The Forest Service open house on the, 40-plus-million-acre roadless proposal (de facto wilderness) held in Kalispell on Dec. 8 was relatively well attended. It has been criticized by the Inter Lake newspaper editor as being uncivil. Yes, there were boos and cheers and emotions showed on both sides. People have been divided and extremely polarized.

My reply to that is, a segment of the public feels their back is to the wall. That has been proven in history of the United States to be a dangerous situation. It should not be taken lightly and should be taken as a serious message deserving serious analysis by the federal agencies involved who presented the issues and thumbed their nose at the U.S. Congress.

The roadless proposal has been initiated directly from the office of the president. The U.S. Forest Service has been ordered to prepare a far-reaching environmental impact statement to achieve a preconceived goal. Congress is being ignored and bypassed. Consequently our, the people's. representative form of government as established in the Constitution has been flushed down the sewer. Other issues relating to public lands are in the same process - orchestrated to be presented to the public for reply during the holiday season and while the U.S. Congress, your representative form of government, is in holiday recess.

It is acknowledged that the meeting, in the eyes of the local editor, may have appeared as not being civil but that fact has a serious and important message that should not be overlooked. I think it is up to the government employees to give the situation some serious thought and act accordingly. At least not flush the Constitution down the sewer and bypass the citizens' representative form of government. The United States does not deserve a dictatorship.

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