Montana Wilderness News

It would be nice if active forest management on the National Forests were possible in Montana. Sen. Tester's "Jobs and Recreation Act" seems like a good starting point.

KALISPELL - There was a time, not so very long ago, when environmentalists living in the shadow of big timber, in the logging lands of the Yaak, didn't sleep in the same bed two nights in a row.

Cabins burned mysteriously in the dark. Cars were vandalized. People were attacked, literally beaten for beliefs.

Out in the forests, logging equipment was sabotaged. Woods work was monkey-wrenched.

In town, the Forest Service was crushed between opposing forces, retreating always.

Seeley Lake is the best kept secret in western Montana. We have majestic mountain peaks, crystal clear trout streams, bottomless lakes and abundant wildlife. As a community, Seeley Lakers recognize the value of the environment we live in, and we have worked proactively to maintain this environment in its pristine, natural condition.

This letter is in support of Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Bill. I am in agreement with what our senator is proposing to do to protect our forests, our water and our way of life in Montana.

Recently Sen. Tester announced the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, a visionary proposal aimed at preserving the economic and ecological vitality of communities and landscapes across western Montana.

The bill gives direction for managing resources and recreation across a wide swath of Forest Service and BLM land, and provides permanent habitat and watershed protection by designating 677,000 acres as wilderness.

It truly is an exciting time to be in Montana. With Sen. Tester’s recently introduced forest bill, Montanans can be excited about preserving our natural heritage, protecting our hunting and fishing traditions, and prolonging our backcountry experiences. It’s not every day that we Montanans get to decide the fate of the lands in our state; it’s not every day that people can come together and break the gridlock; it’s not every day that our elected officials capture the efforts of people on the ground and run with it.

Sen. Jon Tester's jobs and recreation bill protects and improves some of the best hunting and fishing habitat in America. That's why Billings-area hunters and anglers who hunt or fish the Lolo, Beaverhead Deerlodge or Kootenai forests should support it.

I want to commend Sen. Jon Tester for the introduction to the Senate of S 1470 "Forest Jobs and Recreation Act of 2009." As the bill itself says, this is "a bill to sustain the economic development and recreational use of National Forest System land and other public land in the state of Montana, to add certain land to the National Wilderness Preservation System, to release certain wilderness study areas, to designate new areas for recreation, and for other purposes ..."

It’s a wilderness bill. It’s a logging bill. It’s a jobs bill. It’s enlightened natural resource policy. It’s an environmental train wreck.

That’s a brief summary of the wide reaction to the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act officially unveiled a week or so ago by Montana Sen. Jon Tester.

While trying to accurately label Tester’s bill is probably pointless, it is clear that the proposal is a step in the right direction in terms of managing Montana’s forests and wild lands.

We're not certain that Sen. Jon Tester's Forest Jobs and Recreation Bill has all the right stuff, but he is right about one thing: the way it was developed is far superior to past efforts at passing wilderness legislation for Montana.

Former Montana Rep. Pat Williams acknowledged as much, in describing how 16 wilderness bills he sponsored over his 18 years in Congress went down in flames. The problem back then was fierce polarization between wilderness environmentalists and the timber industry and multiple-use advocates.