Recent grazing rights buyout no victory
In his guest column, Tim Aldrich touted the recent grazing rights buyout as a “small victory” for wild bison. He neglected to impart the ugly details of this so-called victory, one which American taxpayers have spent millions to accomplish.Next year, 25 “lucky” wild bison will be captured, tested, tagged and females will be implanted with invasive telemetric devices to indicate when they give birth. Only these 25 will be allowed to access this multimillion dollar boondoggle - and only until April 15. Meanwhile, the hazing, capture and slaughter will continue.
This is no “great step toward managing wild bison as wildlife in Montana;” this is another insidious step toward treating them as a commodity like livestock. Make no mistake, this is not about disease risk management. The Montana livestock industry is flexing its political muscle in a greedy bid to continue controlling public land at the expense of native wildlife and taxpayers.
Buffalo Field Campaign, Lolo
Agreement not worth the cost
Defending the recent bison “agreement” with Church Universal and Triumphant is another short-sighted, ill-conceived position taken by the National Wildlife Federation and the Montana Wildlife Federation that possibly eclipses even their support for delisting grizzlies and wolves in its absurdity.What was not mentioned in their guest opinion of April 24 is the tremendous cost to the public for an agreement that provides little or no additional habitat or forage for bison that doesn’t already exist. That cost amounts to nearly $15 million for 25 bison for 30 years. Total cost per bison: $20,000. And that is based on the bison testing negative for brucellosis as well as other, numerous attached conditions.
It should concern all sportsmen as to where this funding will come from and how it will affect other wildlife management funding because this “agreement” includes a list of 23 commitments required of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
If the NWF and MWF wanted a positive outcome, they could have advised the governor to accept and implement the recommendations of the recent Government Accountability Office report, which recommended refining, revising or replacing the current plan and agency operating procedures. Of course, the downside of that would result in benefits to wildlife instead of benefits to “special interests.”
Quoting a recent article, “NWF is never far from the public trough defending the species with whom they feed. Greenwash cheerleaders (government propagandists) are well compensated for their indiscretions. Essentially, the primary task of big-money groups today is to keep the subsidies flowing to special interests (and themselves), act as surrogates for elected representatives unwilling to engage the public, and marginalize activists telling the truth about corrupt government agencies and risk-adverse politicians.” Right on!
The real winner here is the Church Universal and Triumphant. They’re laughing all the way to the bank.
Jerry Black, Missoula
We have a glacier, carbon credits for sale
Dear Al Gore,I should like to sell some carbon offset credits.
We live in a remote part of Montana - six miles from the power lines. We generate most of our power using solar panels. Our carbon footprint is quite small. We must have some credits to sell.
Barring that, this past, colder-than-normal winter has left a 4-foot-deep by 50 feet by 9 feet glacier on the north side of the house. It is probably large enough to save a polar bear or two. This glacier is for sale.
I am in somewhat of a hurry to sell this glacier as I hope to buy a few gallons of gas with the receipts. If you wait too many months, what with the rapid increase of gasoline, I might only fetch enough to purchase a thimble or two of regular gas (after taxes, of course).
Sincerely,
Hughlett Hollyday III, Troy
Tester right to shine light on negotiations
I would like to thank Sen. Jon Tester for demanding more time and greater transparency in what had previously been secret negotiations between Plum Creek Timber Co. and the Bush administration’s Undersecretary of the U.S. Forest Service, Mark Rey.Tester’s letter to Rey takes issue with a plan that would give away residential access rights on public roads built with public funds for the purpose of managing our public timber resources. The Bush administration should not act to accommodate Plum Creek’s shift toward real estate development, especially at the cost of county taxpayers. By encouraging development in our forests, this plan would further strain the budget of a Forest Service that already spends half of its money on fire suppression. As the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation points out, residential development of our forests makes wildfire more likely, more expensive to fight and more dangerous. With Plum Creek owning more than 1 million acres in this state alone, this plan is of profound interest to Montanans and deserves open discussion.
As Tester wrote in his letter, “The people of Montana have a lot at stake, and they need to be involved.”
Joe Welke, Missoula
Plant-based diet can save money, lives
It’s been the leading story in major newspapers and TV news programs for the past week. More than 100 million people are being driven deeper into poverty by a “silent tsunami” of rising food prices, according to World Food Program executive director Josette Sheeran. A dozen countries have experienced food riots and strikes.Prices for basic food staples such as rice, wheat, corn and soybeans have skyrocketed in recent months. They are driven by rising fuel and fertilizer prices, diversion of corn to produce biofuels, drought in key food-producing countries, soil depletion through overgrazing and growing demand for meat in China and other developing nations.
The resulting hunger affects nearly 1 billion people, mostly women and children. It kills an astonishing 24,000 per day. It’s not just a problem for strangers in faraway lands. It affects millions of Americans, and some U.S. stores are already rationing food.
The good news is that even a small shift toward a plant-based diet in the U.S. and other developed countries would free up enough land, water and fuel to feed everyone. More than 80 percent of U.S. agricultural land grows animal feed. A plant-based diet requires only 16 to 20 percent of the resources of the standard American diet.
Every one of us can start abating the scourge of world hunger today, by reducing our consumption of meat and other animal products and by supporting food distribution agencies. (For more information, see www.thehungersite.org.)
Jack Lauderman, Missoula
Drivers must look before opening doors
It’s Bike Walk Bus Week and I’m feeling great, biking north on Gerald Avenue on my way to a fundraiser at Ten Spoons Winery.I’m passing a parked car when suddenly the door flies open and I’m on the ground, head saved by my helmet, knee skinned a bit, thinking I can continue with my plans - until I try to stand up and discover I’ve re-injured a leg I thought was healed enough that I could at least walk the 5K Bank Run. I won’t be running for a while; I need a ride home.
The woman who opened the car door is dismayed, apologetic, distressed, offers whatever help I need, takes me home and promises to caution other drivers about opening car doors before looking behind them. I’m angry and sorry that I had relaxed my usual caution about riding at least a car door’s width away from parked cars.
This is the second time I’ve been “doored,” and learned after the first time to be cautious. I can’t count the number of times, even this past week, that being cautious and leaving that distance saved me from being hit by doors that suddenly flew open in front of me.
Drivers, please look before opening your door, and then open it slowly. Cyclists, stay alert and a door’s width away from parked cars, and don’t let anybody intimidate you with a “move over!” because you’re cycling a safe distance away from parked cars. We have a right to safe space on the road.
Cycling is a great way to get around - quiet, peaceful, good exercise, social, economical, fun and good for our community and the environment. The more of us who do it, the safer we are. Don’t hit us or curse us. Join us.
Ethel MacDonald, Missoula
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