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Show Page A3 '(Etmgg-3lHfoPcnftg- Thursday, January 8, 2004 nt Writers on the Range An eco-wack- figures a few things out o by Alan Kesselheim The Gallatin National Forest, in southwestern Montana, recently ended a public comment period for revising its recreation plan, which, among other things, allocates trail use between motorized and users. The debate was marked by more editorial spleen-lettin- g and rude outbursts than Ive seen since Gay Pride marched in Bozeman, years ago. Remember, I live in a state where being an avowed environmentalist is edgy stuff. Our governor stops just shy of tucking environmentalists into the same bed with terrorists, and the opinion pages of a paper in Bozeman has labeled people like me Ive noticed that the philosophical framework used by critics of consists of three planks. Each adapts to almost any diatribe: I WAS HERE FIRST, SO NYAH, NYAH, NYAH. These letters always start, I was bom and raised in Montana ... so its as if, by accident of birth, one is guaranteed immunity from the consequences of any action or point of view, no matter how crazed or A friend of mine was in a cab recently and into a discussion. At some point the cabbie got said, Yeah, I think we ought to kick everybody out who came here after 1960, and bum their houses down as they leave! I see where youre coming from, my friend said, but why stop at 1960? What aboutl860? Or better yet, 1760? Kick everyone out who came afterl760 and burn their houses down! It was a quiet ride the rest of the way to the airport. THE BLACK HELICOPTERS ARE JUST OVER THE HORIZON: In this argument, environmental positions are fomented by shadowy forces fueled with money from unspecified deep pockets. The UN cant be far behind. Environmentalists living in Montana, Colorado or Wyoming are bound to be wealthy, elitist impostors recently arrived from California and suckling teat. on a trust-fun- d One letter suggested that all folk use the backcountry on weekdays, when the mechanized folks have to' labor, and on the weekends the boonies would be the sanctuary of the crowd. Its like the mytholn legacy, which keeps ogy of the non-motoriz- ed eco-wacko- s. eco-wack- os half-bake- d. non-motoriz- blue-exhau- st post-Reaga- harping on the need to cut fat from government, even as entire programs topple from fiscal malnutrition. Repeat a rumor often enough, and it becomes the public perception: Rich newcomers with a commie agenda are ruining all our back-4- 0 fun. n I have a suggestion for the enthusiasts: Lighten up on the spend ethic. If you didnt have to support recreational habits with $50,000 worth of snow machines, dirt bikes, jet skis, trailers to pull them all, outfits to go with each vehicle and the 4x4 hog that gets 11 miles to the gallon, think how much time youd have on your hands? Why, you could be out there on a Tuesday or Wednesday, rubbing elbows with all those slacker recreationists, some of whom lavish income on toys from kayaks to backpacking gear and titanium mountain bicycles. ITS ONE BIG GLASS HOUSE: When the other arguments wane, this is the one inevitably fall back on. In the version it went like told at Forest Service this: If you drive a car, youre driving on what was once a wildlife trail, so stop whining about us driving in the wilderness, you hypocrite. If timber is the issue, and you live in a house with wooden walls or floors, you have no moral high ground. If its mining and you use a computer, internal-combustio- self-propell- anti-envir- os then knock it off. Whenever someone suggests reasonable restraint by people in the backcountry or concepts such as sustainability, he or she is rudely shouted down. How dare you suggest limits when you yourself drive a car! Well, its all over now. We made our comments and some of us insulted each other. Letters in the paper are back to the usual kooks and a warmed-ove- r debate on the location of a The Service says it got a Forest store. grocery d strongly-wordemittful of suggestions, and hardly any of it arrived as form letters or had postmarks from California. Agency staffers are staying pretty mum about the contents, but hey, they probably havent gotten back from coffee break yet, those lazy government slackers! Alan Kesselheim is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News in Paonia, Colorado (hcn.org). He is a freelance writer in Bozeman, Montana. Idle Thoughts from Mt. Waas Ollie