Columns

GUEST COLUMN: Reducing accidents between wildlife, vehicles needs to become a priority

Published on Thu, 09/29/2016 - 3:46pm

Monique DiGiorgio was driving on Highway 90 back to her home in Bozeman when she learned the hard way that wildlife-vehicle accidents are traumatic and potentially deadly. Two deer suddenly appeared in her headlights. She hit them both at 75 mph. Airbags deployed, essentially blinding her. Miraculously, she wasn’t hurt and was able to get safely to the side of the road. When the tow truck driver arrived to haul her totaled car away, he noted that he “tows away deer-damaged cars all the time at this exact spot.”

WRITERS ON THE RANGE: What an old firefighter knew

Published on Wed, 09/21/2016 - 2:28pm

An old logger and firefighter I got to know pretty well passed away recently. You might be wondering why this should matter to you. Well, his advice might just come in useful today. He was in the forestry business for nearly 70 years, and I think his perspective is needed. After all, he worked on fire crews all over the West. I used to walk with him and our two dogs along the railroad bed, and I loved listening to him reminisce.

WRITERS ON THE RANGE: From occupier zaniness to chasing grizzly bears

Published on Fri, 09/16/2016 - 3:27pm

‘HEARD AROUND THE WEST'

THE WEST

A wit once wisely observed that “anyone who represents himself has a fool for a client.” Now there’s proof: Representing himself before a federal judge in Portland, Oregon, one of the occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge declared himself an “idiot,” adding that he is “incompetent and am not required by any law to be competent.” 

GUEST COLUMN: River closure forces a necessary conversation

Published on Tue, 09/13/2016 - 4:53pm

The recent reopening of stretches of the Yellowstone River comes as a great relief to Montanans, to our small businesses, and to the people whose livelihoods depend on its waters. However, the closing of the 183 miles of the Yellowstone between Gardiner and Laurel in mid-August also serves as a powerful reminder of how fragile our resources are, and how our economies and ecosystems exist in a delicate balance.

WRITERS ON THE RANGE: Montana gains a community-run forest

Published on Thu, 09/08/2016 - 2:54pm

In the northwest corner of Montana, a coalition of partners recently turned a piece of lakeshore slated for subdivision into a new type of public forest. It exists largely because the U.S. Forest Service in 2012 launched a fund it calls the Community Forest and Open Spaces Program. The fund is vastly underutilized in the West, with more than two-thirds of its 35 recipients lying east of the Mississippi, but as development proliferates, Montana’s now-protected Alvord Lake offers a model more Westerners might consider adopting.

NATIONAL COLUMNIST: Main Street shopping and the internet

Published on Tue, 09/06/2016 - 3:12pm

Wal-Mart is seeing the future, and the future isn’t more shoppers driving through stop-and-go traffic to big boxes at the edge of town. It’s online shopping. The giant retailer plans to plunk down a princely $3.3 billion for Jet.com, an e-commerce company. Using the same crystal ball, Macy’s says it will close at least 100 stores, many in malls that have seen better days.

Where does retailing in our city centers and on our Main Streets fit into this story? The answers are not simple.

GUEST COLUMN: We must start now to improve our outdoor recreation infrastructure

Published on Thu, 09/01/2016 - 2:58pm

Judging from the number of people on the streams and trails the past few months, it’s easy to say that we all share the same objectives in our Montana summer: recreation, recreation, and more recreation.

GUEST COLUMN
Jeff Welch

 

GUEST COLUMN: Climate change threatens the economic engine of our rivers

Published on Wed, 08/31/2016 - 5:16pm

On Aug. 19, Montana’s Fish, Wildlife, and Parks took the unprecedented step of closing 183 miles of the Yellowstone River to all forms of recreation. FWP’s decision came in response to a parasitic and highly contagious fish kill largely centered in the Paradise Valley south of Livingston.

GUEST COLUMN: On river closures and irrigation use

Published on Tue, 08/30/2016 - 4:25pm

As a fishing guide on the Yellowstone River I quite suddenly have a lot of idle time on my hands. Instead of working today I went for a drive down Paradise Valley and almost immediately made two interesting observations. First, Carter’s Bridge, probably the most heavily used access point on the Yellowstone River, was, on a beautiful weekend day in August, completely, eerily, devoid of life.

GUEST COLUMN: Let’s work together to help our river recover

Published on Thu, 08/25/2016 - 3:04pm

I drove out to Carter’s Bridge Fishing Access Site last weekend knowing what I would see, but not realizing what I would find. I knew it would be empty since Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks  closed 183 miles of the Yellowstone River, from Gardiner to Laurel, as well as all of its tributaries, like the Boulder and Stillwater Rivers, to all recreational activity: from swimming, to floating, to fishing.