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The State of Montana, through the Department of Natural Resources (DNRC) and Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) approved the Elbow Lake Gravel Pit and Asphalt Plant in 2023. The 20 acre site of the gravel pit on Highway 83 is part of the critical wildlife corridor to and from the Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area (BCWMA). The rationale for the decision by the state to approve the pit was that it needed funding to support education. The decision was made despite overwhelming opposition to the gravel pit from the citizens of...
Kudos to the sheriffs here in Seeley Lake. Finally cleaning out the riff raff. This town is now a little safer. Now the sheriffs need to go after the speeders. Once they pass the motel going north their speed increases and that's a 35 mph zone. Even the traffic coming from Condon, they don't slow down and the truckers are the worst, constantly using their jake brake. Speed limit in town is 25 mph and they're going faster than that. Best idea is for cameras to catch the speeders. Colorado, Arizona and Texas, along with California have cameras...
Generosity throughout Seeley Lake contributed to a successful shoebox gift collection season at drop-off locations for the Samaritan's Purse project Operation Christmas Child. Across the U.S., the project collected 10 million shoebox gifts in 2023. Combined with those collected from partnering countries in 2023, the ministry is now sending over 11.3 million shoebox gifts to children worldwide, including many who are suffering from war, poverty, disease and disaster. Through shoeboxes — packed with fun toys, school supplies and personal ca...
Human trafficking is not just a big city problem – it’s happening right here in Montana. Which is why, during National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, I’m encouraging Montanans to learn the signs of human trafficking and report it if they see it. If folks don’t know what it is and how to report it, they can’t help us stop it. Let’s call human trafficking what it is: modern-day slavery. Traffickers—often organized criminal enterprises—are profiting at the expense of adults and children who are forced to perform labor or engage in comme...
The people of Montana have elected: · Our Governor, who is from California, · Our junior Senator, also from California, · A Representative, from Maryland. All three are wealthy and have shown a general disregard for what the people of Montana care about and who want to sell our public lands to the highest bidder because they have no feeling of “ownership” in these lands without deeds in their names. In addition, we have a wealthy Representative (who has shown a disregard for transparency or conserving public money and spends most of his time o...
We, the Powell County Commission, wish to express support for the Montana Sportsmen Conservation Act (MSCA) and the release of Hoodoo Mountain and Wales Creek Wilderness Study Areas (WSA). Montana’s WSAs have been stuck in legal limbo for over 40 years, creating challenges for both land managers and public land users. In 1991, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) found that neither Hoodoo Mountain nor Wales Creek WSA fit the criteria for recommended wilderness, yet both areas remain listed as WSAs over 30 years later. Releasing these two a...
When people ask me why I vote for Democrats, I point no further than the Copper Kings of Butte during the 20th century. The Copper Kings kicked working people in the teeth. They slashed wages. They broke up Unions. They bought off politicians, and denied countless families from experiencing the American Dream. As I see it, the Montana Democratic Party stands for one simple lesson: opportunity for everyone. We go after big corporations and reign in price gouging. We cut taxes for working families. We reduce the costs of healthcare, prescription...
A judge in Gallatin County recently blocked two bills aimed at addressing Montana’s housing crisis, siding with a radical anti-housing interest group. The decision to block Senate Bill 323 and Senate Bill 528 is misguided and unfortunate. These bills passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and were signed into law by Governor Gianforte. Housing affordability is a major issue in Montana. Many Montanans can no longer afford to live in the communities in which they grew up. To protect our Montana way of life, we need to find ways to i...
I want to respond to Mike Marshall’s letter, published in the Pathfinder on Jan. 4. As I understand him, Mr. Marshall’s basic premise is that all or most of the dozens of bills passed by the Legislature that are being challenged in court are clearly unconstitutional. Constitutional matters are not so simple, nor does the actual data support his argument. But it’s an argument that has also been made by others, such as Democratic legislators and activists, so I’d like to address it. First, Mr. Marshall suggests the Legislature’s “legal ve...
Dear Editor, We live in a confusing time. A time when we protect unborn whales and pandas, but not unborn human children! Statistics say that in America there are an average of 90 human abortions every hour. In 1984, President Ronald Ragan proclaimed January 22 a Sanctity of Human Life Day. This year celebrates forty years of the Sanctity of Human Life. The dictionary defines sanctity as the state or quality of being holy, sacred, or of ultimate importance and inviolability. At Sparrow’s Vine Pregnancy and Parenting Resource Center we b...
The horrific terror attack against Israeli on Oct. 7 revealed that anti-semitic hatred has a disturbing foothold in the world. Equally troubling is what has been exposed in our own country in the months since: the shocking tolerance (encouragement even) of antisemitic, genocidal hatred on college campuses. Like so many Americans, I was stunned when the heads of three elite Universities testified before Congress and refused to unconditionally condemn calls for genocide against Jewish people. This ugly episode shone a light on the creeping,...
In response to your recent letter to The Seeley Swan Pathfinder, I am writing to express my profound disappointment and deep concern regarding your recent track record in the Montana state legislature. Your penchant for crafting bills that ultimately wind up in court, clogging the system and ultimately crumbling under the weight of the Montana Constitution, is not only irresponsible, but it is also a blatant disregard for the taxpayers’ money and the well-being of our state. Every time you push through a poorly conceived, unconstitutional b...
