger problem to our society.
Thank you for reading my views on this issue. I really hope I get my scouting done before my birthday so that I may get my Eagle Scout reward!
Travis James Hill
Boy Scout Troop 1920
Elementary receives A+
To the editor,
My hat is off to the dedicated people who run West Glacier Elementary School so well. Like Lisa McKeon, I believe that the school board, teachers, administrators and aides are doing a great job with very limited resources.
Schools can be lightning rods for controversy, but looking past the often-ugly issues that can go with the running of a school to the heart of why a school exists — to educate our future generations in a fiscally responsible manner — is the true test of a school’s excellence.
West Glacier Elementary receives an A+ by both of these measures. The human and financial bottom lines are extremely well taken care of at West Glacier Elementary, and that is why I fully support the school and those guiding it.
Jean Tabbert
West Glacier
Thanks for support
To the editor,
We would like to thank our wonderful members at Curves for Women in Columbia Falls for participating in our annual food drive. Through our members’ commitment to our great community we were able to donate 345 pounds of food and $200 to our local food bank.
So please extend a big thank you to our Curves members for their generosity.
Tammy Woody and Flo Williams
Columbia Falls
Nolan endorsed for School District 8 trustee
To the editor,
I enthusiastically agree with Lisa McKeon’s assessment of West Glacier Elementary School (WGE) and the people who make the school so wonderful. In particular I would like to thank school board chairman Gerry Nolan for his outstanding leadership efforts on the board of trustees. Gerry brings a wealth of administrative and educational experience to our school, spanning over 30 years as a teacher, coach, principal and superintendent. Gerry earned his education degree at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisc. His doctoral dissertation investigated teacher initiated communication emphasizing student well being and success and he brings his own excellent communication skills to the West Glacier community. His experience in starting The Summit Preparatory School in Kalispell from the ground up, as well as his understanding of alternative school models, makes him a perfect fit for a rural school such as WGE, where creative educational and fiscal approaches are essential in keeping the learning environment vibrant and school taxes the lowest in the county. He is a priceless asset to the West Glacier community.
Gerry would like to continue serving the West Glacier community, however, due to a family emergency, he was not able to meet the ballot deadline for school trustee elections. He is running, nonetheless, as a write-in candidate. We should not let this dedicated educator’s 30-plus years of experience go to waste. I urge all West Glacier residents to write-in Gerry Nolan for School District 8 trustee for the two-year term when they vote on May 6.
Valerie Parsons
West Glacier
Ban bear spray in parks
To the editor,
Bear spray is illegal in national parks, and the National Park Service should ban it, just as guns and other weapons are banned. You don’t need a law degree to read the Code of Federal Regulations and see that bear spray is illegal in national Parks. According to the Code, 31 CFR (1.4) defines a weapon as a “firearm… bow and arrow… irritant gas device,” and 36 CFR (2.4) says “the following are prohibited: (i) Possessing a weapon, trap or net; (ii) Carrying a weapon, trap or net ; (iii) Using a weapon, trap, or net.”
Bear spray is designed to be an “irritant gas device” and should be banned from national parks. I think that banning bear spray will reduce the number of confrontations between people and bears. Without bear spray, people will make a more sincere effort to avoid trouble with bears.
Dave Smith
Avalon, Calif.
Lifetime opportunity to access land, water
To the editor,
Access to public land and water is very important to us. We have just learned of two projects in Flathead County that have potential to provide much needed access to land and water.
The first project, 440 acres of school trust land, was described in the April 3 edition of the Bigfork Eagle. State owned land near Woods Bay is being considered for sale by the Montana Department of Natural Resources (DNRC). The purpose of school trust land via statute is to provide income for schools. However, this land has not produced significant revenue because of lack of access which qualifies it to be sold via the land banking statute.
The ideal solution for public access would be to solve the access problem so that DNRC can manage the property to prevent fire and sell wood products. If access cannot be obtained, then an exchange with the Flathead National Forest which surrounds the land on two sides may be feasible. As has been the traditional use of this property, people could continue to use the property for hunting, fishing, hiking and other uses as permitted by DNRC.
The second project is 62 acres of land with 767 feet of Flathead Lake frontage with a deep bay. It is located four miles south of Lakeside, just before the county line. Highway 93 borders the west property line. This land is up for sale by the owners who prefer that it be a park to provide boating, hiking, camping, swimming, and other recreational activities.
Both of these projects are going to require much public and legislative support to become a reality.
Bob Keenan, Bigfork
Mark Blasdel, Somers
Verdell Jackson, Kalispell
Zinke: What am I compromising?
When I was growing up in the Flathead Valley, I can’t remember being assigned a red or blue desk in school. In fact, I don’t recall ever hearing about people or states being referred to as blue or red along political party lines.
The first time I became aware of anything remotely political was when I was about 10 years old, playing in my grandfather’s attic. I remember marveling at the discovery of a collection of “Taft for President” campaign buttons stored among the myriad of posters and memorabilia. The dusty Winter Carnival-like buttons were the only evidence of my grandfather’s political support for Taft against Eisenhower in 1958.
When I was older and became an avid reader of history, I began to gain an appreciation for the political courage of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and yes, Dwight Eisenhower (sorry Grandpa!). My attraction to these great leaders was never on the basis of a particular political party, but rather their uncompromising adherence to higher principles. So when I read political rhetoric about stopping the red versus blue “bickering” and the need for compromise, it makes me wonder: What exactly I am compromising?
