Rancher opposes CSKT water compact
Again I find myself questioning my state and federal government’s thought process regarding the highly controversial 2015 Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Water Compact.
Fellow ranchers and state legislators have somehow decided that my family’s ranch is somehow less important than that of my neighbors’ purely because of acreage or the need to work two jobs to cover the expenses of raising a family in modern day America. Again the political aspirations of our representatives are casting a shadow on the little man, dismissing the importance of small business and its potential.
Recent studies and articles in various publications have described the impossible task of a successful agriculture in our current economy. I believe the words they utilized over and over were impossible. No thriving farming/ranching operation was handed down to our family. We chose to build a successful operation ourselves that required great personal sacrifice, hard work, long hours, along with a determination to succeed.
All small business starts with dream, a desire to create something, offer something to themselves and those around them. We as an agricultural family have lost the ability to “play” in any normal sense of the word, but have mastered the art of getting a job done as a family. Our children know the meaning of work ethic and the strength behind a promise and a handshake.
Small business is what has built our great nation and families working two or more jobs to make ends meet is a cold reality. We as a family put 100 percent into every task and responsibility and while we as an agriculture community are tending to family, stock, water and land, we count that those elected to represent us perform in the same manner.
Our family tends to every irrigation ditch, hand line and wheel line, recognizing the importance of every drop of water flowing through. The thought of not being able to produce enough feed for our stock due to water uncertainty is as painful as the thought of not being able to feed our children at the table each night.
We touch and care for every calf as it touches the ground and our stock are more like family than an income source. We mourn every loss as a newborn or its mother surrenders its life back to whatever greatness allows us to lead this life, all the while trying to remember that this is a growing business. We, no matter our size, are helping to care for millions of American families every day.
So again I ask, “Why are my family’s opinions or needs any less important than that of ‘corporate’ agriculture?” I argue to you that they are not, regardless of political opinions. I argue that we are the definition of what America’s values were built upon. We are a vested valuable Montana citizens and I once again ask my representatives to stand for small business agriculture.
Protect it, cherish it, encourage it, learn from it. We are not “hobby farmers.” We are investors in our future, our children’s future and the future of agriculture.
I and my family are small business America, and I do not support the current version of the CSKT Water Compact. This Compact does not clearly quantify, determine or justify the amount of water that could or would be delivered to my land for future and present use.
“Trust me” is not an option here. A forever contract needs to be specific. Our legislatures cannot repeat “Obamacare” and pass yet another document to find out what’s in it at a later date.
The Compact is controversial in its complexity, and I ask my representatives to say no to the 2015 CSKT Water Compact.
Johanna Clark lives in Saint Ignatius.