During the midst of this holiday season, the legislative assembly is being asked to approve a special session to be held on Jan. 15. The following is my rationale for voting against this call right now. The objectives, as stated by the nearly 20 legislators requesting this action, are to return a surplus collection of taxes, and to address high property taxes placing a burden on Montana’s residents. Thus far, there are four tax-related issues proposed for consideration. I’m not convinced that these can all be responsibly tackled during a spe...
Bob Sheppard’s letter, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, claims that trappers are being unjustly persecuted by a federal judge’s injunction restricting wolf trapping and snaring to the original season, Jan. 1-Feb. 15, to protect the federally listed endangered grizzly bears. Bob Sheppard is a mainstay of the Montana Trappers Association. He lives in Ovando. One wonders if, and if so, how many grizzlies he has caught in his traps over the years. Mr. Sheppard goes on to infer that restricting trapping is the first step in a stealth agenda to ban hun...
For years, Montana has had one of the highest rates of military participation and veterans per capita in the nation. The 2023 Legislature took many steps to both help our men and women in uniform protect our state and country going forward, as well as recognize and honor their service. First, we passed a new law that prohibits foreign adversaries from owning critical infrastructure and agricultural land in Montana. This is crucial to national defense, making it illegal for hostile competitors like China to buy land near our nuclear missiles at...
First, I thank Andi and Nathan Bourne for making the Pathfinder an award winning newspaper that in a sense belonged to all of us. And I thank Andi and Nathan for inviting me several years ago to be a contributor to the Place For All column. My latest submission to that column in the 14 December issue was more an introduction to who and what I am, and it may be my last contribution. Most of my previous submissions dealt with our public lands and wildlife, and for my latest I had intended to write about our federal lands, my first and foremost...
This column could be considered an open letter to Montana judges and justices, as well as the various agencies and parties engaged in lawsuits over legislation from the 2023 and 2021 legislative sessions. It’s also meant to inform Montanans about how ongoing litigation could impact future legislative sessions and, more fundamentally, their own ability to know and understand the current laws of our state. I write today not to submit another critique of political biases and integrity within the judicial branch, which have been widely discussed t...
Skyrocketing property taxes. Astronomical energy rate increases. Homes that are unaffordable to most Montanans. And yet more big tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy, while the rest of us are left to foot the bill. When we look back on the last year, all these changes and more were brought you by one party and its supermajority: Montana Republicans. As 2023 ends, let’s look back over the last 12 months to see where Republicans really took us as a state. The Good. Montana Democrats at every level are speaking out, standing strong, and demanding a...
What a bunch of B.S. How many and who are getting the kickbacks at $5.7 million? Has the Montana Department of Transportation thought about all the traffic coming off Boy Scout Road? How many accidents will happen at that intersection, someone trying to make a left turn or getting rear ended? Speed and not paying attention always contribute to accidents. Highway 83 out of Condon and beyond drivers think they’re on the Autobahn. Are new speed limit signs or flashing lights to slow down going to help? And are the citizens of Seeley Lake going t...
Judge Malloy cut the wolf trapping season to protect grizzly bears. Yeah, right!! The last issue with wolf traps and grizzlies was in 2013. Why so much concern over an incident a decade ago? Last year there were two grizzly bears killed by cars in district 2. There were several more killed in other areas by vehicles, also in the last year. Last year there were two grizzly bears killed from fly fishermen. There were two grizzly bears killed by bow hunters. One bear problem with upland game bird hunters. Why then are they focusing on a problem th...
In the early 1900s, my great-grandfather came west from Missouri and settled with his family in a wooded area near Alberton. He was drawn to western Montana, he said, by the “power and beauty of the Rocky Mountain front.” It was the tradition of my great-grandfather and those of us who came after him to support political candidates who best represent our state, regardless of party. While my father voted twice for Dwight Eisenhower, he became a Kennedy Democrat in 1960, partly because of Kennedy’s strong advocacy for the conservation of publi...
December is National Impaired Driving Prevention Month. It opportunely coincides with the holidays when folks are going to parties, reconnecting with old friends, and maybe indulging more than they do the rest of the year. Wherever you’re going this Christmas season, please never get behind the wheel impaired. While I’m encouraged that this year our alcohol-related traffic fatalities are down from the last two years, just one death on our highways because drugs or alcohol is too many. This year, there have been 53 alcohol-related traffic fat...
Public safety has been a significant and growing concern in our communities for the past several years. The 2023 Legislature heard these concerns loud and clear and acted to make our state a safer place to work, play, and raise a family. We took on human traffickers with House Bill 112 from Rep. Jodee Etchart. It increased penalties for human trafficking and gave law enforcement more tools to prosecute these heinous crimes. HB 112 has already been credited for a major prostitution bust in Bozeman. Senate Bill 265, sponsored by Sen. Mark...
Governor Gianforte: The Montana Supreme Court clarified the state’s ability to accrue ‘banked mills’ when the calculation required under MCA § 15-10-420 results in mills above the cumulative cap of 95. While that opinion was directly in contrast to the position of many counties, and the Montana Association of Counties in our defense of our membership, we recognize the Supreme Court’s determination and appreciate the clarity. As you know, 49 of 56 Montana counties levied the current State mill levy authority, calculated by the Departme...
I’m definitely not. Everywhere I go, people are grumbling about how much their property taxes increased. But if you think nobody is happy, you’re wrong. Governor Gianforte and the Republican legislative supermajority raised our property taxes. Yep, it’s true, and it was intentional. Sure, taxes are complicated, and we pay them because we have to. So, you might be asking an obvious question, like I did: Why in the heck would Republican leadership want homeowners to pay more in their property tax bill? The answer is simple math -- the gover...
