THEY KEEP COMING AND GETTING BETTER

2007 Comments Worth Repeating VI

By Bill Schneider, 12-12-07

This is actually the sixth Comments Worth Repeating collection I’ve posted this year, and I might have one more before the end of the year. I hope I’m not the only one that finds all these comments amazing and insightful, and just in case I’m not, I put together a chronology of them following this article just in case you want to go back and read more of them. If you do, you won’t be disappointed.

Are We Ready for Wilderness Lite?, 10-11-07

“It pains me greatly to have to decide between supporting wilderness preservation (permanently destroying bicycle access to places people have ridden for decades, and leaving me possibly unable to see them anymore) and supporting mountain bike access (leaving land less protected than it should be)....We can be pathetic little kings of our own tiny, shrinking little fiefdom, watching loggers and developers chew up everything that isn’t already wilderness, or we can join forces with mountain bikers and start protecting some land. I’ve made my choice. What’s yours?” (Steve)

“My frustration is that the eco-fundamentalists are making it impossible to achieve good outcomes because of their all or nothing ideology. I also cannot stand to be seen as being on the same side as the motorized folk. I think they ought to be given places to do their thing, but if a horse has 10 times the impact of a mountain biker or hiker, a motorcycle has 10 times the impact of a horse, not to mention the noise that can be heard for miles. ATVs and motorcycles should be barred from single track and certainly all wilderness. My frustration and that of all mountain bikers is that we identify with the hikers and even the equestrians. We value the same things in the wild. Yet, many, out of ignorance, view us as somehow alien. We really, really want to be on the side of Wilderness. Just don’t use it to take away our best places to ride.” (Bob C.)

“As for the question of the article in question:  no, I am not ready for ‘wilderness lite.’ I maintain that we already have too much ‘wilderness lite,’ and we can’t allow the further degradation of existing wilderness values.” (Alice Oliver)

“Seems you’ve missed the point Bill is trying to make. As hiking groups members continue to both age and decline, you are going to need other user groups to stand up and help in the fight to keep our natural lands roadless. Mountain bikers are a group both commited to sustainable trailbuilding and waiting eagerly on the sidelines to help.” (Mike B.)

“We can continue with the status quo and let the fringes define the argument, but that, as Bill says, ends up doing all of us a disservice. By incorporating mountain bike and equestrian groups into the push for new protected wild land, the next major designation may only be 50% wilderness and 50% wilderness lite, but that’s 100% more land than we’ve seen protected in the last 20 years.” (jb)

“Wilderness is just an idea; you can’t see the line from space…Wilderness can be taken away with a vote in Congress, for any excuse. Just keep disenfranchising groups.” (Wade)

“I recall an old Star Trek where Michael Ansara says ‘only a fool fights on a burning ship.’ I think it is time that we challenge our definitions and rethink our process because, burning or not, the ship is sailing without us. Bill’s article and Steve’s thoughts were the points of departure we need.” (Michael Mejia)

Stand Strong, Whitefish, 11-08-07

“What I hear Bill saying is that Whitefish should ensure that all development incentives (explicit, implicit, market-driven or regulatory) line up with its values. I’m not personally acquainted with Whitefish and its values, but I do think that’s a philosophy that should hold up regionwide.” (John Clayton)

Mining Law Reform Is a No-Brainer, 11-15-07

“When I was a bureaucrat writing Bureau of Land Management policies back in the 1980s, the Mining Law was the one thing that really tied our hands.  If a person locates a valid claim (i.e., a claim with a valuable mineral deposit), all of a sudden that claim overrides every other public value of that land.  In practice, even a claim that’s not valid can do that, because under existing law and regulations, BLM and the Forest Service won’t spend the time and money to challenge the claimant’s assertion of a valuable mineral deposit.  Most claims are not valid, just a prospector’s wishful thinking.  But they tie up lands that belong to all of us.” (George)

“I would not worry too much about Bush.  He is more than a lame duck. He is a shamed duck.” (bearbait)

The ZENN of Driving, 11-17-07

“It is well documented that energy efficient electric cars, such as the ZENN, have much less of an environmental impact relative to combustion engine vehicles. To deny this at this point is as absurd as denying a link between cigarettes and cancer.” (Ron Gompertz)

