Letters to the editor June 26
Outdoor heritage sold to the highest bidder
This paper recently ran an opinion piece by politicians Wylie Galt, Casey Knudsen and Sue Vinton that cannot go unchallenged (Legislature safeguarded individual rights and freedoms, May 29).
No matter how hard they try to spin the facts, the last legislative session hurt Montana’s resident hunters, anglers, and other outdoor enthusiasts more than any in memory. While they correctly note that Montana would not be Montana without the ability to live, work, and play outside, their own legislative agenda took dangerous steps toward making this impossible.
Providing landowners with big game tags to do with as they please and drastically increasing the number of tags reserved for outfitters and their wealthy out-of-state clients is but the first step in the move toward the complete Texas-style commercialization of our wildlife resources, which properly belong to everyone.
I’m not sure who the “environmental groups” making these allegedly false claims are (probably the same ones whose finances Galt and company sought to “investigate”) but the people I know who were left dismayed by this agenda are hard-working Montanans of ordinary means who are tired of seeing their outdoor heritage wrested away and sold to the highest bidder. We don’t need “shooting ranges and fish cleaning stations.” We need reasonable public access to public lands and waters in accordance with the Montana constitution. We don’t need commercially exploited wildlife and more “no trespassing” signs as Montana continues to be bought up by wealthy out of state interests who will never pay their fair share of our tax burden—the real beneficiaries of the legislation Galt and company have touted.
I am an independent voter with no partisan agenda, but as these writers acknowledge in their piece, these legislative insults originated from one side of the aisle. Personally, I look forward to a day when I can once again vote for Republican candidates based on issues and qualifications, without knowing that I’m voting to destroy my way of life by doing so.
Do Galt and company really think Montana hunters and anglers are naive enough to swallow the nonsense presented in their recent letter? If so, I feel insulted. So do a lot of my friends, all of whom plan to vote in the next election.
—Don Thomas, Lewistown
Nurses should rethink association with SEIU
I appreciate and support all nurses. They are the lifeblood to our better health. I personally feel that we in Flathead County have the best medical care I have ever experienced!
I am not that familiar with the negotiations between the nurses and the hospital administration. If there is a serious breakdown, then I support their need for experienced negotiating representation. But I have to question their choice of SEIU being that organization. Have they truly examined the past, present and future political goals? Are they aware that according to the Center for Responsive Politics, the SEIU is the largest funder of political action groups in the U.S.?
The union dues this union collects goes to support a minimum of 90% of left wing Democratic candidates. SEIU’s political philosophy certainly does not represent the values of Montana and Flathead County. I would urge all the nurses at the hospital to check all the Political Action Committees they financially support, as well as the candidates they have supported in the past.
Then I encourage the nurses to ask themselves “Is this where I want my union dues to go?”
There are other good unions that are more geared to providing good representation and do not have political motivations.
Having lived in California for several years, I witnessed SEIU zeroing in on some conservative areas... like Orange County, portions of Los Angeles County and the Central Valley. They used union dues raised from other parts of the Country to organize these areas. Gradually over a couple of decades those red areas turned blue by taking union dues to promote liberal candidates and political causes. I can assure the nurses that while SEIU are good negotiators, their main objectives are their political ambitions and goals.
I strongly suggest the nurses re-evaluate being represented by SEIU and look to a group that better shares the values of Flathead County.
—Stan Harper, Bigfork
Stop the gerrymandering
It has always been western Montana verse eastern Montana. If you lived west of the I-15 corridor you rooted for the Griz. Live east of I-15 and you rooted for the Bobcats. Those along the I-15 corridor like Butte, Great Falls or Helena, were a mixture.
The state’s five-member 2020 Districting and Apportionment Commission, who is responsible for drawing the two district boundaries is flirting with the decision to break the timeless divide of western Montana verse eastern Montana.
The 3-2 Democrat commission wants to create a second congressional district out of the center of the state with Missoula, Butte, Bozeman, Helena, and Great Falls as their own congressional district.
Carving a donut hole out of the center of the state to create a Democrat bastion is divisive. Instead, use the I-15 corridor to mark the center line of the state. The west gets Missoula and Kalispell, or your Griz fans. The east gets Bozeman and Billings as your Bobcat fans. Helena, Butte, and Great Falls are split to represent a mixture.
Stop the gerrymandering. Split the state along the I-15 corridor to give the west and east their own representatives that align with each half’s economies and fandom.
—Jay Rifkin, Frenchtown