[voices]
Opinion changed
STREET TALK
by Cathrine L. Walters
Asked Tuesday, Feb. 11, near the corner of Broadway and Higgins. The 11th annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival starts this weekend. What’s your favorite documentary film? Follow-up: What’s a story or topic you think deserves to be made into a documentary?
Forest Taipale: Recently at the Roxy I saw Ram Dass: Fierce Grace about accepting the process of aging and the body changing without your permission. It’s electric: The history of dubstep and the present-day influence of dubstep.
Geoffrey Sutton: Probably Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine. It was a really important issue—gun violence in America—that needed to be brought up. It’s still a pressing problem. Fish tale: I’m working on a fly-fishing guide school for Chileans to come here and train to become guides. It would be interesting to see the common bond of the sport of fly fishing and the similarities of what fishing is to both cultures. Mark Lannen: An ESPN “30 for 30” film called The Two Escobars about drug king Pablo Escobar and Columbian footballer Andres Escobar, who was killed. It was a brilliant story about how sports, economics, politics and world drug policies in the ’80s and ’90s all worked together. Get the frack out: Something about the efforts to do fractured oil drilling in the AbsarokaBeartooths in Montana. Now is a good time to do it because the company is trying to go in there and do exploratory drilling. Linda Swanson: I think it’s called A Place at the Table, about the hunger problems in America. Reformer: We need to look at the history of our health care system and what’s going on behind the scenes that’s holding up changes in the system. It’s obviously broken and lawmakers seem unwilling to make changes. Christina Michels: I like the Zeitgeist series, especially Zeitgeist: Addendum. And Blackfish, about the killer whales at SeaWorld. They steal them from the ocean and separate the mothers from their babies ... it’s so sad. Locavore: I wish people were exposed more on topics regarding food production and what’s in fast food and what people are eating every day. I would like to see people who are self-sufficient with their local food sources.
[4] Missoula Independent • February 13–February 20, 2014
I must confess I did not think of the Missoula Independent as much of a serious news organization. The investigation into corruption in Lake County and the fact that it was traced to Steve Bullock’s office as attorney general has changed my mind. I hope the Independent will continue to follow the corruption in Lake County and all the way up to the now governor. The fact that the Independent had to pay its own legal fees to uncover this story should be given more coverage than just the “etc.” section of the paper (see Jan. 2 issue). The public’s right to know what “our” government is doing and having real journalists looking into the government is essential to freedom and our way of life. I voted for Steve Bullock. However, it looks like he is punishing good public employees for doing their jobs, then covering it up. Anyone who wants to investigate these actions has to have lot of money for a lawsuit. The public needs to know about this kind of behavior from our elected officials. If the Independent will continue to follow this story and others like it, I will continue to take them seriously. Matt Arno Bonner
as well as large parts of the Bakken oil field. It’s clear the primary motivation to focus on sage grouse for ESA listing is to provide yet another tool for special interest groups to block energy development. And in this obstructionist toolbox, there’s no heavier sledgehammer than the ESA. What an interesting irony, then, that so much effort is going into “protecting” one bird from energy development, when the Obama administration is turning a blind eye to hundreds of thousands of other birds being killed by wind energy turbines each year, including protected birds
“The fact that the
Independent had to pay its own legal fees to uncover this story should be given more coverage.”
ESA abuse The humble sage grouse has earned a new moniker in Montana and other western states: the spotted owl of the prairie. That description started as a joke, but for the tens of thousands of Montanans who earn their living in agriculture or energy development it’s no longer a laughing matter. That’s because there’s a very real threat this bird could be listed under the Endangered Species Act. The result would dramatically impact Montana’s economy. It’s worth noting that sage grouse— these birds in desperate need of federal protection—are game birds in Montana and other western states. You can shoot them. And there are no plans to restrict their hunting if they are listed under the ESA. It’s no coincidence that sage grouse habitat also happens to intersect both the largest untapped coal deposits in the country
like bald eagles. Recent research puts the annual butcher’s bill by wind farms at 573,000 birds. Included in that number are 83,000 hunting birds, like eagles and hawks. Most bird deaths are violations of the ESA, the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, or other protective acts. Indeed, there are examples of the Obama administration prosecuting power companies for birds killed by power lines and oil companies for birds that drown in waste pits. But to date, not a single wind energy company has been prosecuted for bird deaths. It’s not true to say the feds are doing absolutely nothing to enforce these laws—in one example a wind company was ordered
to employ “spotters” to watch for eagles and shut down turbines when they get too close. How’s that for government efficiency? It’s a dirty little secret, but the Obama administration has been granting renewable energy companies “take” permits that allows them to kill bald eagles with impunity for up to five years. On Dec. 6, the Interior Department announced they were extending the length of those permits for up to 30 years. It would seem that not all birds are created equal, at least for the Obama administration and their environmental allies. Wind energy has a literal “free pass” to kill bald eagles, but traditional energy development could get shut down in eastern Montana because of the potential that it could disturb sage grouse habitat. Let’s be honest about what’s driving this process—a political agenda that cares much more about putting shackles on energy development than it does about protecting birds. The duplicity shown by the Obama administration in applying the law underscores the point that the ESA is more about politics than it is protecting and restoring endangered animals. Though enacted with noble aims, over the years the ESA has been corrupted, used arbitrarily to reward rent-seekers and punish political foes, and been used with devastating effect to destroy jobs and economic opportunity. Several Montana industries now find themselves with an ESA target on their back in the form of the sage grouse. Montana officials are scrambling to craft a sage grouse management plan that satisfies the feds and prevents ESA listing. But regardless of the management plan they enact, a heavy blow will be dealt to energy development in our state. In other words, even without an outright ESA listing, the act is still being used to force states into arbitrarily limiting development. The way the ESA, and other wildlife protection laws, have been selectively applied is shameful. It’s time the ESA is restored to its original purpose—restoration of wildlife populations that need our help. And it’s time that federal officials start applying those protection laws evenly among all industries. State Rep. Nicholas Schwaderer Superior
[Comments from MissoulaNews.com] Backtalk from “Strange days,” Feb. 6
Stay to the end
One theory
Sad story
“The way this article started out, I expected a different conclusion. But I’m glad to say I agree completely the commission is to blame. We elect far too many people based on their personalities and attitude when what we need is competence, integrity and experience.” Posted Feb. 6 at 7:14 a.m.
“Has anyone thought to think about the correlation between TEA Party wackos and the fact that so many of them are not native Montanans? Nutballs of all shades have infiltrated our politics and in most cases have been losers from places who were probably given tickets to Montana because people were tired of listening to crap spewing from their mouths and simply wanted them gone.” Posted Feb. 6 at 8:53 a.m.
“What’s so sad about this story is that it’s getting so much press. When people from out of state visit our online newspapers and blogs they see this. It’s not quite the impression that we want them to have of Montana, now is it? … I urge the people of Ravalli County to stop making the rest of us native Montanans look like stupid fools.” Posted Feb. 6 at 11:42 a.m.