Page 28 - Flathead Beacon // 9.30.15

LIKE I WAS SAYING 30 AMERICAN RURAL 30 DRAWING BOARD 31 Viewpoints
LETTERS
CSKT, Montanans Have Shared Goals
Through independent research and analysis, Montana Stockgrowers, the Montana Farm Bureau, and the Mon- tana Chamber of Commerce have deter- mined that the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) Water Compact is in the best interest of Montana. These groups prioritized the needs of Mon- tana business and industry, farms and ranches, and the families they support over out-of-state agendas.
The 2015 drought in western Mon- tana provides an opportunity to apply the provisions of the water compact to all affected parties before final ratification.
This summer western Montana irriga- tors pumped millions of gallons of irriga- tion water to sustain our water-parched crops. No western Montana off reser- vation irrigator was asked to stop using water this summer and ratification of the compact would not have changed this.
The compact (SB262) protects cur- rent water usages – residential, munici- pal, and irrigation wells less than 100 gal- lons per minute.
In-stream flow rights are not a new fabrication of the compact. Currently, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks (FWP) already has in-stream flow rights, mini- mum river flows needed to keep fish alive, on 14 streams in northwest Montana. The compact requires that the CSKT share their existing rights with Montana FWP. To date, there has not been a sin- gle occurrence where an off reservation, western Montana water right holder has had to limit their water usage because of these pre-existing minimum stream levels. The compact does not change this dynamic and northwest Montana farm- ers will continue to harvest their high yield, irrigated crops.
Planned irrigation system upgrades defined in SB262 provide assurance that any future water shortages on the Flat- head Reservation will be further mini- mized by increases in delivery efficiency and improvements in water storage. The compact must be implemented before these upgrades can take place.
The local economy will be enhanced by the transfer of Kerr Dam to a CSKT company called Energy Keepers. This transfer retains the profits in a local com- pany instead of divesting them to an out- of-state corporation. Similar to previous owners, Energy Keepers will be sub- ject to oversight by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Most notable for our area, Flathead Lake will remain at full pool all summer unless there is a drought and FERC mandates that Flathead Lake be drafted.
The CSKT and the residents of
Montana have the same goals: protec- tion of our water resources from out-of- state claims, robust recreational oppor- tunities on our local waters, maximum power generation, and clear protections for water users in times of drought. The compact ensures the continued growth of western Montana and builds on the synergisms of the tribe and its neighbors working together for a better Montana.
Sen. Bruce Tutvedt Republican, Kalispell
What are the Democrats Thinking?
The esteemed U.S. Senate and House Democrats recently have voted or will vote en bloc. What are the Democrats thinking? On two issues in particular, one wonders if those Democrats who go that way are trapped in a “cult of death?” The word “culture” would be nicer, but “culture” implies civilized, not barbaric.
First, Democrats against defunding the abortion component of Planned Par- enthood. How can any civilized, com- passionate, humane person vote to per- petuate the barbaric practice of killing unborn, innocent, voiceless babies, who indeed are persons who have a right to life? Certainly not for the needs of non-abortion women’s OB/GYN services. Use those funds instead for the multitude of federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics. Induced and non-in- duced pluripotent stem cells from living or traumatically deceased adult donors is adequate for health research. Planned Parenthood should be privately funded not publicly funded. Believers in their abortion services should put their money there. I don’t want my tax dollars going to practices I find unconscionable. Instead, clinics like Hope Pregnancy Center and Clear Choice Clinic are good. Certainly adoption/fostering is better than death. Imagine if those over 55 million babies, since 1973, were alive today.
Second, Democrats against stopping the U.S. involvement with Russia, China, France, United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union in the international agreement on the nuclear program of Iran, known as the Joint Comprehen- sive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed July 14, 2015. While this may delay Iran from developing nuclear weapons, the $100- 150 billion unfrozen certainly shall be used by Iranian leadership to promote jihad worldwide, whether by violence and terrorism and much improved con- ventional military technology or by the subterfuge of Shariah law based on the Koran contrary to the U.S. Bill of Rights, Constitution and English common law based on Christian, Jewish and Roman law. One would think that our Democrat congresspersons would want to keep Iran weak until the moderates in Iran start to govern. That would save many,
many lives.
These are causes for term limits.These
are causes for delaying the $100-plus bil- lion to Iran until more responsible lead- ership revokes the current USA involve- ment in the JCPOA. These are causes to contact and to pray for your senators and representatives (and for our president).
Methinks power, prestige, special interests, greed and deception have got- ten the better of many of our elected representatives.
Mark Rice Kalispell
Law Stacked Against Closed Primary
The Montana Republican Party claims a First Amendment right to associate in a closed primary election where only reg- istered Republican voters are allowed to cast a ballot. The Republicans can holler all they want, but if they don’t put it in writing – they have no such right. The U.S. Supreme Court said that political parties have a constitutionally protected right of political association under the First Amendment when the party states its associative rights in its rules [450 U.S. 107, 122(1981)].
So what do the Republican Party rules say? Right off the bat, the second sen- tence says that party rules “govern when not in conflict with state law.” State law requires an open primary conducted by the secretary of state and paid for by Montana taxpayers. The primary elec- tion does not belong to the political par- ties. Montana voters created the open primary in 1912 and next year, the pri- mary will be open to all registered voters.
Why am I so sure? Because the 2015 Legislature didn’t pass a bill to close the primary. They didn’t even do some- thing easy like letting political parties choose whether or not to participate in the open primary. The Republican-con- trolled Legislature did nothing to imple- ment a closed primary. In fact, it passed a law making it very clear that Republican County Central Committee members can be elected in an open primary.
So, what happens if Republicans actu- ally win their lawsuit? Will legislators squander tax dollars on a special ses- sion? And what if a special session fails to pass a closed primary law? The fall- back position is a last-minute scramble to call county and statewide Republican conventions. (The Republican Party plat- form actually endorses this method to select candidates and choose their favor- ite for president.) It’ll be like deja vu all over again. It was the blatant corruption of corporate-controlled party conven- tions that spurred 79 percent of Montana voters to pass the Open Primary initia- tive over 100 years ago.
Carole Mackin Helena
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SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
LETTERS
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