Sorted by date Results 868 - 892 of 1183
All Montanans have reason to be proud that a Montana Englemann Spruce was chosen for the national Christmas tree. And those of us who have enjoyed Sperry Chalet know what a treasure that building was. But I question the practicality of hauling that Christmas spruce back to Montana for use in rebuilding the Sperry Chalet as Senator Tester has suggested. Spruce is not the best choice for log building – the cell structure is long and large and holds more moisture than most woods, which tends to twist when the log builder shapes the log to fit i...
When you read about the things that Senator Tester is trying to do to the wilderness study and National Monument areas, there are some things you need to know. • Wilderness study areas, were not, are not, and never were, supposed to be wilderness. These areas were to be studied by the appropriate agency and recommendations made to Congress as to the disposition of the area. The recommendation was to be made within five years of the WSA (Wilderness Study Area) designation. The study that was done determined that that these areas did NOT meet t...
SEELEY LAKE - My daughter, who is a second grade teacher, high school volleyball coach and serves in the Army National Guard, was called to duty fighting the Rice Ridge Fire the end of August through the first part of September. She had to leave her husband, classroom and volleyball team, however, she was ready to go and protect the town of Seeley. She was treated very well by the community members young and old and in-between! On one of her first days on duty, two teenage girls brought my daughter and her battle buddy milkshakes on a very hot...
More than a few people have asked me if I am the one with a Karelian Bear Dog (KBD) who, for a fee, can push bears off their property. No, I am not. Though my KBD came from Wind River Bear Institute, she is specifically trained to find dead animal parts, not to push bears. Plus I had her trained to stay focused when firearms are discharged. Though I did work as a bear management specialist in Glacier NP and road patrol law enforcement in Yellowstone as a seasonal, and a full-time year-round federal law enforcement officer for US Fish and...
SEELEY LAKE - Think about this. Don’t miss grabbing the golden ring. Presently, there are more than 3,000 separate parcels within the Missoula County portion of the Clearwater Valley and watershed. There are more than 1,500 living units, including cabins on state and federal land as well as mobile homes on rented lots which have personal property taxes levied on them. Additional parcels and living units lie within the valley/watershed in Powell County. If a Clearwater Valley Watershed Consortium [CVWC] were established, it would be both a s...
SEELEY LAKE - On Nov. 30 there was a letter to the editor from E. L. Taylor. In the letter a comment was made in regards to the Water District installing pipes in conjunction with the Sewer District’s project. The comment was, “Apparently the third phase of the [sewer] project has no water piped in from our [water] system. That means when the sewer goes in there will also be the substantial added cost of a water system that has not been discussed.” Let me set the record straight. There will not be a water system installed down Boy Scout Road...
SEELEY LAKE - Healthy discussion is productive but spreading falsehoods hurts everyone. A letter recently sent to residents living within the sewer district boundaries included several misleading assertions, for example: Statement in letter ---“The proposal will not appreciably change water quality in the watershed.” Fact --- This is patently false and has no basis in fact, studies or science. The sewer system will remove the source of groundwater contaminants from the most highly populated areas of town. Statement in letter --- “There are s...
SEELEY LAKE - Do the Seeley Lake Sewer ads speak the truth? Of course they don’t! For those of you still making a decision on whether to oppose the sewer, don’t let the Seeley Lake Sewer Board and its various agents confuse you with lies. They (recent ads in the Pathfinder) claim that a small group of area residents have been spreading misinformation regarding the scientific studies that support the sewer system, the districts work and how the project will impact you. Here’s what this SMALL GROUP has done for this community: • It’s members h...
SEELEY LAKE - To retain our clean, transparent water in the Seeley -Swan watershed we must FIRST have clean, transparent government...We have not enjoyed that in the divisive sewer proposal discussion. Here are some examples of shady, secretive government: The Missoula County Commissioners have repeatedly said they have “no control” over the goings-on of the Seeley Lake Sewer Board but they have approved nearly $800,000 in County taxpayer dollars for this project....before it ever gets off the ground. And they never asked us if we wanted to...
SEELEY LAKE - I have been asked my views on the Seeley Lake Sewer. They are very simple and one we all know to be true. Government is notorious for creating fear to motivate folks into doing something their common sense would ordinarily dictate otherwise. This is because the first agenda of bureaucrats in government is to protect their positions in government through fear and consequently expansion of government. To avoid exposure to their true agenda, government will almost always use assessments which amount to speculation rather than...
SEELEY LAKE - You likely have recently received another letter from Don Larson (dba Citizens for Sensible Wastewater Solutions) telling you to protest the sewer proposal to build a treatment and collection facility in Seeley Lake. He notes first off that the proposal will not appreciably change water quality in the watershed. I disagree entirely. While the sewer will not return all of our watershed to pristine conditions, it will take a giant step forward in cleaning it up. We annually dump approximately 250,000 gallons of untreated urine into...
SEELEY LAKE - Don’t get upset those of you pushin’ the “Do Nothing” methodology. I’m “just sayin.” Isn’t that the in-fashion colloquial expression used when people don’t want you to get angry with them for saying something to them that you know they don’t want to hear? Ya know— “Just sayin” as in— “Just sayin’, Isn’t doin’ nothin’, payin’ attention to nothin’ and believin’ nothin’s wrong with all that undocumented PR baloney what got us facin’ such a distorted kind of wastewater project in the first place?” HOWEVER, talking like that and be...
