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After 20 seasons guiding wilderness treks and river journeys in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, I have witnessed significant changes in wilderness visitors. As a teenager I hiked from Ovando to Essex, scrambled in the Mission Mountains and skied from Benchmark to Holland Lake. Years later, adventures through the Bob were family highlights. I have a 45-year perspective on backcountry and the people who venture there. It was common to share the journey with deeply appreciative guests humbled by the 30-mile trek and the river float. We traveled...
If you are vaccine hesitant, whatever your reasons, here are five points of information that you owe it to yourself to consider. They are from Dr. Tom Frieden, an American infectious disease and public health physician and former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the current Director of the CDC has noted in the Washington Post Feb. 26, 2021, “We may be done with the virus, but clearly the virus is not done with us.” Five things to consider to help you decide whether or not to get vaccinated aga...
During the past year, federal employees nationwide and 12,898 active federal and U.S Postal workers of Montana have dedicated themselves to keeping our country running while weathering a global pandemic. They continue to provide essential financial services, processing stimulus payments, tax refunds, small business loans, Social Security checks, mortgages, and student loans to keep the economy churning and households operating. As they do every day, they have kept us safe, tracking cyber threats, protecting the food supply, and alerting...
Dear Fire Chief Lane, Firstly, we would like to thank you for aiding us in our campaign by asking us questions publicly. We are delighted to respond, and are not hiding from, nor behind, anything! Why we chose to ask constituents to email us any questions? We merely used the e-mail address as an avenue for people to ask us questions, or coordinate phone calls and meetings. We find it interesting that you claim we are not answering publicly, when we attended the community council meeting for candidates, as did you, this last Monday night, April...
There are two pairs of candidates running for the two open seats on the Fire Board. Connie Clark and Gary Lewis are the incumbents. Kristy Pohlman and Alyssa McLean promise to bring positive change to the Fire Board. Do we even need change on the Fire Board? Yes, and here’s why. About four years ago, during an interim chief’s tenure, there were abnormalities with a callout that raised concerns within the corps of the EMTs. One EMT wrote up the incident and shared it with the Captain. Because the concerns were about the interim chief, the con...
Please join me in supporting Alyssa McLean and Kristy Pohlman for the Fire Board. They are dedicated to Seeley Lake and will advocate for our health and well being. Their focus on transparency, safety and accountability is vital to our community. Alyssa McLean is the daughter of a career firefighter who will bring a unique perspective to the board. She’s the mother of one son, manager of a local business and has a background in research, finance and grant writing. Kristy Pohlman, a life long Seeley resident, is a small business owner, e...
Dear Seeley Lake - I have lived here for 28 years. First, I want to thank the Fire Department volunteers past and especially present for their continued service. It is sincerely appreciated! I am asking you to consider that myself and others believe that the Fire Board is in desperate need of a change. Since August 2020 I have attended the Fire Board meetings. The average meeting lasts about eight minutes. The budget is approved first thing without discussing any numbers or information provided to the public attending. Fiscally responsible? We...
Here I am, with my second vaccine under a Band-aid on my arm, looking at the world with renewed hope. As I plan summer hikes, cold beer at hand, I trace routes near my home. I follow topographic lines near Morrell Mountain, Dunham Point, and Spread Mountain and look for areas of easy walking, routes that connect the landscape. This area, between Seeley Lake and Ovando, is my home. It is rich in wildlife. It is the birthplace of rivers. It is a working landscape too. These maps capture the heart of the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act...
I have a couple questions of the candidates that I would like answered to the public. 1. Pohlman and McLean sent out cards in the mail with the words Accountability, Transparency, Community Safety, Community Advocacy and Community Voice. First, where is the transparency when you ask people to ask questions in private? You want people to email questions to you and the answers are not public. Also, what group are you advocating for? What is your cause? The current Fire Board and Administration encourage the community to speak for themselves and...
Biden’s latest harebrained idea is to send Kamala Harris to inspect the border. That’s like sending a weasel to inspect the hen house. Harris will destroy evidence and cover up the truth. Biden is illegally encouraging and abetting illegal aliens to cross our sovereign border illegally. Wow that was a mouthful! Because of hate for Trump and Trump supporters, he took a Trump system that worked and changed it. Under Trump’s leadership we had the most secure border in 45 years. Biden and those telling him what to do are guilty of slavery, drugs...
Voters turned out in record numbers in 2020. Hundreds-of-thousands of folks in our state cast their ballots and exercised their most fundamental right as an American. Unfortunately, Republicans across the nation and here in Montana are working around the clock to take that right away. Today there are 361 bills introduced across 47 states to make it harder for eligible American voters to cast a ballot. In Arizona, Republican lawmakers responded to election losses by quickly introducing a voter suppression bill to make it harder for rural,...
To The Editor: The Merriam-Webster dictionary provides a definition of “relic” as “a trace of some past or outmoded practice or belief. That, I believe aptly describes Dale Terrillion and his contribution in the letters to the Pathfinder (“My two cents on wildlife bills” in the April 1 issue). His disdain for science and by association scientists, displays one of the things that is currently a major problem in this country. I for one place more faith in science and in the recommendations of the 53 signees to the letter (“Bills are harmful to...
I can’t believe what is happening to our country. My father was in the Army in World War I. I lost cousins at Normandy in World War II. I joined the Marine Corp and served in Korea. I am saddened to think of the many American men and women who gave their lives and limbs to keep our freedom as promised by our Constitution and the Bill of Rights, not to be altered, misinterpreted or just ignored by the president, speakers of the House and Senate and all its members. We have 40,000 homeless veterans in our country. But rather than address this, t...
