Health Board seat important

To the editor,

Greetings, Columbia Falls friends:

This letter is to inform you that the Flathead County Health Board has an opening on their board. I bring this to your attention for the simple reason that the North Valley — in particular the community of Columbia Falls — needs to have representation on that board.

The Health Department has evolved into one of the best in the country and I refer you to their Web page, www.flatheadhealth.org. Just a few of their involvements are home health, mosquito control, animal shelter, EMS and WIC to name a few, but in particular the new Flathead Community Health Center. The county just added a third floor on the health department at 1035 1st Ave. W. in Kalispell. They provide affordable medical services and dental care for our citizens that struggle with health care costs.

Your involvement in this board will help determine the future of this important County entity and the continued quality of health care in Flathead County. For more detailed information about this board you can contact board chairman Nan Askew at 862-6346 or grits@theaskews.com. You can also submit your letter of interest to Tonya Paxton at 1035 1st Ave. W., Kalispell, MT 59901. Her phone is 751-8109.

Thank you for considering involvement in this important board.

Gary D. Hall

Columbia Falls

Former Flathead County Commissioner

Thanks for support of SB 343

To the editor,

The Flathead Lakers wish to thank our legislators for their support for SB 343, the Aquatic Invasive Species Act. We were very pleased that this bill passed the legislature with the support of every Flathead Basin legislator and was signed into law by Gov. Schweitzer.

Zebra and quagga mussels have devastated water bodies in the Great Lakes states and more recently spread to Lake Mead and other southwest reservoirs. It is virtually impossible to eradicate the exotic mussels once they become established. They cost utilities, municipalities and other water users millions of dollars to control. They can decimate native aquatic plants, animals and fisheries.

The new legislation gives the state and the Flathead Basin partners who are developing a local prevention plan new opportunities to combat this threat. The Flathead Lakers previously posted warning signs at all Flathead Lake public boat launches. Specific education and prevention actions in the plan will begin this summer.

Our special thanks to Sen. Verdell Jackson for sponsoring the bill and to Rep. Janna Taylor for carrying the bill in the House.

Zebra mussels and other invasive aquatic species pose a huge threat to Flathead waters and, if accidentally introduced, would greatly impact boaters, anglers, marinas, irrigators, cities and electricity users. Please help spread the word that any boat entering Flathead or Montana waters that has been used elsewhere must be thoroughly cleaned to protect our priceless waters and our economy from this menace.

Larry Ashcraft, president

Flathead Lakers