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Sharply different views were presented in two forums Wednesday regarding a bill sponsored by Montana's U. S. Sen. Jon Tester, including in a telephone forum attended by his opponent in next year's election.
Tester's Forest Jobs and Recreation Act of 2011 was discussed in a Senate subcommittee hearing at 12:30 p. m., with Tester and witnesses saying the bill would help create multiple use of national forests in Montana, including creating jobs in the lumber and recreation industries.
But in a telephone town hall meeting held by opponents of the bill three hours earlier in Montana, people had a different view.
"We've got a lot of people in Montana who are concerned with this wilderness bill and what it's supposed to be and what it would do, " said Kerry White of the Citizens for Balanced Use, who helped organize the telephone conference.
The main components of Tester's proposal are to mandate logging of 100,000 acres of U. S. Forest Service land in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and the Three Rivers District of the Kootenai National Forest over the next 15 years, along with implementing large watershed and forest restoration projects in those regions. It also designates nearly 370,000 acres of recreation areas and designates more than 660,000 acres of wilderness.
Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., a vocal critic of Tester's bill for more than a year, participated in the town hall meeting. Rehberg announced this year that he would challenge Tester in 2012's election.
"When it comes to policy affecting our public lands, the public needs to be heavily involved and their voices need to be heard, " he said in a press release announcing he would participate. "Unfortunately, this wilderness bill was crafted behind closed doors by a small group of special interests. "
Rehberg primarily listened during the meeting, making few comments.
During the Senate hearing, Tester painted a different picture. The idea for the bill was brought to him by representatives of logging, recreation and environmental groups who had "put down their fists" to come up with a solution, he said.
"For decades, these folks — mill owners, loggers, conservationists and outdoorsmen — have fought one another, " he said. "They fought, and no one ever won. In fact, everyone lost. "
He said after talking to Montanans he crafted the bill, and then talked to thousands more, and received thousands of letters, as well as worked with the Forest Service and the Senate subcommittee to revise it.
"Mr. Chairman, when you add all this up, I can say that no bill from Montana has ever enjoyed the transparency of this effort, " he said.
But several of the telephone town meeting participants echoed Rehberg's comments.
"We believe in more access, not less, " said Don Serba of Montanans for Multiple Use, adding, "We were not asked to participate.
"We do not believe it is a jobs bill unless you believe in government-funded jobs like the CCC, " Serba said.
Beaverhead County Commissioner Mike McGinley said his commission is opposed to the bill, and hoped that Rehberg would be able to stop it.
"That collaborative effort is completely a falsehood, " he said, adding that the Beaverhead commission had asked to have boundaries adjusted and were told that that could not happen.
On the other side, Wally Congdon, representing the Montana Cattlemen's Association, testified at the Senate hearing at the invitation of Republican members of the subcommittee.
Congdon told the subcommittee members that public meetings about the bill were held in the region, attended by local residents and business owners as well as county commissioners and city officials.
He testified that the bill was posted online as soon as it was drafted, and he immediately submitted comments — which were acted on by Tester. He suggested some additional changes Wednesday during the Senate hearing.
"What I tell a lot of those people who are complaining is, very simply, this: There's a ball game, if you're going to play bring a team, and if you don't show up don't be surprised at the final score, " he testified.
He added that he asks all of the people he hears say that the bill was drafted in private with no opportunity for public involvement to show him their comments on the draft of the bill.
"And guess what I got back from every person, " he said. "Nothing, because they made no comments on it. For those of us who did, it was public, it was open... I think that's really important. "
Sherm Anderson, a former state Republican lawmaker who owns a logging company and lumber mill in Deer Lodge, was one of the first people involved in bringing the lumber and recreation industries and environmentalists together to try to find common ground in how to manage Montana's national forests.
He testified that Tester's bill would responsibly manage the forests with multiple use, including providing lumber for the timber industry.
Before the hearing, Anderson said he is saddened by Rehberg's making a political issue of the bill.
He said he has asked for Rehberg's input on the bill, and has talked with several groups and tried to negotiate at the congressman's invitation.
"I tried, but they refused to sit down and talk with me because they have taken a 'no more wilderness' stance, and we (are) trying to move beyond that, " he said in comments emailed to the Havre Daily News. "They have not been excluded in the process as they claim to have been ….
"If Representative Rehberg has a better idea, I would like to have seen him do something, " Anderson added.
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