New West Network

My Page: Dillon Tabish

"The Con Crew"

The night before leaving to fight a wildfire, Tiffany Crow Shoe lies awake in bed, his heart punching against his chest. It's the end of July, but for Crow Shoe, it feels like Christmas Eve.

He closes his eyes and sees wild flames torching up into tree crowns. Chain saws roar, making room for firefighters to hump line around the perimeter. Crews chase the fire as it climbs up the mountain.

It's organized chaos, and it makes Crow Shoe feel alive. And free. He's been waiting and preparing for this all year. [more]

downtown master plan

The Missoula Downtown Master Plan may sound like it's all about the future, but in many ways it’s a step back into the olden days.

Putting a street car system in the downtown and returning Front and Main Streets to two-ways were a couple of the changes discussed at the second public workshop Wednesday night in the Holiday Inn-Downtown. Master planners from the Crandall Arambula firm and roughly 280 residents worked on creating a plan for the future of Downtown Missoula.

A streetcar, like the one that used to run down Higgins Avenue in the early 20th Century, would be a great local circulator and would influence more development, said George Crandall, the firm’s principal and award-winning architect. [more]

dogs and their missoulians

The New York Times featured a story on local non-profit organization Footloose Montana, which is cautioning dog owners and outdoor recreationists about hidden animal traps on public lands.

Footloose Montana, led by Anja Heister, began over a year ago to inform people of the danger trapping poses to people and their pets and teach classes on how to free trapped dogs if they are snagged. According to the group, 12 dogs in western Montana have been caught in traps and three of them died. [more]

new west news brief

After five years of review, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that bull trout, one of Montana’s largest native trout, should remain protected under the Endangered Species Act, the AP reports.

"The health of bull trout populations varies by location but overall, the species in the United States still needs protection," said Ren Lohoefener, director of Fish and Wildlife's Pacific Region.

Bull trout, considered the most environmentally sensitive cold-water fish around, have been listed as a threatened species in the Lower 48 for ten years. But in recent years, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, the former governor of Idaho, and the Idaho congressional delegation have contested the trout’s status as “endangered.”

Click here for more. [more]

"a secret, closed-door plan"?

Elected officials are raising red flags after finding out about alleged back-room negotiations between the U.S. Forest Service and Plum Creek Timber Co. aimed at easing Plum Creek's transition into residential real estate by amending road use regulations.

Last Thursday, the Missoula Board of County Commissioners wrote Montana Sen. Jon Tester an open letter alerting him of private dialogue on forest road easements that could, they said, significantly affect communities in Western Montana where Plum Creek owns large swaths of land.

According to Plum Creek spokeswoman Kathy Budinick, Plum Creek has not acted deceitfully.

"It has been characterized as a process that occurred behind closed doors and that is inaccurate, and in fact, just the opposite is true," said Budinick. "The easement amendment was heavily vetted really at all stages of its drafting." [more]

going green

In this golden age of green, even a dilapidated, baby-blue grocery store can become an architectural Cinderella story.

Home on the Range, the former Billings store turned headquarters for the Northern Plains Resource Council and the Western Organization of Resource Councils, was awarded the prestigious “What Makes it Green Award” by the American Institute of Architects Seattle Committee on the Environment. The award was announced April 7 at the ReGeneration Conference in Seattle and recognizes the top “green” projects in the Northwest and Pacific regions. [more]

a town hall meeting

Presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton told voters in Missoula this morning that the genius of America needs to be unleashed and the war in Iraq needs to end.

"It's great to be in Big Sky country," she told the roughly 1,800 people who turned out for the "Town Hall" meeting at the Neptune hangar at Missoula International Airport. "I'm pretty pleased that Montana will
have the last say in declaring who will be the next president of the United States."

Clinton's town hall-type gathering and Sen. Barack Obama's arena rally Saturday were drastically different events, and by design. For most of the event Clinton asked the crowd to sit and she fielded questions from the audience after her hour-long speech. But at the mention of withdrawing troops from Iraq, clean energy, new jobs, and the current Bush administration leaving office, the crowd came to its feet and cheered.

Click here or on the photo to see more photos from the Clinton event. [more]

Senator Off to Butte for Event with Clinton

The excitement was to be expected. For a state normally considered flyover country and one that holds only 17 delegates, Saturday morning's rally with Sen. Barack Obama was the beginning of a historic weekend for the Big Sky state.

But for some, excitement wouldn’t quite do it justice. When Obama strode into the arena, it was easy to see where the whole rock star analogy comes from.

Annette Butler ran up to her group of friends and could barely get the words out of her mouth. “I got to shake his hand! I looked him right in the eyes and he put both his hands on mine and it was just: Awwww!”

Butler was just one of nearly 8,000 energized gatherers who came to see Obama at the Adams Center at the University of Montana campus. He spoke for just under an hour and told Montanans that they have a role in creating change. [more]

wildfire

A new lawsuit has been filed against the Forest Service and its use of chemical fire retardant to combat wildfires.

The Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics filed their second lawsuit in Missoula’s US District Court Wednesday, claiming the Forest Service is in violation of the Endangered Species Act and other laws because the chemical retardant does in fact significantly harm wildlife in lakes and rivers.

“Our goal all along, from day one, is to end the war on fire and turn it into a management, a police action, an armistice,” said FSEEE Executive Director Andy Stahl.

The FSEEE is a private, nonprofit organization based in Eugene, Oregon. Stahl says the Forest Service has nearly bankrupted itself by fighting fire -- about half of the agency's budget is spent on fighting fire -- and the time has come to change that. [more]

Hip Strip Eatery Closes

The Hip Strip just got a little less Hip.

The 515 Restaurant announced Wednesday night that it was unexpectedly serving its last supper -- pork belly, cassoulet, trout, dumpling, rib eye, traditional crème brulee, fine wine -- and then closing its kitchen for good.

A paper sign hung on the door Thursday morning, saying “Closed. Thank you. I love you guys!”

The inside of the old Crystal Theatre was dark with tables and chairs aligned as if customers might be welcomed in any time. But then chef and co-owner Paul Myers slowly opened the door. [more]