Thoughts on the Interlocal

We are rapidly approaching the Winter Interlocal. It will be held Feb. 21 at Glacier National Park in the Community Building. By now, individuals and private residents should have sent their concerns to Bill Walker so that he can give advance notice to the responsible government agency.

I am sure that the list of concerns from local residents will be pretty much the same as in recent years, river management, endangered species and trail maintenance come to mind.

The agencies are supposed to bring their concerns to the winter meeting, but we have not seen that in recent years. In fact, agency response is from a lower level than it was at first. The Forest Service and Glacier Park are no longer represented by the Forest Supervisor or the Park Superintendent. Instead, they send local District Rangers and staff from special services if residents ask technical questions.

It has become standard for Flathead County to send Dave Prunty and Ovila Byrd from the Road Department. I’m sure this is because they, and the work they have done, are popular on the North Fork. I can’t remember the last time our commissioner has attended. The Commission signed the Interlocal Agreement and the county has more to do on the North Fork than maintain the road. How about weeds? How about zoning? How about their position on tourism? All issues Flathead County, not just the road department, should be involved in.

I wonder if the Forest Service has any concerns about Sen. Daines’ proposed bill to eliminate some or all Wilderness Study Areas? For years, the Forest Service has been mandated to identify areas of federal forest that are, or could be, eligible for wilderness status, which only Congress can establish.

Most of these lands have been identified for nearly 40 years without being formally designated as wilderness. The problem is, the Forest Service manages these areas as wilderness, so wilderness advocates don’t need Congress to act and anti-wilderness folks have no way to oppose these de-facto wilderness areas. This is a major fight moving closer and closer to igniting.

Everyone needs to be looking at how we can deal with ever-increasing recreation demands without destroying much of what we love most.

I hope the Interlocal offers some solutions, but I am not very optimistic.

What do you think?

Larry Wilson’s North Fork Views appears weekly in the Hungry Horse News.