Page 28 - Flathead Beacon // 10.14.15

LIKE I WAS SAYING 30 AMERICAN RURAL 30 DRAWING BOARD 31 Viewpoints
LETTERS
We Can Protect Our Children
Thank you for your in-depth article, “Falling Through the Cracks” (Sept. 23 Beacon). Child welfare is an import- ant issue for all of us. I applaud Gov. Steve Bullock’s actions to increase ser- vices and create the Protect Montana Kids Commission. As a retired social worker, I know the devastation that abuse causes. I worked with families in high-stress situations that all too fre- quently resulted in abuse. One major stress factor for families that we can alleviate is lack of resources, which can cause an inability to move upward on the social-economic ladder.
The U.S. Census report of Sept. 17 shows 153,954 Montanans, 40,619 chil- dren, live in poverty. The Census report goes on to say that 9.8 million Ameri- cans are kept above poverty through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC).
Both are work-incentive tax cred- its with outcomes that include health- ier children who are more successful in school and, therefore, are able to earn more in adulthood. The EITC and CTC also help local businesses. In 2012 alone the EITC put $170 million back into Montana’s local economies.
These tax credits began under Pres- ident Gerald Ford, were strengthened under Ronald Reagan, and continue because they improve the well-being of working families and their communi- ties. However, they are due to expire in 2017 if Congress doesn’t act.
In your article, James Caringi is quoted, “CFSD is limited with what they can do. It has to be all of us.” I believe all of us can make a difference. I believe a better quality of life for families can prevent child abuse.
Please join me in contacting U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines, and Rep. Ryan Zinke. Petition them to fight for our children by keeping the EITC and CTC improvements permanent.
Janice McCaffrey Columbia Falls
Teck Committed to Protecting Elk Valley Water
I am writing in response to the Sept. 30 article, “What’s in the Water?” to correct the inaccurate claims regarding the health of the Elk River and provide your readers with additional informa- tion on the extensive work underway to maintain the environment and aquatic health in the region.
As the opening of your article states, the Elk River is a “recreational and eco- logical paradise,” home to “premier
fisheries” and a “bastion of boating, fish- ing, lakeshore camping and picnicking.” Further, extensive research has found that the water is safe and populations of fish are healthy.
It is true that there are water quality challenges in the region associated with increasing selenium levels. Selenium is a naturally occurring element that is essential in small amounts for both human and aquatic health. Mining can accelerate the release of selenium and, if present in high enough concentra- tions in the watershed, it can adversely affect aquatic health. That is why Teck has worked in cooperation with gov- ernments in both Canada and the U.S. as well as aboriginal groups, communi- ties, independent scientific experts and others to develop an Elk Valley Water Quality Plan (Plan) that sets out an accepted approach to addressing lev- els of selenium and other constituents within the region. Through this plan, we are investing approximately $600 mil- lion in the largest water treatment pro- gram of its kind in North America.
Moving forward, we remain com- mitted to working with all stakehold- ers to ensure the paradise described in your article is maintained for future generations
To learn more about the Elk Valley Water Quality Plan I would encourage your readers to visit www.teck.com/ elkvalley.
Marcia Smith, senior vice president Sustainability and External Affairs Teck
LWCF Opposition Needs to Take a Hike
Recently, during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing, I voted for the permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The amendment had bipartisan support and only partisan opposition, yet it failed 16-22. Looks like I have 22 meetings I need to set up. Better yet, I would like to invite the 22 members who voted against LWCF to take a hike. I invite each and every one of them to come out to Montana, hike one of our beautiful trails, and see what the program supports. The LWCF program funds important projects like new public fishing areas, hiking trails, and increased access for hunters and anglers. Enjoying our land is part of who we are in Montana and it is a multibil- lion dollar part of our economy.
I’ve always been a defender of our public lands. This past spring I voted against my own party, against a budget plan that called for selling public lands. And then again on the House floor I
voted with Democrats to bar public land sales because open access to our public lands is a Montana tradition that I am proud to uphold. Montana is the last best place – we aren’t going to maintain that without maintaining our lands.
I’m a fifth generation Montanan. I grew up in Whitefish. I know what is at stake if we lose this critical resource. I’ve been fighting for LWCF reauthori- zation since my first day in Congress. I’ve spoken to leaders on both sides of the aisle in the committee and per- sonally appealed to the Speaker of the House. Montana’s bipartisan congres- sional delegation is united in support for LWCF. The American people sup- port LWCF. Advocacy groups like Rocky Mountain Elk, Business for Montana’s Outdoors and the Montana Wilderness Association all have come together to support LWCF. This isn’t about poli- tics, it’s about Montana. It’s time Con- gress gets on board.
Ryan Zinke Montana U.S. representative
Labeling of GMO Foods
October is GMO Awareness Month. In this months Rural Montana publi- cation the subject of labeling GMOs, Genetically Modified Organisms, is addressed by our three Montana legis- lators. Representative Zinke and Sen- ator Daines have both bought the lies perpetuated by the biotech industry.
Monsanto claims that GMO foods are NATURAL and because Daines and Zinke don’t understand the difference between ‘Natural Hybridization’ and injecting foreign genes into our food, that is clearly NOT NATURAL, they are signing up to support a bill currently in front of Congress that prohibits states from labeling those Frankenfoods. Both are Republicans that tout states’ rights. Not so when it come to our food supply and big money.
Over 64 other countries require either labeling of GMOs, (which costs nothing), or bans them altogether. Our country prefers the revolving door approach to rules covering our precious health. The same administrators at the EPA and FDA that require NO long term testing or labeling of our altered foods are former executives at Monsanto!
Please call Zinke and Daines and ask them to vote against the ridiculously and erroneously named Safe and Accu- rate Food Labeling Act. Senator Tester, a farmer that understands the dangers of GMOs, calls the bill the DARK Act... Deny Americans the Right to Know. It takes away states rights to label our food.
Carol Blake Eureka
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OCTOBER 14, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
LETTERS
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