WILL IT END OR EXTEND THE WILDERNESS DROUGHT?

The Beaverhead-Deerlodge Partnership: Right Idea, Wrong Bill

For four years, I've been writing about what I've coined the "Wilderness Drought," 25 years of frustration and infighting since we've seen a single acre of Wilderness designated in Montana. Now, several mainstream groups have joined forces with representative of the wood products industry in a grand attempt to end it.

The political reality of today requires this collaborative, "bottom-up" approach because politicians are so gun-shy about Wilderness legislation. They only want lay-ups with all stakeholders already on board, which is the motivation behind this upcoming legislation. After decades of nothing, Montana wilderness advocates have decided to play the new, quid pro quo game to have some chance of success.

Regrettably, this flawed bill looks more like a half-court shot for our congressional delegation and could extend instead of end the Wilderness Drought.

WE NEED THIS GUST OF FRESH AIR

Please, Let it be Grijalva for Interior Secretary

Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post and several bloggers are naming Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) as a "leading contender" for Obama's pick for Secretary of the Interior. This cabinet position usually goes to a westerner, and Grijalva would be an excellent choice.

He current chairs the House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands and has been an outspoken advocate for protecting national parks, wilderness and wildlife habitat in the West, recently opposing the Bush Administration's plans for oil and gas leasing and coal mining in critical areas and resisting deep cuts in national park budgets.

Column: Politics

Mountain West Cities Join National Protest Against Prop 8

No matter your feelings about gay equality and marriage, the issue is firmly political. It’s the civil rights movement of our day, and can no longer be relegated to a fringe few --especially after the passage of Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage, in California ten days ago.

Donors from many states gave money to help pass Prop. 8, but Idahoans donated more than $400,000 to pass it, second only to Utah in out-of-state contributions.

Several publications, including Pride Depot, are calling for a boycott of businesses on the donor list.

A national day of protest called “Join the Impact – Promote Love and Equality in Your City” on Saturday aims to bring national attention and a collective experience to people who want to claim their support for gay marriage and their objection to the California initiative.

In the Rocky Mountain West – at least in the states where New West publishes - there are 19 events scheduled for tomorrow, all at 11:30 Mountain Time, which are listed here.

Missoula Notebook

A Poll Worker’s Notes

Instead of wasting Election Day in front of my computer, pretending to work but actually studying last-minute political prognostications while waiting desperately for the first returns to start rolling in, I spent 14 hours in an elementary school gymnasium, chatting with white-haired retired women and serving as what Missoula County Elections Clerk Vickie Zeier calls a “champion of democracy."

In other words, I was a poll worker.

On Growth Management, Montana Voters Balk

A few Western Montana races and measures on Tuesday's ballots were, when boiled down, all about growth -- how (if at all) to plan for it and protect land from it.

On the whole, proponents of growth management didn't have a good night.

In Ravalli County, voters repealed the Growth Policy, thereby blocking any planning and zoning regulations, and reelected Republican County Commissioner Greg Chilcott over John Meakin, a pro-streamside setback, pro-Growth Policy, pro-zoning Democrat.

In Flathead County, voters shot down a $10 million open space bond, and voted overwhelmingly in favor of pro-development, self-described property rights champion County Commissioner-elect Jim Dupont.

Election 2008

Montana State Races Go Democratic

Near midnight on Tuesday night, it seemed Democrats had swept all but one of Montana's statewide offices in what seems like a stunning referendum of the state's modern Republican Party, leaving some GOP leaders wondering how to return to politics with something like an appealing message. Yet even as state Democrats credited the Obama effect for much of their strength, the Democratic Presidential-elect appeared likely to lose the state to John McCain.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer handily beat opponent Roy Brown of Billings, and Democrats dominated the rest of the ticket.

Steve Bullock was well ahead of Tim Fox for Attorney General, Monica Lindeen was beating Duane Grimes for State Auditor, Denise Juneau easily prevailed over Elaine Sollie Herman for Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Mike McGrath topped Ron Waterman for Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court. (All with more than 70 percent of precincts reporting.) Linda McCullough was running ahead of Brad Johnson for Secretary of State but the race remained close.

The New President and the New West

Here in Montana, and across the Rocky Mountain West, the election of Barack Obama represents the startling culmination of social, cultural and political changes that have been underway in this region for many years. You've heard a lot of this by now: the Mountain West, increasingly populated by amenity-seeking coastal migrants and Latino immigrants, and with an independent-minded electorate that's resistant to Republican over-reaching on social issues, is no longer solid red, but rather "in play." And if the breadth of Obama's victory ultimately rendered the electoral votes of Colorado and New Mexico and Montana and Nevada superfluous, the deeper significance of the changes remain.

It certainly didn't play out the way any pundit might have predicted a couple of years ago. Obama, for starters, is hardly the "Western" candidate that many Western Democrats imagined would be the standard-bearer for the inevitable breakthrough. "You guys have a nice deal around here," Obama said in Missoula last spring, with all the wonder of a first-time tourist. He joked about going fly fishing (a river runs through it, after all!), but it's hard to picture him in waders.

election day

Faces of Missoula Voters

Today NewWest.Net spent time traveling from polling place to polling place with a few questions for voters after they had cast their ballots. We spoke with people at four locations around town; Missoula Courthouse, Lowell Elementary, Target Range School, and Rattlesnake Elementary.

From the new west blog: Election Day 2008

Voter Supression Text Messages in Idaho and Montana

Some voters in Montana and Idaho have received a text message saying, "Flash: Due to very long lines, all Obama voters are asked to vote on Wednesday. Thank you. Please forward to everyone."

Of course, the polls close Tuesday night and the message is not true.

Secretaries of State for both Idaho and Montana made the announcement. Ben Ysursa, Idaho's Secretary of State, said he hopes it's someone's idea of a joke, and not an organized effort to illegally influence the outcome of the election.