LETTER: Just why doesn't landowner have right to develop bottling business?

So much for “property rights” in the Land of the Free. Mr. Lew Weaver, the villain farmer who has a well permit for the purpose of a water bottling venture, is lucky he doesn’t need Secret Service protection.

And, to amplify the situation, the Daily Inter Lake reporter talks in terms of gallons per year, 191 million.

Turn that into cubic feet per second (CFS) like the USGS measures rivers and streams and it’s less than one CFS in those terms. The Flathead River is presently running 2,000 CFS, if I’m not mistaken, and has extremely great natural recharge.

Congratulations, Mr. Weaver if you accomplish your goal as I admire your determination and good intentions. But this may be like the folks that buy a house near the Kalispell City Airport, such as Scott Davis, who then expect the city to abolish the airport, which provides a service and jobs for the area along with a great little airport for us small-time pilots and airplane owners.

Being a property owner, rancher, and airplane owner I’d just like to give Mr. Weaver a little thought that your nice 10,000 square foot building would make a very nice “hog” farrowing facility and you can remain one of the country’s chosen “farmers” instead of becoming a hated, greedy, industrialist.

Good luck, sir. You’ll probably need it.

—Jack D. Jones, Kalispell