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Section A
Volume XXXV, Number 18
Honoring veterans
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Covering the Bitterroot Valley – “Where Montana Begins!”
’ ! l a c o L t a t s e B ‘The
Covering the Bitterroot Valley – “Where Montana Begins!”
A bit of confusion still clouds the air around the Bitterroot National Forest’s latest efforts at involving the public in its forest management decisions. Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Forest Service is required to involve the public in its decision making process. The usual process has begun with what is called a “prescoping” meeting at which the public is familiarized with the project under consideration. From there it moves into a “scoping” period where proposed activities and alternatives are scrutinized, and their potential environmental impacts are considered. A preferred alternative is identified by the agency and, following public comment, a decision is made. The draft decision gets further review and objections are addressed before the decision is finalized. But this time, on the Bitterroot Front Project, things are starting off on a different foot. Bitterroot National Forest Supervisor Matt Anderson has added a new “pre-pre-scoping” stage to the process, not part of the traditional process in which a set of options is presented to the public
Chyrle Wohlman, Stevensville High School Librarian.
did for me,” Colburn said of the veterans. Keynote speaker Chyrle Wohlman, Stevensville school librarian, was inspired to join the military after seeing a news clip showing people serving in the Persian Gulf. She joined the Air Force and spent 20 years in the service before becoming a librarian.
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
FS supervisor addresses confusion over Bitterroot Front Project By Michael Howell
After posting of the colors by the American Legion Post 94 Color Guard, local veterans were honored last week at a Veterans Day program held at Stevensville High School. Cheerleaders and Student Council members escorted local veterans to their seats where they were treated to the National Anthem sung by Stevensville High School Chrysolian Women, as well as other patriotic musical offerings by the Stinger Singers and 5th Grade Choir (above) directed by Robert Prince, and the Men’s Choir directed by Kyla Morton. Band instructor Jeremy Ruff directed the band in playing “Stars and Stripes Forever” and “Marches of the Armed Forces.” Stevensville student Clara Colburn, who is entering the military, gave a speech thanking the veterans for their service and saying how proud she was of their service and how it inspired her to join the military. “I want to do nothing less than what they
Stevensville Country Christmas Friday & Saturday Dec. 7th & 8th
She spoke about the character building aspects of the military and the core values taught. She said all branches of the military and the school have a set of core values and they all have the same basic foundations in “honesty, respect, and commitment.”
for review and analysis. Anderson said he felt that the usual public process was not giving people the time they needed to fully digest the proposals and meaningfully participate in the process. It left some members of the public feeling like they were getting a pre-packaged deal. The new approach is meant to get the public involved prior to coming up with any specific actions being planned for any specific location. Anderson likened the usual approach to the way a contractor might bring in some blueprints for a home and work with the customer on getting to some final design. He said, “In this case we are asking, where do you want the house and what kind of house do you want. Maybe you want a yurt instead of a regular house.” Anderson said when he came here it was not with any preconceived notions. “When I landed here,” he said, “I had no direction ideas. But when I talked to the folks in the community about the forest and its needs, the fire risks and forest health, everything pointed to the Bitterroot Front.” He said there was lot of concern expressed about the Westside canyons and the potential for
fires to come roaring out onto the mountain face where many homes are situated in the Wildland Urban Interface. “How do you address this when you start?” he said, “and how do you treat on a scale that will make some difference.” Anderson said the answer was to look at a landscape scale project and involve the public from the very beginning, “at the foundational stages.” It’s an approach that Anderson helped pioneer during his tenure on the Tongass National Forest in Alaska before coming to the Bitterroot. The new approach is not without a few drawbacks of its own, however. It left many members of the public, groomed to participate in the usual NEPA process, feeling baffled. They were being shown a 150,000-acre project area stretching from Darby to Lolo across the face of the mountains without any specific actions proposed in any particular place and asked to comment on it. “There is confusion,” said Anderson. “It’s hard for the public to get involved. We are asking ‘What do you want to see? What’s your vision?’” He said the agency See FRONT, page A12
Three Mile Center gets donation for kids’ backpack program The Bitterroot Star recently presented a $1500 check to members of the Three Mile Community Senior Center for the Kids’ Backpack Program. The group purchases and prepares 50 bags of food for children at Lone Rock School to take home on Friday to eat over the weekend. Every week, bags are filled with eight individual servings of the following: 2 breakfast items, 2 lunch items, 2 snacks, 1 drink and 1 fruit. On holidays and long weekends, extra meals and treats are included. The bags are dropped off at the school to be distributed by the school counselor. The food is purchased through donations and grants from Town Pump Foundation, Three Mile Fire Department, and members of the local community. Anyone wishing to donate food can drop it off at the Three Mile Fire Hall (non-perishable indi-
vidual servings only). Monetary donations can be sent to Three Mile Community Senior Center, 4433 Sunnyside Cemetery Road, Stevensville MT 59870. During the holidays, the group also provides Christmas gifts for 6-8 families in need. The Three Mile Community Seniors currently store, sort and pack the bags at the fire hall, where they also meet for coffee hours and bingo, but that is set to change. According to Colleen Schmiedeke, they have raised more than $110,000 (including $80,000 in grants) and will soon break ground for a new community center to be located at Lone Rock Park. The center project is in partnership with the Lone Rock Park District and the Three Mile Fire Department. The building will be available for a variety of community uses. “We’re very excited,” said
Typical contents for a child’s weekend backpack. Schmiedeke. “There’s a real need for more space.” For more information contact the Center at 3603385 or Schmiedeke at 777-3710. The $1500 from the Bitterroot Star was from the proceeds of this year’s Western Heritage Days. Another $4000 was presented to Stevensville School.
Members of Stevensville American Legion Color Guard were among the many local veterans honored at a special assembly at Stevensville School. Michael Howell photos.
Stevi to apply for grant to address void created by Main Street Assn closure
By Michael Howell
At its November 14 meeting, the Stevensville Town Council unanimously approved making a grant application to Montana Department of Commerce for $10,000. No match is required. The grant request was brought forth by former members of the recently closed Main Street Association to help fund a community effort at re-inventing the organization with a new economically sustainable model. The grant application was prepared by former Main Street president Bob Cumming, Loey Knapp and Amy Berglund. Sev-
eral people, including business owners, spoke in support of the grant which would cost the town nothing. Gretchen Spiess, a downtown business owner, said, “I’m begging you please!” She said she was worried about the future, “because I remember what it was like before Main Street.” She said many businesses have benefited from the Main Street activities. She noted that the Main Street Association also got a significant grant to improve the downtown sidewalks and intersection crossings. Colleen Meyer, Director of St. Mary’s Mission, talked about
the Mission and the town’s history and the importance of promoting it to the outside world. Bob Michalson, council member-elect (and former council member) spoke against the grant, saying he didn’t think it was a good idea for the town to spend any money on the grant. When he was reminded that it would cost the town nothing, he said “Hey, try applying for $20,000.” In other business, the Stevensville Town Council decided to table discussions and decisions to adopt the final budget for FY 2020 and approve a resolution decreasSee STEVI, page A3
L to r: Mary Hayes, Margaret Nelson, Colleen Schmiedeke and Wendy Audiss fill bags with food for Lone Rock school kids to take home on the weekend. Victoria Howell photo.