A recent court decision has me turning around in circles and searching for a homely place to burn my seemingly useless Montana Constitution. "While the decision was a disappointment, we are faced with conflicting statutes, so I understand why the judges have made their decisions," Opper said Tuesday. "As a matter of principal I still believe that the (Department of Environmental Quality) should not issue permits without adequate environmental analysis and public comment. We're certainly not comfortable with the way these permits were issued," Opper added. What is so regrettable about not issuing permits and disallowing public comment? Lets see... The problem stems from an April court decision by District Judge Jeffery Sherlock [1] that has sent shockwaves through Montana. The initial decision yields a precedent that says essentially "the statutory provisions in the Open-Cut Mining Act that require the agency to issue permits within 30 days of accepting the permit application" are more important than Montana Environmental Protection Assessments guaranteed by the Montana Constitution. "Neighbors have been fighting the pits with concerns over safety, health, traffic and noise. Gravel pit operators say it's the way they earn their living on their land." [2] I submit that the Open-Cut Mining Act is necessary and it's important to keep the wheels of business rolling. But what the district judge ruled deviates from this principle. I think what Sherlock means to say is simple: the wheels will roll and they're roll and they'll move so quickly that nothing, not even running into the ditch (likened to disturbing the nearby public and degrading the environment) will prevent the due process of business. This precedent has already begun to erode the DEQ. With more open-pit gravel mines on the dockets, the DEQ has already permitted three permit operations without environmental analyses since the April decision. Bozeman attorney Art Wittich reminded county governments of the case's importance.

"Here you had a county that was doing its best to impose interim zoning so that it could have local regulatory control, and before the county could accomplish that ... these permits will issue," Wittich said.

When the courts fail a community that seeks protection; when a mining act of legislators fails to safeguard the public; when local citizens aren't given a chance to dictate what development surrounds them on every side of their living space; WHEN THE MONTANA CONSTITUTION IS DISREGARDED for the expediency of permitting the gravel-pit mining operations; what is the ordinary person to do? (I'm insinuating something...)