[news] “ATV and motorbike use is definitely inappropriate on the CDT given that Congress intended national scenic trails to be non-motorized,” says Dennis Milburn, president of the Last Chance Chapter of the Backcountry Horsemen and a member of MHDT. Lincoln District Ranger Amber Kamps, who is overseeing the travel planning process, denies that she is bound by policy or legislation to keep the CDT motor-free. “Forest Service policy—not legislation, just policy—says that where possible we should manage the [CDT] as non-motorized,” says Kamps, referring to the Forest Service’s 2009 comprehensive plan for CDT management. “Policy gives us a little direction as to how we should be considering management, but it is not a ‘thou shalt’ policy.” Kamps’ interpretation, however, appears to conflict with the law. According to the 1978 congressional legislation that created the CDT, “the use of motorized vehicles by the general public along any national scenic trail shall be prohibited,” with exceptions for emergency vehicles, certain private landowners and motor vehicles that were allowed on trail prior to the legislation’s passage. Forest Service officials will soon make their decision, and some believe they could make a significant impact on CDT management. “If the Lincoln Ranger District ignores the comprehensive plan and the original legislation … they will be setting precedent,” says Adam Rissien of Wildlands CPR, an ecological restoration organization in Missoula. “They will be saying they don’t have to follow their own policies.” The Lincoln Ranger District hosts an open house Feb. 28 to discuss the CDT. Public comments are being accepted until March 11. Jimmy Tobias
Nightlife
Enter Stage 112 With less than two hours until showtime, Charlie St. Germain and Ian LaPlace stand in the back of the Elks Lodge, surveying the room that they’ve remodeled into Missoula’s newest venue, dubbed Stage 112. Dieselboy, a dubstep DJ, is the headliner for the Sunday night show that serves as Stage 112’s first big event. The doors won’t officially open for at least another 90 minutes, but five young men walk in, interrupt St. Germain and LaPlace and ask when the show starts. One of the men, who looks about 18 and has a crew cut, says he’s here to help. “Uh, this guy Dan, he told me to come and help set up,” he says, clearly fishing for a way into the show.
“Dan who?” says LaPlace. “Dan Smith,” the man says. “We don’t have a Dan Smith who works here,” LaPlace says, and the man apologizes and splits. LaPlace and St. Germain exchange a look before continuing to explain their mission. “We’re open to all kinds of music formats,” LaPlace says. Stage 112, named after the venue’s address, 112 Pattee, is the latest shot at using the 500-person-capacity main floor auditorium for concerts. Shows dwindled after the venue was marred by a fatal 2011 fight outside its doors. Because the Elks is a nonprofit organization, LaPlace says Stage 112 operates under a “creative rental deal” in which his concert promotion company, Seafarer Entertainment, uses the space, but the ticketing is kept separate from bar revenue.
LaPlace already has several shows booked, mostly of a hip-hip or electronic nature, but says he’s open to hosting all kinds of events. LaPlace and St. Germain, an Elks bartender turned venue manager, say they and a partner decided to revamp the space back in October after seeing how it could fill a need in town. The idea roughly coincided with the Top Hat, which frequently hosted Seafarer productions, closing for several months of renovations. LaPlace says they’ve built out the stage and spent about $10,000 on updating the sound system. Two power sources now operate the lights and the sound, allowing for more watts and fancier lighting. After the Sunday night show, LaPlace reports via email that Dieselboy drew in a crowd of just under 200 people. Kate Whittle
County
Abandoning history? Missoula County Commissioners last month began reviewing a petition to abandon a roughly 300-foot patch
BY THE NUMBERS
$50
Ticket price for the Montana Democratic Party’s Mansfield-Metcalf Dinner, scheduled for March 9 in Helena. Obama campaign manager Jim Messina and U.S. Sen. Al Franken are scheduled to speak.
