Letters to the editor Sept. 5

Rosendale’s courage

It is all about courage. In their Aug. 20 editorial some Republican legislators called for Rep. Matt Rosendale to run for the Senate against Sen. Jon Tester, and so he should. He has proven he has the daring to take on the hard issues instead of ducking them which is so much the norm with elected officials today.

If he runs, I trust he would not be afraid to have open discussion about the major issues here in Northwest Montana: forest management, smoke, the insidious CSKT water compact, and the non-scientific climate change hysteria all of which suffer from the silence of our other major elected officials.

So where are they? We are drowning in smoke as usual but Gov. Greg Gianforte, Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Ryan Zinke refuse to acknowledge the federal government has failed and it is time for the state to reassume the management of our forest lands.

And heaven forbid that they could start the discussion about changing the Endangered Species Act, the EPA and other laws which prevent any reasonable supervision of our public lands.

And don’t they realize the federal government is taking over our water rights using the outdated, corrupt, and ineffective Native American reservation system as their foil to effectuate this theft? When are they going to come out against the CSKT water compact for the travesty it is? Or better yet an overall discussion to explore alternatives to the reservation system itself.

It is encouraging to hear that candidate Tim Sheehy has stated that the CSKT water compact should be renegotiated, a statement you would never hear from Sen. Tester, who long ago sold out to the federal government voting for every Biden bill which further strips Montana of its statehood status. For Tester, it is all about all-powerful tribes and/or the federal government which he supports in their efforts to run roughshod over our state.

I like the overall positions of Daines, Zinke and Gianforte but I decry their apparent fear of addressing these very profound issues.

But it seems we have one potential candidate in Rosendale who has the pluck to address them without dread of the emotional reaction from the press. And what better place for him to do that than in the Senate. Let us hope he gives us himself as a choice for that position. The discussion alone should be worth it.

— Mark Agather, Kalispell