My, oh my, all those folks – specialists with all those degrees speak’n out against those bills in the legislature. I’m impressed. You may have noticed I don’t have any degrees just a lifetime out ‘n the woods. Sixty-five years of trap’n from wolves, lynx, wolverine and everything in between. I was wonder’n if all those folks who signed that letter to the editor in the March 25 Pathfinder (Bills are harmful to wildlife and hunting heritage in Montana) ever lost any livestock or dogs to predators? Anyway, I will agree with ‘um on the snare th...
Every election cycle, you can count on Republican candidates promising to reduce the size and cost of government, and in general, getting government out of our businesses and out of our daily lives. Yet the GOP’s commitment to controlling government and reducing welfare dependency is highly selective. For their friends, the free money game continues unabated. One of the most sainted of wealth transfer schemes for the Republicans is the Holy Tax Credit, generally targeted toward specific types of businesses and business activities that – so the...
Since when did we elect these so-called scientists to rule America? These scientists tell us to wear masks at all times and now two or three masks. Many elected officials go along with this. Just the thought of putting a mask on a child terrifies and makes me angry. Lack of oxygen can cause brain damage or heart problems to our children. It is called child abuse. What about those of us with COPD and asthma or congestive heart failure and heart disease? We need all the oxygen we can get. These so-called scientists and some elected officials...
We are 53 Montana residents and professional wildlife biologists and managers with a total of 1,696 years of experience in wildlife management and wildlife habitat management. Among us are 18 retired employees of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks with 534 years with the agency and three former Commissioners from the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission. We strongly oppose the following bills: HB 224 and HB 225 – Allows neck snaring of wolves and extends the season for wolf trapping – Neck snares set for wolves will result in the capture of man...
To the Decision Makers of the poisoning of the North Fork Blackfoot River in the Scapegoat Wilderness, Having been involved in a similar project in Arizona nine years ago with the Forest Service, Arizona Game & Fish (same as MT FWP), the Yavapai-Apache Tribe, USFWS, Bureau of Reclamation and others, I witnessed the effort to establish/maintain a native fish population in a Wilderness and a Wild & Scenic River using fish poisons Rotenone mixed with Potassium Permanganate. I produced a 39-minute video (available at https://youtu.be/QuVUKqEkQCM)...
The Potomac Greenough Community Center (PGCC) and Potomac School have had a working relationship for decades. The lease for over 13 years allotted for insurance and a small amount to be saved for future systems replacement which was the responsibility of the Lessor, PGCC, in the lease. The lease provided that the school would take care of the daily maintenance and upkeep of the building. The interior maintenance of the structure was left ambiguous and had become a source of conflict as the Center became responsible for mounting maintenance...
The Constitution of the United States sets America apart from all other countries. For the first time in the history of humanity the individual becomes more important than the state. American’s were given the right to self govern. The founding fathers believed these rights came from God, not from a King, not from the government, not even from the constitution. The constitution was written to limit the state’s authority and to secure the individual’s God-given rights. Nearly 50 years ago the Supreme Court ruled that it was uncon...
Can you feel it? Spring is in the air. Longer days and warmer weather are on the horizon, and Blackfoot river fishing guides and outfitters are preparing for the oncoming guiding season - tying new flies, patching waders and dialing in gear before the skwala hatch. Soon, we’ll be sliding boats into the water and taking guests on trips of their lifetimes. We aren’t the only ones. Montanans and tourists alike turned to public lands and waters more than ever in 2020. As COVID curtailed many of our activities last spring and summer, we all sou...
The keystone pipeline canceled, open borders, a multi trillion bill bailing out New York, California and Illinois. Rising fuel prices, gun control laws, increased taxes, forced unionization, laws enabling voter fraud, blocks on fossil fuels. What benefits Montana? Steve Daines (R) Senate and Matt Rosendale (R) Congress spent millions convincing us they would “REPRESENT” Montana”. Where are they? Montana has lost tax revenue and jobs and will lose more. We don’t get a new bridge, school or subway system. We get a war on our economy and lifesty...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District voters have spoken....again....loudly and clearly. They do NOT want a $35 million sewer to grow the community for a half dozen developers who have touted the proposal. If the board is listening it should: 1. Return any unused taxpayer funds to the taxpayers. 2. Fire itself and disband. We can re-constitute the board down the road as a COMBINED sewer / water district if we elect to move in a new direction....
Excellent article on pet care (“Plan ahead for your pet” March 4 issue of the Pathfinder) if the owner dies or is otherwise incapacitated. The article should apply to all pet owners, not just the elderly. Additional considerations: • I always carry a small laminated card on me and will permanently attach one to my canine kid’s halter that gives the name and phone number of where she is to go if something happens to me. Plus I’ll update that card with contact information of the person who will be responsible for getting her there. One is on my p...
The Missoulian on Feb. 4, 2021 reported, “There is also no evidence of voter fraud or lack of integrity in Montana’s elections. Republicans who brought a lawsuit over the security of Montana’s election held by mail last November were forced to admit that point in court last fall.” And yet, if you can’t win elections based on your unpopular policy positions, you might as well cheat and restrict people’s access to voting to try and win, right? After losing the White House and the Senate, Republicans are looking for a path back to power in 20...
