BigHornRam
Well-known member
Rally questions forest oversight
By PERRY BACKUS of the Missoulian
HAMILTON - There were plenty of reasons not to be there.
At 4 p.m., the bank thermometer claimed it was 66 degrees under beautiful blue skies. The outdoors beckoned on this perfect November Sunday afternoon.
Couch potatoes had even more reason to stay away. The New England Patriots were trailing Peyton Manning's Colts in what many considered the biggest regular season NFL game ever played.
Still they came.
There were 500 chairs set up inside the First Interstate Building at the Ravalli County Fairgrounds for the inaugural meeting of the Big Sky Coalition: Environmentalists with Common Sense.
By the time the meeting started, people were standing along the walls to listen and voice their support for the new organization that hopes to push through changes in the way national forest lands are managed.
The idea began with Bitterroot Valley residents Tom and Charlotte Robak.
Tired of what's become an annual ritual of fire and smoke, the couple worked with others in the valley to put together Sunday's rally as a way to gauge public sentiment.
“We started about four weeks ago,” Tom Robak said. “Everywhere we went, people told us that nobody would come.”
Then people heard about the upcoming rally and the phone calls and letters began to arrive.
“We heard from people in Seeley Lake and Bonner,” Charlotte said. “They called us and told us they supported what we were trying to do. Looking at all these people who've come ? it brings me almost to tears.”
Sonny LaSalle, a retired national forest supervisor, moderated the event.
He said the new organization isn't about pointing fingers.
“We're not in the blame game,” LaSalle said. “The blame can be shared by an awful lot of folks. We have a crisis on our national forests. It's not just in the Bitterroot.”
Fires are flaring up from California to Montana and the price to fight them continues to grow. Costs for fighting wildfires this year are expected to exceed $1 billion this year alone, LaSalle said.
Ten years ago when LaSalle retired, he said the average cost of fighting wildfire was about $1,000 an acre. Last summer's Tin Cup fire near Darby cost about $3,000 an acre, he said.
Restoration costs - which include thinning either mechanically or with prescribed fire - range about $500 to $1,000 an acre, he said.
“Does it make economic sense that outside the wilderness that we allow fires to burn?” LaSalle said. “We pay all that money to fight it and then have to pay even more to restore it.”
LaSalle said there's no way to completely take fire and smoke out of the Bitterroot Valley's future.
“We're not going to stop fire. We're not going to take all the smoke out of the valley,” he said. “We live in a fire-prone ecosystem. Fire will always be here.”
Through management, LaSalle said it's possible to decrease the intensity of wildfire.
To accomplish that, he said, management efforts have to be large enough to make a difference. Instead of 300 acres here or 1,000 acres there, LaSalle suggested work needs to take place on a landscape scale closer to 30,000 to 40,000 acres.
For that to happen, he said, the appeals and lawsuits have to stop.
The Big Sky Coalition hopes to find a way to stop the fighting, Tom Robak said.
“We've never had a voice in this before,” Robak told the crowd. “They are going to have to listen to us now.”
Robak said he hopes the coalition will grow into an organization that can provide a voice for people who want to see a change in the way national forest lands are being managed.
When Robak asked the crowd how many would like to see logging back on the Bitterroot National Forest, nearly everyone raised their hand.
“We've been the silent majority for long enough,” he said. “We need to raise money so we can hire our own staff. We know the other side has that. We need to have the same thing.”
Robak said he plans to challenge environmental groups to meet him in Helena for a sit-down meeting with the governor to begin the search for common ground.
In response to a question about the potential of the Big Sky Coalition veering into other issues like the controversial stream setbacks issue in Ravalli County, Robak said it would not. The coalition's focus will strictly be on forest issues, he said.
“We will not be involved in streamside setbacks,” Robak said. “I may personally be involved, but not the coalition.”
State Sen. Rick Laible, R-Darby, told the crowd he was surprised to see so many turn out.
“I thought that when we first started talking about starting this organization, if we had 100 people turn out it would be a miracle,” he said. “Damn. This is a miracle.”
When people turn out like this, politicians take notice. This is an opportunity to send a message to Congress, Laible said.
“We can let them know that we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore,” he said. “I'm tired of fire every summer. I'm tired of the valley being filled with smoke. I'm tired of being evacuated.”
“We want to be able to send a message to Congress,” Laible said. “This is what we want you to do. Get off your fat backsides and do something about it.”
Don Hall of Corvallis walked into the dark night feeling like something just might happen.
“I came here because I thought it was time for the silent majority to finally speak up,” Hall said. “I thought this was encouraging. I knew that these people were here and now I've seen them.”