Harris by member anytime while you were growing up tliat I wasnt running, jogging, bicycling, exercising on the Nordic trak, or doing some other combination of exercises. He agreed that he couldnt. The truth is that for about five years dur- HERE;WE GO AGAIN Well, so far so good. Each of my New Years resolutions is still on track. Im pretty pleased about it, too. It seems to get harder and harder to set goals and to muster the effort to accomplish them. It would be easier except that always seems to involve pain. It is difficult to stay excited about my resolutions, too. I cannot avoid a certain ing the early and middle 1980s my life got a bit hectic and I mostly abandoned serious exercise. I paid the disagreeable price in weight gain and discouragement about my physical condition. The year 2003 was a mixed bag. I had some great hikes, walked over a lot of country that was new to me, and even rode my bike some. In truth, though, my commitment to regular exercise diminished. I spent too much self-maste- ry ho-hu- m here-we-go-aga- in at- titude. I have been goal directed and goal oriented for most of my life. I was talking to one of my sons the other day and said to him, Ill bet you cant re Thank you Moab, for allowing me to serve you with your travel needs. rediscovered the of looking at everybeauty thing from the point of view of composing a photograph. Such a perspective attunes one to the never-endin- g beauty of light and shadow, curves and angles. I have found genuine, giddy excitement in photography, too. I dont want to belabor this, but as I have aged it has become more and more difficult to get excited about anything. In photography I have found rejuvenation. When I am home I want to be on Service to Provide You Time" timetravelverizon.net rfrl&Atyugtfiyi Eye Surgery Close to Home! Working Together to bring you Excellence in Eye Surgery and Care close to home Post-operati- ve Allen Memorial Hospital is proud to announce the addition of Eye Surgery to the st of services available in Moab. For an initial evaluation, please call Or. 1 1 Hackney's office at taking photographs. When the computer. We recently discovered a 1 "greeting s firttu I am taking photographs I experience an anticipatory rush to hurry home and view them Time Travel Eye Surgeon desert. I feesetHtry (Zasamassa Timothy L. Byers, MD, PhD . out Happy Holidays, 1(800)394-493- time in inactivity when I could have been out exercising. One of the reasons I have never signed up for the internet is that I dread getting into one more sedentary activity. What I really need is more, not less, exercise. I bought my wonderful digital camera which added a whole new dimension to getting out into the canyons and 435-259-944- 1. whole new world of winter water shadows to photograph. It is very exciting. I cannot help but wonder if such photographs are simply new to us and that perhaps others have been taking them for eons. My most recent Outdoor Photographer magazine headlines its best water techniques. With some trepidation I thumbed through the magazine to see if any photographs were similar to ours. They were not. The downside to digital photography is that it draws me to spend too much time sitting at the computer, which brings me back to where I started. One of my resolutions is to regularly exercise. That, and to be more attentive to my diet. Dieting is like keeping the Sabbath day holy. Ive spent many hours in Sunday school classes where proper observance of the Sabbath was the subject. I was taught that I Competency hearing set for Salt Lake woman suspected of murderset at Sadie Warner by assistant editor In Seventh District Court Tuesday, a competency hearing was set for Wendy Bullock of Salt Lake City. Bullock was arrested Friday morning, Jan. 2 for the suspected murder of her year-oldaughter after a mold 2 d torist on notified the Grand County Sheriffs Dept, of a woman and child in need of medical assistance. Responding officers found that the child was deceased. A story in Tuesdays Salt Lake Tribune reported that a traveling Colorado family stopped next to Bullocks car in a pullout five miles east of the Moab turn-of- f on The driver reported that Bullock tried to leave the scene several times and also asked him for a sharp knife or razor blade. The man, who asked to remain 0. anonymous, reportedly said that there were no readily visible signs of trauma to the child in the car seat. Bullock was transferred to