"We the people of Montana, grateful to God for the quiet beauty of our state, the grandeur of our mountains, the vastness of the rolling plains ..."
Those words begin the Montana Constitution, adopted by Montanans in 1972. We chose these lofty phrases to capture the essence of this spectacular place we call home.
Rolling plains like those of the Missouri River country and along the Rocky Mountain Front. Grand mountains from the Snowcrest Range to the Whitefish Range. Havens of quiet beauty, from the lush Yaak to the arid Pryor Mountains.
In the spirit of that preamble, we Montanans have made a good start in protecting these treasures.
Montana has changed a lot since 1972. In the face of the dramatic changes, it's good to reflect on that preamble and the vision it holds for our way of life. As our valleys fill up with more strip malls, and traffic, will we keep that vital part of Montana that our Constitution enshrines?
Wilderness is part of who we Montanans are. It symbolizes American freedom at its best, reflecting our community values of self-reliance and independence.
To keep wild country as our gift to future generations, Congress must come together and pass a law. Under the best of circumstances, this is a huge undertaking.
In fact, a wilderness bill for Montana last occurred 25 years ago, when President Ronald Reagan's signature established the Lee Metcalf Wilderness in the Madison Range in 1983. The bill passed because Montana's congressional delegation - Democrats and Republicans - came together to make it happen.
Lee Metcalf would surely rank near the top of any short list of the greatest Montanans. He was a Montana native, hero in World War II, served on the Montana Supreme Court, and represented Montana in both the U.S. House and Senate.
Lee Metcalf clearly understood the need to protect our wildest places before they're gone, and knew how to actually get something done.
Montanans understand that the pressures of Metcalf's day - machines, population and noise - continue to put more and more pressure on Montana's backcountry today. The job of keeping our most special places the same for future generations is incomplete. While we need places that produce timber, energy, food and fiber, we also need to protect Montana's special places for today and tomorrow.
Many Montanans agree that there are numerous areas that need the strong protection of the Wilderness Act - places such as the East Pioneers, Scotchman Peaks, Great Burn, and many others across the state.
We need to act before more time passes, for when we fail to move forward and save our rugged backcountry heritage, it can be lost to us forever.
Montanans love our national forests and hold strongly held opinions about the best way to manage them. Some debates can be bitter.
I've participated in my share of those squabbles. But more recently I have taken part in much more refreshing conversations about setting sensible conservation goals, including keeping our forests and streams healthy, reducing forest fire risk, using beetle-killed trees andprotecting wilderness.
Our elected officials see that Montanans of goodwill have gotten together to work with a common purpose in places like the Rocky Mountain Front, Blackfoot River country, the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, and others. I'm sure that Lee Metcalf would not have passed up these opportunities to jump in, get something done, and reward people for working together.
In 1983, the Montana delegation came together in bipartisan fashion to honor Metcalf's legacy. That's the kind of political leadership we look forward to now.
We owe it to future generations of Montanans to again work together and find common ground. Let's not wait another 25 years - or even another 5 years - to preserve forever a bit more of Montana's wild heritage.
Tim Baker is the executive director of the Montana Wilderness Association. He resides in Helena.
