Montana hunters are class act

Whenever Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks holds its biennial regional hearing on hunting regulations for the next two years, some interesting things stand out: Hunters who show up care deeply about hunting and wildlife, and they defy the hunter stereotype of wanting to kill anything that moves.

The most recent meeting in Kalispell for setting 2012-13 regulations attracted more than 100 hunters from towns across Northwest Montana on a Saturday morning.

Similar to the meeting two years ago, most who spoke favored far tighter regulations than those proposed by the state.

They called for an almost complete elimination of doe hunting across the region in order to recover whitetail populations that have been in decline for several years. Their stance reflects the true nature of ethical hunters as conservationists.

For the last century in Montana, it has mostly been hunters who have bankrolled and assisted the state in wildlife research, management and habitat enhancement, and that should be worthy of appreciation by the nonhunting public.

THE TOWN of Hot Springs has a problem.

Its dilapidated medical clinic— squeezed into part of a 1930s building that held a cafe before being hit by a fire — needs to be replaced.

But there’s an opportunity on the horizon in the form of a $450,000 federal grant for a new clinic. To get that money, however, Hot Springs has to raise $120,000 by the end of February for its matching share.

The Hot Springs Medical Clinic offers critical services in the town of 500 mostly elderly residents, 70 percent of whom live at or below the poverty level.

In spite of financial hardship, the good citizens of Hot Springs have been creatively raising money. They collected “tired iron” in a scrap metal drive and are planning a “gold and silver tea” with people donating old, broken and unwanted jewelry.

Hot Springs also has benefited from the generosity of large donors such as Robert and Phyllis Ekblad of Kalispell, the owners of the town’s phone system who wrote out a check for $10,000.

An Arlee man also donated $50,000.

But the town still needs more help.

People who would like to give tax-deductible donations should make checks payable to Eastern Sanders Co. Hospital District and send them to P.O. Box 204, Hot Springs, MT 59845.