Cuts on conservation easement dangerous ground

In response to the Jan. 7 letter from former “Road Guy” Steve Bue of Reed Point, I should like to point out that his “All or Nothing” comments reflect the same unyielding attitude displayed by the Stillwater County Commissioners.
Mr. Bue was, and the commissioners are paid by public taxes. We pay those taxes to have safe, well maintained roads on which to travel. The backcountry Fiddler Creek Road currently under assault has a right-of-way delineated by the county attorney of 60 feet and yet the crews were instructed by the commissioners to clear cut trees from “fence line to fence line.”
Land owners are asking for compromise and some judgement, helped by a tape measure, to clear dead trees, trim branches and remove trees that are too close to the road. It is less work than clear cutting and therefore less of a drain on the limited funds available to the county. To date the road crews have cleared trees that were many feet beyond the county ROW and that is private property, some of it in conservation easement. Dangerous and expensive ground on which to tread.

Virginia Cross
Bench Ranch caretaker
Fishtail