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UNCOMMON GROUND MIKE JOPEK CHOOSE OPTIMISM
GUEST COLUMN BRUCE FARLING
FEAR MONGERING AND THE EPA
ABOUT THIS TIME IN THE farming season I typically make the “next year” proclamation. Each season we have some kind of pro- duction issue with some crop, which low- ers yield from expectations. This year’s record heat and drought reeked havoc on the traditional cold weather crops.
The chokecherries have turned deep purple but the fall season has not yet offi- cially started. Yet simply judging by the size of the hops hanging on the vine, I’m hedging that the colder seasons are not too far away. The firewood is in the shed.
Each spring, farmers hope for the best growing season ever. And in many ways our farm optimism of a better, more pros- perous, growing season is a reflection of
to elevated conflict and political gridlock. It stops things, and that’s the point.
This is not to say that I won’t stand up for things I believe in like world-class edu- cation, foods free of weed killers, health- care for all, property taxes that are afford- able to the people who live in those homes, or vibrant downtown communities.
Folks are looking for leadership and know that plenty is askew in how Wash- ington, D.C. portrays us as a people. The constant and bitter infighting does lit- tle to solve problems and often appears as a faux fight to raise political capital for reelection. But people are looking for pragmatic problem solvers and tire of the dogma of partisan politics.
A most optimistic leader in the Flat- head Valley is Whitefish City Councilor Richard Hildner. Hildner is quick with a smile and always willing to prob-
lem solve.
Hildner is frequently seen
at the downtown Whitefish Farmers Market holding a loaf of freshly baked bread or some local veggies to bring back home. He likes to talk with people.
Hildner is a retired schoolteacher and full of practical experience on how a government of the people works. Hildner is a mara- thon runner, hard worker,
MONTANA’S PRINT PRESS published a knot of guest op-eds earlier this summer criticizing the U.S. Environmental Pro- tection Agency’s recent adoption of reg- ulations clarifying which of the nation’s streams and wetlands are covered by the federal Clean Water Act, the popu- larly adopted federal law that since 1973 has halted egregious industry pollution of drinking water sources and trig- gered cleanup of thousands of miles of streams nationwide.
The opinion pieces charged EPA with overreach, claiming the regulations will result in busybody EPA storm troopers busting landowners for drying up the tiniest of mud puddles.
Nonsense.
First, consider the messengers. It included a gaggle of Helena lobbyists, including representatives of Montana’s two worst pollution sources – hard-rock mining and producers and burners of coal. A lobbyist who claims to speak for all of Montana’s small businesses – but not really – penned another over- wrought piece. More recently, some- thing called the United Property Own- ers of Montana attacked the regulations. This tiny group’s mission is to privatize public wildlife – at least when it isn’t supporting Georgia’s wealthiest resi- dent in his audacious attempts to elimi- nate the constitutionally affirmed right that allows Montanans to access our riv- ers and streams for recreation.
Fear mongering is oxygen to these folks.
All the op-eds simply parroted gener- alities handed down by national lobby- ing groups. They offered zero evidence on exactly how the regulations would, say, protect mud puddles, or, create cat- astrophic harm to farmers and ranch- ers. They simply regurgitated mes- sage-tested slogans, urging the public to tell Sen. Jon Tester to condemn the regulations, much like, disappointingly, other members of our Congressional delegation and our attorney general have. However, these critics apparently haven’t read or sought to understand the regulations. The attack on EPA seems instead to be part of reflexive vendettas against the very idea of regulation and the Obama Administration.
Here’s the real story. The EPA reg- ulations simply clarify the types of
waters the Clean Water Act applies to. They are essentially the same waters, includingheadwaterstreamsandvalu- able streamside wetlands, the law cov- ered before Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006 muddled interpreta- tion of the law. In fact, the very interests now complaining about the regulations – the national Farm Bureau Federa- tion, developers, mining corporations – are the same interests who demanded clarity from EPA. It is baffling why some Montana agricultural groups have joined developers and industrial polluters in opposing EPA. The new regulations maintain and refine all the exemptions that agricultural produc- ers and timber folks enjoyed before the Supreme Court acted. Sen. Tester, the only bona fide farmer in the Montana congressional delegation, indeed in all of Congress, went out of his way to ver- ify that.
And, news flash for those worried about EPA: The agency does not imple- ment most Clean Water Act provisions in Montana. The agency long ago ceded responsibility to Montana’s Depart- ment of Environmental Quality, which has a mixed record enforcing regula- tions and monitoring pollution – thanks in part to staff cutbacks and weakened laws instituted by Montana legislators in recent years on behalf of polluting interests. Further, it is the Army Corps of Engineers, not EPA that has primary oversight of Clean Water Act provi- sions aimed at protecting streams and wetlands from stabilization and filling. Studies demonstrate unequivocally that the Corps rarely completely pro- hibits projects, and, at most, requires only simple modifications. The alarm- ing increase in bank stabilization along Montana’s rivers provides ample evi- dence. Landowners needn’t worry they’ll now be inundated by nosey EPA bureaucrats.
The Clean Water Act has served Mon- tana and the nation well. Its reach is now being pilloried for two simple reasons: raw politics and polluter profits. As for EPA accountability, we should demand as much or more from the industries and politicians engaged in spreading fear about a tool that has kept drinking water clean, wetlands available to soak up floodwaters and headwaters full of trout.
“THE CONSTANT AND BITTER INFIGHTING DOES LITTLE TO SOLVE PROBLEMS AND OFTEN APPEARS AS A FAUX FIGHT TO RAISE POLITICAL CAPITAL.”
our view of the world. I still believe that better days are ahead, that any generation of leaders can solve many of the daunting issues facing us as people.
Many of the most optimistic leaders of our time believe in better days. Pres- idents like Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama inspired millions of new leaders with their positive visions of where we as a nation should go.
I disagree with some of the policies of each of these leaders but am in awe of their ability to remain positive even in the face of worldwide cynicism. Each of these leaders proved adept at moving a nation forward toward a vision, which they themselves manifest.
After spending too many hours out- doors in the blazing sunshine or indoors reading too many negative news feeds, I feel sarcastic. It’s a fun, easy outlet on a hot summer day. But over time snarky rhetoric does little to move us forward as a community. Pessimism by design leads
and a familiar local face. Hildner has much passion and motivation for the job. In politics, that’s as intoxicating as freshly harvested sweet peas sitting on the kitchen table.
Statewide I’ve marveled how poli- ticians can look at the same economic forecast report and have polar opposite reactions and rhetoric. One view is that the end of the world is near; the other acknowledges how positively Montana is actually doing.
There’s plenty of naysayers to tear down society, but the optimist are the ones building new public schools or pub- lic buildings, they are the ones conserv- ing public lands or rebuilding down- towns, and they are the ones who move us forward toward better days.
It’s time to embrace more optimism. We can start by acknowledging that we can fix most political problems with a bit of old-fashioned collaboration. It’s hard, Iknow.
Mike (Uncommon Ground) Jopek and Dave (Closing Range) Skinner often fall on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to political and outdoor issues. Their columns alternate each week in the Flathead Beacon.
Bruce Farling is executive director of Montana Trout Unlimited.
AUGUST 5, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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