Dead trout on Rye Creek on July 17, 2024. The weather across Montana has been in the high 90s and low 100s for more than a week, and forecasters predict at least another week of unseasonably hot temperatures (Photo via George Ochenski).
Montana is an opinionated place. And we’re here for it.
In 2024, the Daily Montanan published more than 250 commentaries, and they remain a favorite, whether that’s to gripe about, or agree with. Our topics this year, much like our most-read stories from readers, focused on politics and the great outdoors. And many times in Montana, politics and outdoor issues go hand-in-hand, which is why they tend to draw such interest.
Here are the Top 10 most read commentaries (not news) of 2024:
1. ‘The summer of dead trout has begun,’ by George Ochenski
Well, here we are fellow Montanans. Barely past mid-July in a non-ending series of high 90s and low 100s temperatures, no significant rainfall and no end in sight. Most of our major world famous trout streams are already under “hoot owl” restrictions — or shut down completely to fishing. And sad to say, Montana’s tragic and likely to be historic summer of dead trout has already begun.
The picture that accompanies this column came from an old friend who has lived most of his life on a tributary of the Bitterroot River. As he wrote: “This is Rye ‘Creek’ under my bridge. Rye Creek used to have more fish per stream volume than any other creek in the valley. This happens regularly on many ‘chronically dewatered’ creeks in the Bitterroot. Hoot owl fishing regs do not help with this.”
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2. ‘Something’s rotten at Montana’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks,’ by George Ochenski
Something’s very rotten in Montana’s Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
A good guess would point to the Gianforte administration’s attitude toward informing the public about what’s wrong – or likely to go wrong – with the environment. But “don’t ask, don’t tell” is a dead-end strategy for the state’s future — and a damning trademark of a governor who sees Montana as a “product” to be sold as quickly as possible.
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3. ‘If the U.S. Forest Service doesn’t follow the rules, why should we,’ by Mike Bader
Montana’s National Parks, Forests, state parks and other public lands are very accessible. There are tens of thousands of miles of open roads and motorized trails putting people at any trailhead, boat launch and over scenic mountain passes. Car and trailer campgrounds, picnic areas and fishing access sites dot our rivers. Even in remote Fergus County, there are more than 1,100 miles of roads open to recreational users.
Driving public roads is a pleasant activity enjoyed by many. So many in fact, that access must be managed and seasonal closures are sometimes put in place to protect sensitive fish and wildlife habitat. This is a result of a public travel planning process. The end product is the forest Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM), which defines where and when motorized use is authorized. These are literally the rules of the roads on National Forests which everyone is required to abide. They are part of the Forest Plan and the Grizzly Bear Conservation Strategy.
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4. ‘Medicare Advantage is no benefit to people who need healthcare,’ by Bruce Midgett
The “Great Grab,” gleefully tabbed as “Medicare Advantage” has begun.
Every year we are treated to an unending flood of advertisements on every medium imaginable emanating from for-profit health insurers. Their medical expertise is bloviated by such people as Joe Namath and William Shatner, neither particularly qualified to comment on Medicare except for their age. Anyone who has missed these deceptive spots has either been out of the country, oblivious to every news or entertainment medium, or brain dead.
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5. ‘If the U.S. Forest Service wants logging projects, the courts are clear: They must follow the law,’ by Mike Garrity
On June 27, a federal court halted an illegal logging project on federal public lands in the Little Belt Mountains of Montana.
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council filed their lawsuit to stop the Horsefly project in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest in April 2021. The project called for cutting and burning trees on 10,343 acres, which is more than 16 square miles. To enable the logging, the agency planned on bulldozing a stunning 40.7 miles of new logging roads in the Little Belt Mountains north of White Sulphur Springs, Montana.
The scope of the massive Horsefly landscape-altering proposal is alarming and because the project violated federal law, it had to be enjoined.
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6. ‘Grizzly bears are still trapped in their own end zone,’ by Keith Hammer
Contrary to letters to the editor in northwest Montana, the grizzly bear population is not “out of control,” we do not have “way too many grizzly bears in this country,” we are not “being over-run with grizzlies,” and we should not delist the grizzlies so we can “start hunting them again to thin out their numbers.” On the whole, grizzly bears are still limited to about 2% of their former numbers and 2% of their former range.
These are roughly the same conditions under which they were listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act in 1975. Under a return to Montana management and hunting, the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem’s 1,163 bears will be allowed to decline to nearly 800!
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7. ‘Don’t eat the fish: The astounding failure of our regulatory agencies,’ by George Ochenski
What happens when state and federal agencies refuse to adequately regulate industries and activities that produce pollution and release it into the environment? Well, as reported by the Daily Montanan, a recent study by the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks has found the Clark Fork, Bitterroot and Blackfoot Rivers to be much more polluted with highly toxic substances than previously thought — and they can’t even pinpoint where the poisons originated.
One thing is certain, however, and it’s that those substances, which include PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), deadly dioxins, and furans are very bad for humans and fish. How bad? A fish consumption advisory in 2020 recommends that people avoid eating any fish from the Clark Fork from its confluence with the Bitterroot all the way to its confluence with the Flathead River — 148 miles of Montana’s largest river with all the fish of every species too toxic to eat.
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8. ‘Montana’s plan to hurt those already hurting,’ by Darrell Ehrlick
When I was a much younger reporter, I had an old sheriff who had been in law enforcement for what seemed like an eternity tell me that every sheriff has to build a jail.
I came to learn the truth of his words — and that it didn’t just apply to sheriffs. All public elected officials want to look back, or point to a building and say, “See that? I did that,” as proof that they were just more than a placeholder in a long string of people with the same title.
And so the leaders of our state have set about to leave a mark — a tangible change —to prove that after they were elected they did something.
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9. ‘There’s nothing debatable about the Constitutional requirements to become president,’ by Marc Racicot
There are four qualifications set forth in the U.S. Constitution that must be met before any “Person” can be placed on the ballot and run for the Office of President: 1) you must be a “natural born Citizen;” 2) you must have “attained the age of thirty-five years;” 3) you must have been “fourteen Years a Resident within the United States;” and 4) you cannot have violated the Disqualification Rule of the 14th Amendment which entails having previously sworn an oath to support the Constitution and subsequently engaging in insurrection against it.
There’s nothing mysterious or unusual about meeting these eligibility requirements. They’re mandatory and cannot be waived nor ignored. Throughout history, candidates, including presidential candidates, have been disqualified by elections officials because of their failure to meet pertinent qualifications allowing access to a primary election ballot.
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10. ‘Christian nationalism: A grave threat to America,’ by Cathy Young
My father, who served as a Naval officer in the South Pacific, shared fascinating World War II stories with me. With ensuing history classes I became troubled by America’s slow response to Adolf Hitler’s atrocities in Europe and incredulous that Christians in Germany blindly followed their deranged dictator.
While pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, I took a course titled “Christianity and the Holocaust.” I learned that Hitler’s strategy to build loyalty and support within German churches was masterful. He encouraged kids in his German youth organizations to get their families to attend Sunday worship with them. Church attendance skyrocketed; pastors were thrilled. Eventually, Germany’s government rule and religion became one.
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