Tester Bill Comments from Members of Last Best Place Wildlands Campaign

By Matthew Koehler, Unfiltered 1-19-10

This pdf document contains a sampling of the types of comments submitted to the US Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests regarding S1470, the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, by members of the Last Best Place Wildlands Campaign. These comments were officially entered into the record for the Subcommittee’s Dec 17, 2009 hearing.

The Last Best Place Wildlands Campaign is a coalition of conservation organizations and citizens dedicated to wildlands protection, forest restoration and the sound long-term management of America’s public lands legacy. Our coalition includes 4th and 5th generation Montanans, hikers and backpackers, hunters and anglers, wildlife viewers, outfitters and guides, veterans, retired Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management officials, small-business owners, scientists, educators, craftspersons, and community leaders.

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.

By Matthew Koehler, New West Unfiltered, 1-19-10 | comments (5) | email story | print story

NEW WEST FEATURES More>>

Highway 21 runs between Boise and Idaho City, alongside the Boise River, a watershed that could be affected by molybdenum mining. Photo by Peg Owen, Idaho Tourism.

Work Begins to Tap Huge Mineral Deposits in Idaho

By New West Editor

Men's Super G event during the Salt Lake City Winter Games at Snowbasin, Utah, in 2002. Photo by Ken Lund, Flickr.

If Denver Wants Winter Olympics, It Will Have to Show the Money

By New West Editor

White-tailed deer. Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Montana Deer Hunting Hit Hard by Disease

By Kate Schwab

Grizzly bear. Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Grizzly Shooting Charges Elicit Outrage in Idaho

By New West Editor

Comments

By Glenn Hockett, 1-20-10

Matt:

Did you see the guest column by Mark Petroni in today's Bozeman Chronicle - Tester Bill an Opportunity for the U.S. Forest Service?

By TreeHugger, 1-20-10

Matt, you forgot obstructionists and hippies on your coalition list.

By Matthew Koehler, 1-21-10

Glen, Thanks for the tip. I haven't seen Mr. Petroni's piece. The free part of the Chronicle website is fairly inadequate, so I've written the editors asking for a copy (no response yet). I look forward to reading it, because in conversations with a few dozen USFS employees, I have still yet to meet any current FS employee who thinks Tester's bill is a good idea, for many of the same reasons expressed in comments from members of our coalition and even the USFS's top brass at the December Senate hearing.

TreeHugger: I recall at one of our coalition meetings in November, we discussed listing "obstructionists and hippies" (along with "terrorists and commies") but we decided, not to. I mean why state the obvious, right? Interesting that you have no comment on the 81 pages/45,000 words worth of comments. Thanks.

By Glenn Hockett, 1-21-10

Matthew:

Thanks for looking into the editorial in the Chronicle. You can add the Gallatin Wildlife Assocation Board of Directors to your list of supporters.

Thanks for all you in depth analysis and work on this important issue.

By NewWesterner, 1-21-10

Thank you Matthew for your tireless effort to stop logging in Montana. I, like you am also a first generation Montanan. I am so disgusted by these uneducated "natives" that seem to think that destroying nature through logging is responsible. That's why I strongly support continued appeals and litigation of FS timber sales by you or similar organizations. Thank you again.

Your Comment

Comment policy:

NewWest.Net encourages robust and lively, but civil participation from our readers. By posting here, you agree to the NewWest.Net terms of service. You agree to keep your comments on topic, respectful and free of gratuitous profanity. Contributions that engage in personal attacks, racism, sexism, bigotry, hatred or are otherwise patently offensive will be subject to removal.

Other than using a filter that scans for comment spam, we do not moderate contributions before they are posted and we do not review every thread, so we ask that you help us in keeping the discussions civil and appropriate. Please email info@newwest.net to notify us of comments that may violate these guidelines. Thanks for your help and cooperation. Click here for some tips on how to best interact on NewWest.Net.

You must be a registered user to submit comments, if you are not, register here for free.

Name

Remember my name and email address.

Notify me of follow-up comments.

NEW WEST TOPICS