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protecting montana's rivers

Fishing guides versus realtors – now that has the makings for a hot political battle in Montana.

The two groups are going head-to-head in the Bitterroot Valley, at odds over who should control river and stream setbacks on the world-class fishing tributary.

Surprisingly, there is no law in Montana requiring building setbacks from rivers and streams. When landowners buy prime riverfront property, they can plunk their dream house right next to the river’s edge – and then demand the river be rip-rapped to keep erosion from eating up their Kentucky blue grass.

The evidence is clear on the Bitterroot River – on high banks, some houses are perched as close as they can get to the water outside the legal floodplain. In spots, the bank has been heavily rip-rapped, the riparian vegetation removed to make way for landscaping. [more]

land trust fundraiser

With a proposed new $10 million open space bond, and a countywide open lands working group focused on targeting new goals for open space, the topic is on everyone's tongues lately in Missoula.

It will be sure to be the hot subject at Five Valleys Land Trust 12th Annual Spring Banquet and Auction, to be held Saturday, May 20, at the NorthStar Air Express Hangar at the Missoula International Airport. The event will feature drinks, a silent and live auction, an introduction from Mayor John Engen, and a sit-down dinner. [more]

home improvements

I spent the last two days digging a ditch in my front yard. It was a beautiful spring weekend, perfect for a river float or a long bike ride. But I was up to my eyeballs in rocky soil, sweating like a galley slave, digging a six-foot-deep trench for a basement egress window.

What I found out, when I volunteered to dig a man-size ditch by myself, is that your friends will think you are insane, or a full-fledged masochist, or probably both. If you want to be truly un-American, forget about acts of terrorism. Just volunteer to dig a ditch by hand instead of bringing in a huge machine to do it for you. [more]

international wildlife film festival

This Saturday, May 13, is the big kickoff of the 29th annual International Wildlife Film Festival. For one week, Missoula plays host to filmmakers from all over the globe, bringing their breathtaking, unique, and sometimes-wacky images of the wild world onto the big screen.

This year’s winner for Best Independent Film is The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, a documentary on a homeless man, Mark Bittner, and his relationship with a wild flock of South African parrots in the heart of San Francisco.

Filmmaker Judy Irving intended to make a five-minute short film about the man and his parrots. Instead, after four-and-a-half years of filming, it became a feature movie about one man’s struggle to find meaning in life – and how he found that in his feathered flock. [more]

something fishy

The battle over access to Montana's streams and rivers is nothing new – more wealthy out-of-staters are buying land in Montana, and like Greta Garbo, they want to be left alone. But fishermen want access to streams and favorite holes they've enjoyed for generations.

Outside Dillon, on the famous Beaverhead River, a Seattle businessman complains that fishing guides are walking up the railroad tracks bordering his property to get to the river, and he's strung up barbed wire and 'no trespassing' signs to try to keep people away. Torn waders or not, fishing guides in Montana probably aren't going to let a little fencing stop them from fishing their favorite hole.

Montana Politics

In Montana, politics are never boring. But the race is on for U.S. Senator Conrad Burns’ seat, and it promises to be a doozy.

The U.S. Senate forum Friday evening, hosted by MontPIRG and held at the University of Montana campus, was a chance to get to know each of the candidates: their personal styles along with their political views, even their choice of clothing for the event (Morrison, Tester and Keenan in formal business suits; Richards in a sporty bolo tie).

Despite being absent, Burns came up briefly during closing statements, as Tester didn’t pull any punches – expressing hope he would be running against his Senatorial colleague Bob Keenan after the primaries were done.

“I’ve known Conrad Burns a long time. He’s a likeable guy,” Tester said flatly. “The relationship he’s had with Jack Abramoff turns my stomach. This campaign is really all about integrity.”

As moderator and UM political science professor Jeffrey Greene commented: “Welcome to Montana politics at its best.”

[more]

can americans get out of their cars?

Killer storms. Glaciers melting. A rapidly disappearing snowpack.

The signs of global warming are here, and they aren’t pretty. With the http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/Emissions.html" title="U.S. spewing 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the air last year">U.S. spewing 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the air last year – one-quarter of the world total – a global meltdown, Day After Tomorrow-style, doesn’t seem farfetched anymore.

But getting on a bicycle saving the planet? Call me a skeptic, but I wasn’t buying it. Jim Sayer, Director of Adventure Cycling, a national bike advocacy group headquartered here in Missoula, was giving a lecture during Bike Walk Bus Week claiming bike travel could save humanity from its own excesses. So I hopped on my cruiser, with its cute little basket, and biked over.

I left convinced that, if I would only drop my car keys in the toilet and flush, a revolution would sweep the globe. One person at a time. With happy, smiling people across the planet riding bicycles everywhere.

Vive la revolution! [more]

medical marijuana

A California man is trying to use the Montana medical marijuana law as a defense, after being busted with more than four pounds of pot. But medical marijuana law proponents say he’ll have to prove it was really for medicinal purposes.

Last year, Montana voters became one of 11 states allowing medical use of marijuana under a registry system. The man, who was arrested in Butte, claimed to be a patient using medical marijuana in California. Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Medical Marijuana Project, the national organization that helped pass the Montana law, said Montana does recognize ID cards from other states.

But the Montana law limits possession to one ounce of usable marijuana or six plants, Mirken said.

“He is well in excess of (that),” Mirken said. “He’s going to have to prove he’s a legit patient, and that he legitimately needed that much.” [more]

missoula down in the dumps

When Frank Scariano, a Missoula general contractor, began renovations on the H.O. Bell building on 4th Street, he didn’t just ring up a demolition crew and bring in the bulldozers.

Instead, after weighing the costs, he hired Gary Delp, a salvage contractor, to “deconstruct” the historic commercial building in the heart of Missoula’s bustling hip strip – the commercial district south of the river.

Delp systematically took apart the interior of the old structure, salvaging thousands of 2x4s and other wood, which he sold at the building site. Scariano saved money by salvaging and selling parts, primarily because the building was a goldmine of wood, steel, carpeting, and other usable materials.

Far more often, Missoula contractors are taking the opposite approach – hiring a demolition team to bulldoze old buildings and take them directly to the landfill north of town.
[more]

bike/walk/bus week

Mayor John Engen plans to officially kick off Bike/Walk/Bus Week on Monday by leaving the car in the driveway and hopping on the bus.

Mayor Engen will board the Mountain Line bus system from his home in the upper Rattlesnake to get to work. And it won’t cost a dime, since the bus is offering free rides all week. His message: Everyone in Missoula should try taking alternative transportation for just one day.

On Monday, I’ll be trying it for one day – we all can (do that),” Engen said.

Engen admitted he still had to pull out the bus maps to figure out which line to take to his downtown office. “I have no idea – I haven’t checked yet,” he said. “I’ve been used to driving in Missoula for 40 years.” [more]

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