Wilson's apology

To the editor,

I normally dispatch letters to the editor signed by Greg and Beth Puckett and Bob Grimaldi directly to the kindling box without bothering to read them. Their letters advocating paving the North Fork Road, for example, invariably make claims about road dust polluting the river and creating a traffic hazard without providing a modicum of supporting evidence.

They also seem to think that North Forkers should be willing to sacrifice the privacy and relative solitude that the road in its current state provides for the sake of boosting the economy of Columbia Falls, and that increased use of the west side of Glacier National Park and the North Fork Road is inherently desirable.

Then, in response to a letter by Greg and Beth Puckett of Ohio (Hungry Horse News, Dec. 17), Larry Wilson, in his Dec. 24 column, "apologizes' for not giving Bob Grimaldi and the North Fork Road Coalition for Health and Safety credit for the recent $96,500 graveling of about 10 miles of the road.

Wilson goes on to name people on the Resource Advisory Committee whose efforts eventually landed the funding for the project, as well as other folks who have worked to keep North Forkers informed about issues involving the road (in particular, Betsy Holycross and Molly Shepherd of the North Fork Landowners' Association). So I had to retrieve the Pucketts' letter to see what this "apology" was all about.

The Pucketts, it seems, think that Grimaldi and the NFRCHS should get nearly exclusive credit for the road improvements, since "[the] only united effort to resolve the problem has been on the part of NFRCHS since the North Fork Landowners 'sic] Association avoided the road issue until a year ago when they 'sic] formed a 'road committee' at Mr. Grimaldi's suggestion."

The Pucketts even refer to the road project reverently as "Grimaldi's Gravel."

One would have to ask Shepherd, the NFLA president who appointed the road committee, what or who motivated her to do so, and when she actually did it. One would also have to wonder why, if Grimaldi is as resourceful as the Pucketts seem to think, he wasn't appointed to that committee.

Finally, given the fact that on more than one occasion, I have heard Greg Puckett comment about the NFLA Web site (www.NFLandowners.org ), I'm surprised he apparently hasn't noticed the North Fork Road page, which contains copious information about the road committee's research, findings and reports, along with news about the North Fork road in general.

Up until the Pucketts' Dec. 17 letter to the editor, Wilson was downplaying his role in efforts to improve the condition of the North Fork Road. And even with the Pucketts' prodding, Wilson diplomatically left it at "Although I am a member of the Resource Advisory Committee, which provided the funding, I was not aware of Bob [Grimaldi] being involved."

Truth be told, Wilson's modesty prevented him from taking credit for his own considerable efforts on behalf of the North Fork community.

Richard E. Wackrow

Polebridge