Castleview Hospital in Price for the treatment of wounds and later sent back to the Grand County Jail. The child was sent to the Utah State Medical Examiners office to determine the cause of death. The Tribune also revealed that the child had been removed from Bullocks home by the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) between July 21 and Aug. 25, 2003. While placed temporarily in a relatives home, a 3rd District Court judge ordered protective supervision be provided by DCFS when the child went home on a trial basis. DCFS reported that since the childs return to her mother, things were going well. On the agencys last visit, self-inflicte- d Correction In the December 31 issue, a letter to the editor written by Dale Parriott of Moab a contained small typographical error. The second paragraph should have read: Hikers who dont want to hear any motors should be informed about places that lend themselves to the type of recreation they like. in prison. Bail was $500,000, and she remains in Dec. 22, social workers found the house clean and orderly, including a Christmas tree with gifts underneath. Protective supervision would have been continued. A custody. The competency hearing is set for February 3, allowing 30 days for mental health professionals to exam- ine Bullock and determine whether or not she understands the charges brought against her and is competent to stand trial. felony murfiled was der charge against Bullock in 7th District Court on Monday. If convicted, Bullock faces a maximum of life first-degre- e Land Use Code changes . Continued from page 1 . . trying to keep noxious weeks out of the area." Ilofhine said the county rarely receives requests for permits to grade more than blend revegetated areas with surroundings. A list of recommended seed mixes and plants will be added as an amendment to the countys land use code. But officials stressed that listed vegetation is intended merely as acre, so the will not affect most change construction or development. She said the county had only three or four" such requests in 2003. one-quart- a suggestion. Seed mixes that do not contain noxious weeds will meet county requirements. Weed control board mem- ber Gary Wilson said the changes are not meant to complicate the construction process, but are needed to help e stem the rise of noxious weeds in the county. We dont want these kinds of plants put in revegetated areas, said Wilson. All were asking is to be involved. We have great concern and we spend a lot of money I movie info. 24-h- r. non-nativ- holiywood.com shows before 6 p.m. $5.00 Starts Friday, Jan. 9 All S. Lord of the 3 Rings Sat. & Nightly 7:30 Only Sun. Matinees 1:30 Only Cheaper by (Sul .Sat. (jULon S.t N Nightly 7:00 & 9:00 Sun. Matinees 1:00 & 3:00. & Sun. Matinees 1:00 DCatfuj. Itcj, PhoneFax 1 & Boalccta Nightly 7:00 iSat. Wire Service Available Kathy Knight 260-217or 259-7081 the Dozen PG c 259-595- years design experience & 9:15 3:15. & J Certificates Available 580 Kane Creek Blvd Turn at McDonalds! your diet.. AcUl sonte excitement to ' v-B- wn 4? -- 1 m 4 i id 4 "3 - - A Correction A story about TIP, Trauma - - - ;' 7 -- far Intervention Program, in the December 31 issue mistakenly reported that volunteers serve three shifts per week instead of per month. $ ' ' 12-ho- ur S74 North Main, shouldnt go to the movies on 19 259-6- 3 Sunday. No problem. Since I am not a movie-goe- r anyway I could probably count on my thumbs the number of times I have gone to a movie on Sunday. That was before TV. With the advent of TV it turns out that there are occasionally Ah! I programs. You can now. it get watch TV on Sunday. You just cant watch anything you want to watch. It is the same with diet. You can eat all you want. You just cant eat anything EVERYDAY Two thumbs up! and Roeper that you enjoy. Theres an Ab Shaper over there on the floor. I use it Ebert mostly for my lower back. Besides, my abdomen already has a shape. Its just not a shape that I enjoy. Join the fun as Jim and Michelle decide to tie the knot and the American Pie gang wreaks havoc on a whole new For all your plumbing needs... Doug Whipple Jr. All Plumbing Repairs Locally Owned & Operated Licensed & Insured New Construction Remodels Service & Repair Water Heaters Heating & more... N rite of passage. Naturally, Stifler will be there for the - bridesmaids and to throw the ultimate bachelor party! j- -' l N 2003 259-566- 4 1 J Unerv Snxftos Home Yfcteo |