Bozeman News

Guest Opinion

Many of us will be afield this fall spending time in our favorite hunting and fishing spots. We will be enjoying the tradition of these field sports so important to our lives. But as you head out to the fields, rivers and streams we want you to be aware of an important tool for conservation of those areas we find near and dear to our hearts.

The United States Congress this fall will have a unique opportunity to secure full and dedicated funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the principal source of federal dollars for protecting land in America’s national parks, forests, and other public landscapes and ensuring recreational opportunities for Americans in every state in the nation.

Since 1977, this fund has been authorized at $900 million per year. Most of the funds come from off-shore oil and gas leases, and are to be used for the purchase, from willing sellers, of land with outstanding natural, recreation, scenic, and other attributes, and for the development of outdoor recreation lands and facilities at the state and local level.

Montana Wolf Hunt

A half-hour after sunset tonight, Montana’s first official wolf hunt—arguably the most controversial hunting season in recent history—will be over. Montana’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks department announced the shut-down after reports came in that 72 wolves had been killed as of Sunday evening, meaning that hunters were fast closing in on the state quota of 75 wolves, according to the Billings Gazette.

Montana Property Taxes

In late summer and early fall, many Montanans were unpleasantly surprised to receive notices telling them their property values had skyrocketed. The reappraisals, due every six years from the state Department of Revenue, meant their property taxes would take a big leap forward, too. In areas like Gallatin and Flathead counties, where the 2002-2008 period saw a dramatic real estate boom—followed by a bust—some property values increased 300 percent or more.

But there was hope for people feeling the pain. First, property owners could seek relief by appealing their appraisals, either by asking for informal reviews from the Department of Revenue (DOR) or by appealing directly to their County Tax Appeal Board. Second, local governments could decrease their mill levies, the formulas that actually determine how much property tax residents pay.

Here’s a look at what’s happened on those and other fronts, according to the DOR.

WE NEED YOUR HELP WITH BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA FE

Dear Mr. Buffett:

I read with interest and glee about your recent acquisition of the majority ownership in Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF). Congratulations on buying a great company--investment wise, I should clarify, because BNSF is a not-so-great company on the public relations front.

Now that you own the railroad, you can change that bad image with one phone call and instantly make your new acquisition--and yourself, of course--a corporate saint out here in Montana.

JUNK FOOD FOR FISH

What seem to be pristine alpine lakes high in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park are getting greener, and not in a good way.

A report in the current edition of Science finds that those lakes are being swamped with nitrogen from the atmosphere, caused by pollution from cars, factories, feed lots and fertilizer. The nitrogen is essentially fertilizing lakes that aren’t used to being fertilized, causing a growth of algae and threatening to harm the fish at the top of the food chain.

In addition to our carbon footprint, researchers say, human activity leaves a more subtle nitrogen footprint that is affecting natural systems around the world, even in some of the most remote places.

UM Activism for the Planet

UM has now launched its new Climate Change Studies minor program, the first of its kind in the nation. Last spring, the Green Thread Initiative held its first workshop to help professors introduce climate and sustainability topics into their curriculum, allowing more environmental dialogue throughout campus. Faculty members across campus are directly addressing different aspects of climate change in their own work, creating an interdisciplinary curriculum and minor through departments from economics to journalism, forestry to ethics, and science to law.

Students like me are gaining valuable skills through this strong education in science, society, and solutions to climate change. The Environmental Studies Department is even funding two of us to represent UM at the international climate treaties in Copenhagen this December. My environmental studies major together with this climate minor are providing me critical advocacy skills, and I know that I am not the only student that UM has helped become empowered in enacting change.

Plant One on Us

Camelina isn’t a household word. Neither is biofuel. But the two words combined add up to an eco-friendly, Montana-grown commodity that can help feed livestock and ease the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels.

Camelina sativa, a sleeper oilseed crop, is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, the heart-healthy nutrients that many humans these days ingest via fish oil supplements. Camelina also produces relatively low-cost biofuel while requiring less use of fossil-fuel-laden fertilizers and toxic herbicides, supporters say.

With that as a backdrop, here’s the news: the Food and Drug Administration has decided to approve camelina concentrations of up to 10 percent in cattle feed. And Montana growers are celebrating.

Community Service

President Barack Obama’s call for volunteerism is being heard loud and clear in Montana. But long before the president came to office, the Treasure State was a bastion for community service. Now, with Obama’s plan to triple the size of AmeriCorps, Montana could be gearing up for a considerable increase in its already sizeable volunteer base.

Montana perennially has one of the highest rates of community service in the nation. A study by Volunteering in America states that 36.6 percent of Montanans volunteer for some form of service, giving the state the sixth-highest rate in the nation.

But beyond the leanings of its own residents, Montana is also a foremost destination for volunteers. 

After Grace: Libby, Montana Fights On

New studies and health initiatives are unfolding in Libby this fall, all of them tied to the former vermiculite mine operated by W.R. Grace & Co., which left the town contaminated with a uniquely dangerous form of asbestos.

Back in June, federal officials announced a public health emergency Libby, Montana, helping pave the way for the town to get a $6 million health care grant to deal with the extraordinary number of people in the area who suffer from asbestos-related diseases. Today is the grant’s kickoff date, which means the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will now start spending the money to identify and treat people who have asbestosis (a scarring of the lungs), mesothelioma (a rare and agressive cancer), or other medical problems due to asbestos exposures.

New West Book Review

Best of the West 2009: New Stories from the Wide Side of the Missouri
Edited by James Thomas and D. Seth Horton, foreword by Rick Bass
University of Texas Press, 268 pages, $19.95

Best of the West 2009 is a welcome revival of anthology series that ran from 1988 through 1992, collecting outstanding stories set in “the Wide Side of the Missouri” that previously appeared in literary journals.  Unlike some recent one-off Western story anthologies, such as New Stories from the Southwest (also edited by D. Seth Horton) and Forge Books’ Best Stories of the American West, Volume I, the editors plan to make this an annual publication, and in the 2009 edition, the quality of the stories is just as high as those in the well-known national Best American Short Stories series.

In the foreword, Rick Bass tries to put his finger on “what constitutes a Western short story,” and although he notes, “Is it my imagination, or are there extra teaspoonfuls of loneliness in these stories, extra pinches of desperation?” and “a good many Western short stories tend to possess a kind of intensity or power of the felt physical senses,” he decides, “I’m not convinced there is a Western short story, yet.” Bass doesn’t remark on it, but in this year’s anthology, the overwhelming common theme is sex: the people in these stories might be lonely, but they manage to partner up pretty well.