" What we need to do, is protect the right of public access to public lands. Montana has set enough land aside designated as wilderness for rich easterners to visit on occasion.

My husband and I visited many of those places listed in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest that are slated for closure through our nearly 50 years of marriage. In later years, we found more and more road closures, and learned that out-of-staters had purchased land adjacent to Forest Service land so that "former" public lands became the private recreation and game reserves for the wealthy.

My husband and I never were snowmobilers, as we didn't like the stink of their exhaust, nor their horrific noise in pristene areas. We tried never to disturb wildlife, but did observe them at their daily lives from afar with binoculars and spotting scopes. We never drove forest service or old logging roads in early spring breakup of frost coming out of the ground. We never "pioneered" new off-road trails. We never left garbage (used to find empty booze bottles and wadded up toilet paper left by snowmobilers during the wintertime in areas that you couldn't access except on foot or by snowmobile).

We tried to be good stewards of the land and preserve the areas for the abudant wildlife from mightly moose and elk, to the lowly deer mice and in between.

Write the Forest Service and protest these proposed closures, and then call Sen. Baucus and Sen. Tester to let them know how you feel. "

" I agree with Mr. Kern.

These are important places for us to take our families to and I want to make sure there are some of these places left as my kids and grandkids get older.

With as fast as Montana is changing, it doesn't make much sense for us to let these places go to development or other uses. We need to make sure some of them are being secured.

There is plenty of room on the forest for everyone to use it but it is important we do secure some of those special places.

"