Posted: October 6, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Rehberg Plan Would Shutter Yellowstone, Glacier Parks
In the GOP Pledge to America, a so-called “promise” made by D.C. Denny Rehberg and his Washington cronies, you’ll find glossy photographs of the American landscape, the great national parks and monuments like Mount Rushmore.
But what the Pledge to America doesn’t say is that it’s really more of a threat than a promise. If all of its provisions were to be enacted, then in a mere ten years, according to a leading economist, the federal government would have no money to maintain any of those beautiful places, which are key to Montana’s economy.
As Howard Gleckman, a Resident Fellow at the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, told NPR recently of Rehberg’s plan for national parks:
They’d be closed. Maybe we could sell them to Hilton or something. But essentially, they would be closed.
*snicker* In the first place, it will never happen. In the second place, “shuttering” National Parks probably ranks down around #9,317 on the list of things the GOP and/or Tea Party folks are concerned about, in re: too much spending and/or government control.
I have to agree with David. You are stretching reality to the breaking point with this post. Worse, it is WAY too easy to make a counter argument that the Left here in Montana wants to Shutter ALL the forests and wilderness areas from Wyoming to Canada. Hell, an envirnmental group here in Beaverhead County just filed a suit to try to close the entire Beaverhead Deerlodge forest to snowmobiles. They claim they don’t want to stop snowmobiling entirely, they just want to dictate where those snowmobilers are allowed to go (it should be pointed out that restrictions already apply to many areas of the Beaverhead Deerlodge forest).
This post falls flat….
Not really the same thing. The fact is that if the Republican plan were enacted in the form of their new contract on america (with the promised cut in non-defense discretionary spending) their would not be money available to
It may be that non-teabagger conservatives like yourself do not agree with these plans but I dont think that was the point of the post. The post is explaining what the practical effect of the pledge would be and it is correct.
“their would not be money available to” = “there would be no money available to maintain the national park system.”
Moorcat: Could you please provide documentation to support your claims that:
1) The Left here in Montana wants to Shutter ALL the forests and wilderness areas from Wyoming to Canada.
2) An envirnmental group here in Beaverhead County just filed a suit to try to close the entire Beaverhead Deerlodge forest to snowmobiles.
Again, please provide us with the documentation you have used to make these claims. If you fail to provide documentation, I guess we can just assume you are making things up to prove some sort of point….Thanks.
Also, as part of the GOP’s first Contract On America, wasn’t the federal government shut down (including all the national parks) in 1995?
Obviously you forgot the debate a year ago to establish a wilderness corridor from Wyoming to Canada. Luckily, the radical left lost that debate. Sorry if you missed it.
As far as the Wilderness suit, I can’t find any documentation online. It was reported in the Local Dillon Newspaper (as well as another suit in the area around Yellowstone). I was first told about it by two people who work at the Beaverhead Deerlodge Forestry Center. Believe it or not, not everything occurs online. If you want to know more about it, look it up yourself.
Moorcat: Again, WTF are you talking about?
What “debate” took place last year to “establish a wilderness corridor from Wyoming to Canada?” And even if this “debate” took place, how would this have “shutter[ed] ALL the forests and wilderness areas from Wyoming to Canada?” Seriously, if you are going to make these allegations you must have better back-up and documentation than what you’ve currently provided.
Regarding your claim that “An envirnmental [sic] group here in Beaverhead County just filed a suit to try to close the entire Beaverhead Deerlodge forest to snowmobiles”…it appears clear that you can’t find any documentation to back up your allegation. Funny then that you say to me, “If you want to know more about it, look it up yourself.” Well, Moorcat, I do know something about the suit and it in no way is an attempt to end all snowmobiling on the BHDL NF. That’s a fact and that’s why I challenged you to come up with some documentation, which you obviously couldn’t do.
Thanks…and better luck spreading your BS, boogie-man inspired allegations next time.
If you know so much about the suit, please feel free to back up your knowledge… otherwise, you are doing the same thing you are accusing me of doing. I can’t post an online source for the information I have becuase the Dillon Tribune “online” edition only carries a few of the stories and changes each week.
