Seeley Swan Pathfinder -

In response to opinion columns printed in the Missoulian by Adam Rissien titled “Our National Forest are more than Crops” dated June 28 and George Wuerthner’s column printed June 5 titled “Keep Carbon in the Forest.”

Once again some of our environmentalists from the University of Montana are attacking the Trump Administration Policies delivered by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. Personally as a 93-year-old great, great grandmother born and raised in Western Montana, I am pleased to see some reasoning sprouting from the Department of Agriculture. For too many years we have heard some environmentalist crying the sky is falling. My years of experience have taught me that titles, degrees nor accolades can replace wisdom.

Please read the NCSL Podcast “The role of Forest in Carbon Sequestration and Storage” by Jocelyn Durkay and Jennifer Schultz.

For years I have witnessed economic growth and prosperity in Western Montana through the timber industry. This prevailed until the environmentalists convinced those in power that we were destroying the earth. They decimated the timber industry, blocked the public from enjoying public lands by closing roads and creating the “let it burn policy.” We went from prosperity to food lines. We have gone from a proud, independent citizenry to those wanting the most with the least amount of efforts.

What is the true agenda of those self-proclaimed environmentalist who have perpetrated this on our people?