Rep. Rehberg rallies crowd in Whitefish

Speaking to a standing-room-only crowd of about 200 people at the Whitefish Veterans of Foreign Wars Post on Thursday, Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg urged continued public support for retaining a veterans memorial statue of Jesus Christ on national forest land on the Big Mountain.

Rehberg told those in the lively crowd, many of them veterans, that whether the Forest Service engages in a land swap or renews the lease for a 25-by-25-foot parcel of land where the statue is located near the top of Chair 2, it is an executive decision that should be made at the local, regional or national level.

If a satisfactory decision isn’t made, Rehberg said he is prepared to introduce legislation that would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey the parcel to Whitefish Mountain Resort in exchange for a similar amount of land from the resort.

Rehberg said the public reaction to the Flathead National Forest’s initial decision to deny a lease renewal has had an effect on the controversy. Concern over the statue first was raised by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group that objects to religious symbols on public lands.

“If enough Americans, enough Montanans, enough people in the Flathead Valley send in their comments,” it will have an influence on the Forest Service’s actions, Rehberg said.

“We’re going to do everything we can to protect that statue,” he said.

Also speaking at the gathering on the eve of Veterans Day were state Sen. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish, and state Rep. Bill Beck, R-Whitefish.

Beck said he spoke recently with Forest Service officials who have indicated to him that the lease will be renewed, but if that’s the case, the controversy likely will continue.

“They can approve it, but the battle won’t be over,” Beck said. “It will go to the courts.”

The Kalispell Knights of Columbus, the organization that erected the statue in 1955 as a memorial to World War II veterans and has maintained it ever since, is preparing for that to happen.

The organization announced this week that it will be legally represented by the Liberty Institute, a nonprofit firm that works to restore religious freedom in schools, churches and the public arena.

“We are very optimistic that the U.S. Forest Service will do the right thing and renew the Knights of Columbus long-term lease so this landmark World War II memorial may remain,” Liberty Institute general counsel Jeff Mateer said in a press release. “The government should not discriminate against our nation’s veterans who deserve to honor their own with a monument of their choosing.”

Another gathering in support of the statue is planned today at the veterans’ plaque near the Don K vehicle dealership on U.S. 93 starting at 11 a.m., with participants expected to carry signs and flags along the highway.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.