By PERRY BACKUS of the Missoulian
HAMILTON - There were plenty of reasons not to be there.
At 4 p.m., the bank thermometer claimed it was 66 degrees under beautiful blue skies. The outdoors beckoned on this perfect November Sunday afternoon.
Couch potatoes had even more reason to stay away. The New England Patriots were trailing Peyton Manning's Colts in what many considered the biggest regular season NFL game ever played.
Still they came.
There were 500 chairs set up inside the First Interstate Building at the Ravalli County Fairgrounds for the inaugural meeting of the Big Sky Coalition: Environmentalists with Common Sense.
By the time the meeting started, people were standing along the walls to listen and voice their support for the new organization that hopes to push through changes in the way national forest lands are managed.
The idea began with Bitterroot Valley residents Tom and Charlotte Robak.
Tired of what's become an annual ritual of fire and smoke, the couple worked with others in the valley to put together Sunday's rally as a way to gauge public sentiment.
“We started about four weeks ago,” Tom Robak said. “Everywhere we went, people told us that nobody would come.”
Then people heard about the upcoming rally and the phone calls and letters began to arrive.
“We heard from people in Seeley Lake and Bonner,” Charlotte said. “They called us and told us they supported what we were trying to do. Looking at all these people who've come ? it brings me almost to tears.”
Sonny LaSalle, a retired national forest supervisor, moderated the event.
He said the new organization isn't about pointing fingers.
“We're not in the blame game,” LaSalle said. “The blame can be shared by an awful lot of folks. We have a crisis on our national forests. It's not just in the Bitterroot.”
Fires are flaring up from California to Montana and the price to fight them continues to grow. Costs for fighting wildfires this year are expected to exceed $1 billion this year alone, LaSalle said.
Ten years ago when LaSalle retired, he said the average cost of fighting wildfire was about $1,000 an acre. Last summer's Tin Cup fire near Darby cost about $3,000 an acre, he said.
Restoration costs - which include thinning either mechanically or with prescribed fire - range about $500 to $1,000 an acre, he said.
“Does it make economic sense that outside the wilderness that we allow fires to burn?” LaSalle said. “We pay all that money to fight it and then have to pay even more to restore it.”
LaSalle said there's no way to completely take fire and smoke out of the Bitterroot Valley's future.
“We're not going to stop fire. We're not going to take all the smoke out of the valley,” he said. “We live in a fire-prone ecosystem. Fire will always be here.”
Through management, LaSalle said it's possible to decrease the intensity of wildfire.
To accomplish that, he said, management efforts have to be large enough to make a difference. Instead of 300 acres here or 1,000 acres there, LaSalle suggested work needs to take place on a landscape scale closer to 30,000 to 40,000 acres.
For that to happen, he said, the appeals and lawsuits have to stop.
The Big Sky Coalition hopes to find a way to stop the fighting, Tom Robak said.
“We've never had a voice in this before,” Robak told the crowd. “They are going to have to listen to us now.”
Robak said he hopes the coalition will grow into an organization that can provide a voice for people who want to see a change in the way national forest lands are being managed.
When Robak asked the crowd how many would like to see logging back on the Bitterroot National Forest, nearly everyone raised their hand.
“We've been the silent majority for long enough,” he said. “We need to raise money so we can hire our own staff. We know the other side has that. We need to have the same thing.”
Robak said he plans to challenge environmental groups to meet him in Helena for a sit-down meeting with the governor to begin the search for common ground.
In response to a question about the potential of the Big Sky Coalition veering into other issues like the controversial stream setbacks issue in Ravalli County, Robak said it would not. The coalition's focus will strictly be on forest issues, he said.
“We will not be involved in streamside setbacks,” Robak said. “I may personally be involved, but not the coalition.”
State Sen. Rick Laible, R-Darby, told the crowd he was surprised to see so many turn out.
“I thought that when we first started talking about starting this organization, if we had 100 people turn out it would be a miracle,” he said. “Damn. This is a miracle.”
When people turn out like this, politicians take notice. This is an opportunity to send a message to Congress, Laible said.
“We can let them know that we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore,” he said. “I'm tired of fire every summer. I'm tired of the valley being filled with smoke. I'm tired of being evacuated.”
“We want to be able to send a message to Congress,” Laible said. “This is what we want you to do. Get off your fat backsides and do something about it.”
Don Hall of Corvallis walked into the dark night feeling like something just might happen.
“I came here because I thought it was time for the silent majority to finally speak up,” Hall said. “I thought this was encouraging. I knew that these people were here and now I've seen them.”
