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Some friends and I recently attended the Healthy Lakes Forum held on Sep. 24th at the Northern Lights Event Center. Five local DFL state legislators were there to discuss issues concerning our lakes and environment. Many volunteers and concerned land owners were also in attendance. Topics discussed included aquatic invasive species control, shoreland protection rules, and land conservation. Although much was said on these topics, I was struck by the deafening silence on some relevant issues.

There was much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth over the lack of adequate state funding to properly run the programs they feel are needed to protect our lakes and environment. I agree 100% that this is a necessary responsibility of our state government. However, I noticed that while the funding problem was thoroughly discussed, not one word was mentioned about what unnecessary state programs would need to be cut to compensate these expenditures.

The legislators also expressed great disappointment in governor Pawlenty for vetoing the new Shoreland Standards Bill that they all had worked so hard on for the last several years. They even went so far as to suggest which governor candidates to vote for in the upcoming election that they feel certain would not veto a similar set of rules. Not one word was mentioned about the reason Pawlenty vetoed their bill, and nary a word about which property owner's rights would be trampled upon by passing these standards.

Even though the conservatives in the room were far outnumbered by the liberals, I feel these are valid points that merit some discussion. Our state has a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall that needs to be addressed so that our government can continue to run efficiently and effectively. By not doing so, not only will our residents suffer, our environment will also. I'll leave it to you to decide which candidates for governor and our state legislature have the strength and capability to achieve this. It will not be an easy task. Who has the fortitude to stop all the wasteful spending and stand up to all the anger this will invoke? Who wants to promote an economic climate that will promote new business and jobs in our state in order to increase tax revenue without raising tax rates?

Jan Schultz

Trelipe Township[[In-content Ad]]

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