“Everyday I drive my ‘Electric Blue’ ZENN I love it even more. Like you mention in the article the only low point is the limitation on speed...but I can make 38 with my up-grade and can get about everywhere I want to go.” (Rick)

“There are NO highway speed electric cars manufactured by any major US auto makers. Electric cars are currently the exclusive domain of independent startups. Parallels to the beginnings of the micro-computer and Internet industries are plain the see.” (Ron Gompertz)

“Who’s the bigger patriot...the guy driving the F350 Dually with an American flag decal on the window, sucking down Middle Eastern oil, or the guy driving the electric car with the Question Authority bumper sticker, fueled only by Montana made electricity?” (Ron Gompertz)

Cabela’s Desecrating its Own Brand, 11-22-07

“It’s OK to hold Cabelas feet to the fire for what they do, but totally unfair to expect them to take the lead in trying to solve what maybe insolvable problems.” (sweed7)

“I receive about 12 catalogs a year from them and have never heard a whisper about what they are doing to improve hunting and fishing opportunities.” (Mark)

“I’ve been doing my own personal mini-boycott of Cabela’s ever since I heard last year that they were in the ‘trophy property’ business. Cabela’s built its company and its reputation on the pocketbooks of the blue-collar, working class, hook and bullet crowd. Now they’re in league with high rollers who would lock those same working people (and formerly valued customers) out of traditional hunting and fishing areas. Not good. Not smart. Not right. I’m glad to see the wave of negative reaction is surging.” (Wendy in Idaho)

“Bottomline is the average sportsmen made Cabela’s rich and now they turned their backs on us.” (Jack)

“I drive my red Suburban through the brush, scare up the deer and wild turkey, and the guy gets googly-eyed and says, ‘Well, I’ll be back with the check.’” (Michael Lashley)

“When you attack Cabela’s and Cabela’s Trophy Properties, you are attacking the character of the people in the entire nation. We are a nation that believes in Private Property Rights.” (Elizabeth Fry)

“For Jeff and Elizabeth, I understand how you would defend your livelihood.  Now, how much less would these Trophy lands be worth if the states closed down all hunting and fishing?  1/2 maybe?  Therefore, that ‘amenity’ premium is built on something the landowners don’t own, the wild animals.  These animals are not anything like a lake or view that stays with the property.  Private property rights extend to the minerals, water rights, dirt, betterments, and improvements, NOT the wild animals.” (Craig Moore)

“I’m really starting to wonder about the mentality of the Montana people. You are really starting to sound like you live in a cave.” (Connie Synder)

“Dang, Bill. You really know how to stir up the fertilizer. It’s been aerosolized in this case. This has been a real education in the fundamental philosophic divide between the camps on who owns what and who has what rights. I really am driven to conclude this is all hard-wired in our brains...as is the desire to conduct opportunistic predation.” (Dave Skinner)

“To me, it shows that it may not be a very wise business decision by Cabelas to fail to practice a bit of diligence and pro-active discretion when it comes to endorsing land transactions with their name. Otherwise, they just look like another land broker. And even more ‘risky’ to their corporate image, they are seen by their customers as a land broker associated with facilitating the haphazard movement of properties with the highest wildlife values.” (Mart MT)

“Montana in recent years passed a bill that prohibits shooting any animals within enclosures…The Montana Wildlife Federation participated in shutting down viable businesses in their effort because they seem to believe they are bigger than God. They feel the right to attempt to dictate to Cabela’s how they can run their business in much the same way as they did with Montana ranchers trying to make a living by offering hunts or harvesting opportunities…Yes, the biggest threat to hunting and fishing heritage comes from within the hunting and fishing community from individuals and organizations such as the Montana Wildlife Federation running a Marxist regime, dictating who can buy and sell land, how they can do that and where.” (Tom Remington)

“I’m glad MWF noticed and brought the inequity to the forefront, unlike the haters posting here. Now, something might get accomplished; I don’t believe Cabela’s is so arrogant to think they can go forward without the everyday guy buying their goods as well as the neo-rich.” (Larry)

For more amazing comments, go to the Comments Worth Repeating Chronology.

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