Statesmanship regarding compact refreshing
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Editor,
It’s refreshing to see some statesmanship, rather than the often-abused “political expediency,” in our state legislature. Yes, I’m talking about the apparent “Death of a Compact” (Kathleen William’s compact bill HB 629) and the “Closing of a Backdoor” (Dan Salomon’s bill HB 636) in legislative committees last week.
No, they weren’t landslide decisions, but they were landmark decisions; the first negotiated water rights compact that wasn’t slid under the door in Helena and passed to the U.S. Congress by unanimous state legislative decision in 30 years … thanks to some great representative statesmanship.
Next stop, litigation; the CSKT will get to identify and quantify their water requirements to “satisfy the purpose of their reservation,” the part of it still held in federal or tribal trust.
Of course, we’ll still have to come to terms with the Duane T. Mechum Feb. 19 “Letter of Veiled Threats” addressed to Clayton Matt, Chris Tweeten, Walt Schock and Jon Metropoulos, that supported some pretty dubious methods of negotiation while openly insinuating that should the tribes not got their way with the compact, the feds, the environmentalists and the Endangered Species Act would be turned loose on us to create even greater havoc on our water rights.
The water rights issues in Western Montana are far from over. As Joseph Felsman wrote in 1985, “Those whites which cannot be bought or taxed out will have to be encouraged to leave by other means.”
Michael Gale
Ronan