of unused county road west of Lolo. But the proposal, put forth by a neighboring landowner keen to acquire the property, is turning heads in the preservation community. Some contend this scrap of dirt is part of a bigger story: The 1877 flight of the Nez Perce from eastern Oregon to Canada. As executive director of the Nez Perce Trail Foundation, based in Salmon, Idaho, Jim Evans has worked for decades to preserve large swaths of the federally recognized trail in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. He’s led pack trips and hikers along the 1,170-mile route. Development and privatization have become a constant threat, he says. Roughly 61 percent of the trail is under private ownership, with easements allowing public access across some of that property. “Particularly in some of the areas where development has taken place, we’ve been very close to losing access to the route,” Evans says. Of the Lolo road abandonment, he adds, “This is probably one of the bigger threats we’ve had in the last five or six years.” Landowner Dave Trusty has been pushing the petition since 1992, claiming that the road, which dead-ends on his property, is encumbering his ability to sell the parcel. According to Commissioner Michele Landquist, Trusty has already been using the county land for years. But the historic concerns over this particular plot arose only recently, she says, after a representative from the Salish tribe attended a viewing of the abandonment site. Landquist declined to comment on how consideration for the Nez Perce trail might impact the abandonment. But she questions why the parties now raising those concerns didn’t do so earlier. There’s little doubt in Evans’ mind that the road in question was long ago trod by Nez Perce as they descended into what is now Lolo. The word “trail” is misleading, Evans says. “There’s no such a thing as a trail, because when you have 2,500 head of horses and 800 people, you don’t go head-to-toe on an 18-inch tread.” Even if Trusty puts the parcel up for sale, Evans says his group doesn’t have the funds to purchase and protect it. Landquist says the Board of County Commissioners is scheduled to continue its review of the abandonment petition during a public meeting Feb. 27. That meeting will be the primary opportunity for public comment. Alex Sakariassen
ETC. Most Montanans haven’t heard of Ed McGivern, but Rep. Bill Harris, R-Winnet, would like to change that. During a State Administration Committee hearing on Valentine’s Day, Harris presented House Bill 411, which would recognize, as Harris put it, “one of the most outstanding individuals in the history of the state.” Specifically, HB 411 seeks to recognize Lewistown as the “official home of The Ed McGivern Museum,” and proposes a building be named in honor of McGivern at the Montana Law Enforcement Academy. What’s so special about McGivern? Harris is glad you asked. During the hearing, he explained that McGivern, who died in 1957, was a celebrated exhibition shooter who could fire “five shots from a double-action revolver in twofifths of a second with all the shots landing in the area of a playing card.” He went on to say McGivern could empty two double-action revolvers in less than two seconds, and that the Lewistown native wrote a book titled Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting. At one point during the hearing, Harris deviated from his script in a flourish of excitement. He looked up from the podium, adjusted his glasses and chortled before saying: “If you didn’t hear any of the rest of it, please pay attention to this sentence. [McGivern’s] rate of fire is greater than the cyclical rate of the AK-47 automatic rifle. If you think about that for a minute, the country’s arguing whether or not those fire too fast, but [McGivern] could fire faster.” Something politically antagonizing lurks under the surface of this statement, but finding contention in Harris’ allusion is giving HB 411 too much credit. Just like in 2011, when Harris introduced HB 447 to make McGivern Montana’s official state shooter and to establish Sept. 13 of each year Ed McGivern Day, HB 411 will go largely unnoticed whether it’s passed or not. HB 447 died in committee. Action has yet to be taken on HB 411. If you prescribe value to the ability to fire a gun rapidly, McGivern’s feats are considerable. He is to exhibition pistol shooters what Lefty Kreh is to fly fishermen or Kane Waselenchuck is to racquet ballers: Transcendent, superlative and destined to be remembered in obscurity, because, like Kreh and Waselenchuck, he was really good at a sport nobody cares about. Nobody, that is, save for Rep. Bill Harris, who cares so much you might think all Montanans do.
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missoulanews.com • February 21 – February 28, 2013 [7]