I suppose a fundamental question may be the role of government itself. I believe the primary role of government is to ensure that opportunity and choice exist for all Americans through a fair and transparent form of democracy. Our forefathers held the uncompromising view that we should be free to shape our own destiny, based on our hard work, self sacrifice, frugality, accountability and responsibility. In other words, they gave us our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; whether or not that pursuit succeeds is determined by our deeds and actions.
The principle of self determination is a cornerstone of American values and not the exclusive domain of any political party. This belief in a “self-made person” is in sharp contrast to the position that the government is responsible for providing our happiness through entitlement programs. The consequence of such policies is government dependence, loss of the freedom to choose our own destiny and a growing debt that will be left to our children. A government by the people is a government paid for by the people.
Unfortunately, in fiscal year 2007, Montana’s government spending increased at more than five times the national average with a whooping 28.4 percent. To pay for the government excess, working Montanans pay one of the highest personal tax rates, small businesses are being driven out-of-state, and people are forced to sell their homes because they cannot afford to pay the property taxes. In 1776, Jefferson would have called that form of government a tyrant.
Quite simply, the entitlement-hungry ethos is digging at the foundation of our great nation. Yes, government oversight is necessary to ensure clean air and water and a healthy forest, as Teddy Roosevelt (National Park System) and Richard Nixon (1970 Clean Air Act) championed. Yes, the more money you make, the greater the tax obligation you have to the system that created the opportunity for you to prosper (Benjamin Franklin and Teddy Roosevelt). And yes, both sides of the political aisle need to rise above petty differences to find reasonable solutions to complex problems. But a government that compromises values, rewards mediocrity and penalizes incentive is a government unworthy of the American spirit.
Montana has a history of not compromising her principles despite the pressure to do so. One might recall Montana Congresswoman Jeanette Rankin, the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress and the sole vote against America entering the First World War. Regardless of whether one agrees with her position, her courage to stand her ground against intimidation is worthy of admiration. The challenges Montana faces today are no less daunting and require the same courage and leadership to protect our freedom to chose our destiny.
Property taxes, decent paying jobs and water rights are among the issues that demand uncompromising leadership to protect our unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Reducing taxes, creating opportunity for all and checking out of control government spending are essential in ensuring our children can work, live and play in Montana. Like Jeanette Rankin, we have to have the courage not to compromise our principles for the sake of convenience.
Ryan Zinke of Whitefish is a Republican candidate for State Senate District 2.
Cheatgrass: Threat to plant environments
As spring and the weed season approach I would like to make people aware of what I consider to be an extremely serious threat to both native and cultivated plant environments. Its common name is cheatgrass. Its seeds are the ones which get stuck in your socks. And it is invading Montana.
It is an alien annual grass from Eurasia. It can germinate from the fall until spring depending on the conditions. (It is already growing nicely in the Flathead Valley.) It establishes itself rapidly in early spring robbing later native species of available water and nutrients. It usually dies out in mid-June producing lots of seeds which are viable for 2-3 years.
My friends and I had been diligently fighting spotted knapweed, leafy spurge and other noxious weeds. We did not know what cheatgrass was and what it could do until it had established itself on our properties. Then we realized that it was slowly but surely crowding out the native plants and creeping its way into other previously weed free areas.
We sought advice from Flathead County Weed Control office but they had no clear strategy to offer. So we have been trying to figure out one for ourselves. If we had known earlier what cheatgrass is we would have been able to confront the problem before it got out of hand. We decided that the least we could do was to help other people protect themselves by getting cheatgrass information out to the public.
On Aug. 6, 2007 we presented our case before the Flathead County Weed/Parks/Recreation and Building Maintenance Board. We asked the board to put cheat grass on the noxious weed list. Their response was: There is really no effective way to control it. If the board were to make it a noxious weed, that would mean they would require the public to control an uncontrollable plant. They added that public information was not possible for lack of funding.
(Cheatgrass is on the noxious weed list in Colorado. Colorado State University Extension has excellent information on cheatgrass: www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/natres/06310.html.)
On Nov. 27, 2007 an article titled “Knapweed Researcher Sees Work Paying Off” appeared in The Missoulian. The article describes how after over 30 years researchers’ work has made a difference and significantly reduced the knapweed population in Montana. But the article ended on a sour note. And now, researchers have noted that another invasive weed, cheatgrass, often replaces the dying knapweed. Cheatgrass has its own issues. The weed can outcompete other native plants because it takes advantage of early spring moisture and is often finished growing before other plants even get started. Cheatgrass also cures early in the season and makes a fine fuel for wildfire.
So cheatgrass is a fire hazard as well? On July 28, 2007 NPR’s “All Things Considered” broadcast “Safe Zone Method for Wildfires Questioned.” They reported that new research is showing that invasive plant species, cheatgrass among them, are taking over in fire breaks. When dry it is highly flammable and explodes practically like gasoline.
Then in a Feb. 3, 2008 article in The Missoulian titled “Researchers Analyze Retardant Use” it is reported that a study “raises the possibility that the red slurry, while helping to slow a wildfire’s advance, could ultimately worsen grassland fires by promoting the growth of cheatgrass, one of the most flammable invasive weeds in the West.”
It seems to me that cheatgrass poses a double threat and in light of last year’s terrible fire season and the continuing drought, a threat we cannot afford to simply ignore. I realize that most Montana agencies dealing with matters such as cheatgrass are underfunded, understaffed and overworked. I think it is time for the state to provide funding for research on this subject. In the meantime there surely must be some organization or agency in the state which could print out fliers on cheatgrass which could be laid out in public buildings throughout Montana. Even if there is no simple solution Montanans deserve to be informed.
Gretchen von Rittberg is a resident of Bigfork.