Wow, will Natty Role write a third letter, trying to convince us that the Forest Service held a hearing at Clark Fork regarding the proposed Scotchman wilderness?

Natty, the informational meeting that was held in January 2017, two months after Sen. Risch introduced the wilderness bill, was hosted by the wilderness supporters, at the request of concerned Clark Fork residents who were either confused or angry by the bill. I know, because I met with the supporters and suggested they have that meeting.

The Forest Service is required by 36CFR293.5 to hold local hearings in their recommendation process, which in this case, finished in January 2015. The law doesn’t say, “it sure would be swell if the Forest Service can get invited to an informational meeting, sometime after their recommendation.” That meeting was the first for the supporters, after 12 years of campaigning for wilderness and even though former commissioner Cary Kelly showed up briefly, the previous commissioners (Kelly, Glen Bailey, and Todd Sudick) never met in Clark Fork or anywhere else in the county, before endorsing the wilderness. We expect better from our closest elected representatives.

You brought up my feet and wilderness. If it helps you, I have spent at least a week each in six of Idaho’s wilderness areas and you were absolutely right about me living in Hope (it does say so below each of my letters). In fact, my family has been in Hope and Clark Fork since 1904. When did you move to Clark Fork?

STAN MYERS

Hope