“I was there.” Those are three powerful words in the right circumstances. They imply a first-hand knowledge that only a few can legitimately claim. In grade school we were taught that primary sources, those who were there, were the best to cite in term papers. When it comes to Inventoried Roadless Areas, I can say, “I was there.”

I retired from the U.S. Forest Service in 1998 after a 32-year career. During my career, I was involved with the Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE) and subsequent RARE II processes on several forests in California. These processes were intended to identify any and all areas that could potentially be considered for wilderness designation and then, once and for all, make recommendations for areas that should be considered for wilderness designations and areas that should be managed for multiple use.

 

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HELENA – An appeals court has upheld a judge's dismissal of a challenge to a proposed mine in northwestern Montana.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday that Judge Donald Molloy's ruling in favor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Revett Minerals was proper.

 

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Jane Howington has had to make several tough decisions since taking over as Kalispell’s city manager in 2009. She made another one last week and it appears to be her last in Kalispell.

Howington announced she was resigning after two years to take the city manager position in Newport, R.I. Howington, who is currently on a rolling contract that extends from year to year, will remain in Kalispell through December before starting the Rhode Island job in January.

 

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HELENA – Montana prosecutors are asking the state Supreme Court to lift a district judge's block of portions of a new state law meant to restrict the sale of medical marijuana.

Judge James Reynolds in June issued an injunction that prevented key parts of the bill from becoming law, including a ban on marijuana providers from making a profit.

 

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Leftist journalist Naomi Klein wrote the books “No Logo” and “The Shock Doctrine.” The social activist spoke at the Occupy Wall Street movement indicating that they can fulfill on the promises of the 1999 global trade action in Seattle. That was the last time a global and youth-led movement took aim at corporate power.

Asked how the Occupy movement deals with establishment politicians, Klein said, “Don’t worry about it. What will make this movement vulnerable is if it doesn’t develop its own democratic mechanisms to speak for itself. Then it’s vulnerable to people using your energy to fight for limited small changes. It’s in your power to not let this happen. You are not cannon fodder for Washington policy wonks.”

 

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In politics, one often hears of a pendulum, which swings left and right but in theory is best for the greatest number of voters when it approaches the center.

Last week, Whitefish’s city council and mayor elections produced a decisive swing to the left, and one of the winning candidates, John Anderson, says the pendulum is now comfortably resting near the middle, where it should be.

“I don’t think the pendulum has swung too far to one side and, frankly, I think it’s been re-centered,” Anderson said. “And I think that’s the direction people want to go.”

 

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In the months leading up to the 2011 municipal elections, the Flathead Beacon received multiple letters to the editor advocating repeal of the 2010 interlocal agreement dealing with the so-called planning doughnut.

In several of those, the authors urged voters to support repeal and give the city control of planning decisions in the two-mile ring outside city limits by comparing Whitefish’s planning with that of areas in the county.

 

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After Whitefish voters overwhelmingly repealed a 2010 interlocal agreement with Flathead County last week, the question of what comes next is generating vastly different answers with potential legal implications.

Whitefish City Attorney Mary VanBuskirk says the two sides now revert back to their 2005 interlocal agreement, which gave Whitefish land-use authority over the roughly two-mile planning doughnut surrounding city limits, including Whitefish Lake.

RELATED: County Responds to Planning Criticism

 

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