SEELEY LAKE - Some have criticized our planned sewer system for having pumps. Pumps are part of everyone’s lives, for example: How does your vehicle get its fuel? How do you get your water to your home? How is the Propane transferred from the supply truck to your propane tank? How does an airplane get its fuel to the engine? How does your refrigerator or freezer keep your food cold? Does your electrical generation require pumps? Generators, cooling systems, HV AC? How does your vehicle get its cooling and oil distribution? Do those pointing f...
SEELEY LAKE - This is my third and last missive on the sewer project. At his point the entire cost to us has not been clearly set out. And something was just told to me that makes it even worse. Apparently the third phase of the project has no water piped in from our system. That means when the sewer goes in there will also be the substantial added cost of a water system that has not even been discussed. Why hasn’t this been brought up? The whole project has been full of half-truths and smoke and mirrors as to the cost. We voted against the s...
SEELEY LAKE - For you sewer residents still deciding whether or not to protest the proposal, here’s some more food for thought. The Board has no current engineering estimates for sub-districts 2, 3 and 4. They will undoubtedly run into the millions of dollars to build the collections systems. The Board is counting on getting the financing for these sub-district projects from the State legislature. But that is a very “iffy” assumption. Here are a couple reasons why: • The State government uses mostly coal tax trust fund dollars for infrast...
SEELEY LAKE - From up and down the valley, folks tell us about the value and virtue of ‘clean water’ and the chemistry of sewage. We’ve funded studies and drilled wells to show what we already knew: Sewage affects water quality and should be regulated. The proposed sewer is a device that will allow folks to improve or profit on property investments and at the same time comply with Missoula County’s restrictive septic regulations. The debate is about cost and methods, not if we want clean water or not. Will this method have best results for mon...
SEELEY LAKE - The Sewer Board letter of Nov. 16 stating its intention to incur debt for a sewer project was incorrectly labeled a “ballot” in my last weeks/letter to the editor. Ballots may not be forwarded to “snow birds” but this letter is not considered a ballot and may be forwarded. I apologize for any confusion this may have created. Now...as to the letter: It, too, is confusing and obscure. We all basically received a form letter which says we can protest. If you received three letters, it means you have three properties in the sewer d...
SEELEY LAKE - This kind of opportunity to improve the community and prepare it for a long future will not come again soon, if ever. We are fortunate to have a generous grant to pay for a sewer system and the dedicated people willing to volunteer their time and skills to the effort. You can read about the benefits of the proposed sewer project in other letters and at www.seeleysewer.org. I am writing this letter as a personal testimony to these benefits. I have lived in two other communities that endured sewer and water controversies like this....
SEELEY LAKE - The Sewer Board has nicely stacked the deck for passage of its atrocious, expensive sewer proposal. Here’s how. By ignoring last December’s vote and opting for a “protest” procedure, the Board has effectively disenfranchised every business and residential renter in the district and made property ownership a condition of participation...that would be about 20 percent of the residents in the district. Further, by scheduling the protest period in November/December it has disenfranchised every “snowbird” who goes south for the win...
SEELEY LAKE - Response to this summer’s fires showed the resilience of people living in Seeley Lake. It is not something any of us want to see repeated. We all know how important Seeley Lake is to the community and local economy. Our forests became at risk due to decades of fire suppression and delays in thinning. The lake could suffer a similar fate. I was fortunate to serve as Director of the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks during the 1990s. Over my career, I came to appreciate that many of the challenges that nature faced were not t...
SEELEY LAKE - Just some questions I have about the protestors of Gary Lewis’s gravel pit. Who are these protestors? What are their names? Do they even live in Seeley Lake? Are they being paid to protest by some group? What were their jobs before they moved to our town? What industry did they get a paycheck from? Did we try to stop the protestors from having a job, making a living and putting food on the table for their children? Did our town try to stop the development of the Double Arrow? Did we protest their sewers messing up the water? D...
SEELEY LAKE - At this time it looks like sewer rates in the downtown Seeley area will be around $80 a month...that will be just about the highest monthly sewer rate in the state. Landlords will have no recourse but to pass that cost on to their renters. That’s on top of one of the highest water rates in the state. There are easily 100 rental properties in sub-district one, if you count business and residential alike. My questions to sewer supporters, how does that help affordable housing? How will your (service) employee be able to afford to l...
SEELEY LAKE - When we set out from Pyramid trailhead on a 12-day backpacking trip in the Bob on July 23, we were filled with excitement and a bit of trepidation about the challenging and beautiful journey ahead. We had no way of knowing that a night or two later, a forest fire would start on Rice Ridge. On July 30 we learned about the fire - and the resulting closure of Pyramid trailhead. Unsure how we would travel from the suggested re-route Lodgepole Creek trailhead back to Seeley Lake and hopefully our car at Pyramid, we picked up the pace...
Now that the fires have cooled, at least in the woods, here are a few things to contemplate. The “save the world people,” i.e. Friends of This and That, Filers of Lawsuits to Stop Logging, Road building, Access, Save the Animals and Save the Trees- you know what I mean-have done a good job this time. I will stick to the Rice Ridge fire because like others in this area I am on a handshaking basis with it. The timber harvest in this area has been brought to a virtual standstill because of things such as endangered species, wilderness, acc...
SEELEY LAKE - Greg Robinson and the go-along sewer board have revealed intentions to charge very unfairly for sewer Operation and Maintenance. First, they cannot seem to learn or accept that when it comes to using and deriving benefits from a sewer, residences and businesses are fundamentally not the same. Second, within each class, using and deriving benefits will not be the same. Regarding the distorted proposal that residences and businesses should pay the same—NO! Businesses have an extra benefit in that they can deduct utility charges a...