Moorcat:
Here is a copy of the complaint/lawsuit:
http://www.wildlandscpr.org/files/WCPR,%20MQR,%20FOB%20-%20BDNF%20RFP%20Final%20Complaint_0.pdf
Also, below I have posted the entire press release, which was sent out by the coalition of conservation and recreation groups when they filed suit.
Also, you may wish to check out this post for more info: “Snowmobile Court Challenge Brings Divisive Articles” http://www.wildlandscpr.org/blog/snowmobile-court-challenge-brings-divisive-article .
Suffice to say, I again challenge you to find any evidence to back up your false allegation that “An envirnmental [sic] group here in Beaverhead County just filed a suit to try to close the entire Beaverhead Deerlodge forest to snowmobiles.”
Thanks.
September 7, 2010
Groups Seek Protections for Skiing and Winter Habitat
Missoula – Backcountry skiers and wolverines lose when mixed with snowmobiles, especially on Mt. Jefferson in the Centennial Valley. So says conservation and recreation groups who jointly filed a lawsuit today over the revised Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest Plan. The organizations explain that the agency did not follow its own rules when designating areas for snowmobile use, which include Mt. Jefferson, as well as the West Pioneer Wilderness Study Area and the West Big Hole, among others.
Groups filing the lawsuit include Wildlands CPR, Montanans for Quiet Recreation, and Friends of the Bitterroot. Claiming that the Forest Service failed to carefully plan for snowmobile use, the coalition is challenging the decision to designate winter motorized recreation across 60 percent of the forest.
Such a large area open to unlimited use has the potential to harm wildlife and cause conflicts with other recreationists. Nowhere is that better illustrated than on Mt. Jefferson, which straddles the Montana/Idaho border. Used by wolverine and back-country skiers, the area has become a destination for extreme snowmobilers coming over the border from Island Park, ID.
Pat McKenna, former backcountry ski guide and board member of Montanans for Quiet Recreation stated, “Virtually every acre of Mt. Jefferson along the Idaho border is open to motorized winter use to the point that skiers and other quiet users, like me, have only one last corner free from snowmobile noise and exhaust; a protected area that snowmobilers violate all the time.”
“The Centennial and Beaverhead Mountain Ranges serve as a vital travel route connecting wolverines between Idaho and Greater Yellowstone as well as providing crucial wolverine denning habitat,” explained Adam Rissien with Wildlands CPR. “Allowing heavy snowmobile use may cause wolverine to abandon dens and preclude their ability to travel safely through these important areas.”
Also at issue are portions of the Sapphire Wilderness Study Area that were left unprotected along the border between the Bitterroot and Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forests. “This area is crucial not only for wolverines, but also mountain goats, which even the Forest Service admits have seen drastic population reductions, likely due to motorized recreation,” states John Grove with Friends of the Bitterroot.
Signed in January 2009, the new forest plan designates over 2,043,000 acres for snowmobile use, but makes no commitment to ensure snowmobiles do not harm wildlife or cause conflicts.
“The Forest Service took the first step when they allocated these general areas for snowmobiles, but they failed to finish the job by looking to see if these places are truly appropriate for winter motorized use,” explained Rissien. “The agency has a defined set of criteria it must follow to minimize harm to wildlife and conflicts with other recreationists. Unfortunately the Beaverhead-Deerlodge forest planners did not follow these rules, resulting in real harm to wildlife and those who rely on quiet winter landscapes for recreation and business.”
The lawsuit claims forest officials did not take a hard look at the consequences of designating winter motorized recreation, nor did they demonstrate compliance with key laws and Executive Orders. “Those orders, signed by former Presidents Nixon and Carter, require that snowmobiles be managed to protect wildlife and minimize conflicts,” explained attorney Sarah Peters of Wildlands CPR.
The coalition is asking the agency to better protect wolverine, mountain goat and winter elk habitat as well as provide quiet places back country skiers can enjoy the landscape without the noise and exhaust from motorized use.
Women and children hardest hit.
Sell Glacier National Park over my dead body