(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Top 10 most viewed commentaries on the Daily Montanan for 2023 – Daily Montanan [1] ['More From Author', 'December', 'Daily Montanan Staff'] Date: 2023-12-29 Montana is the home of big skies and big opinions and 2023 didn’t disappoint in the Daily Montanan commentary section. We published more than 350 commentaries, mostly focused on state concerns, which ranged from the climate, to the critters, and of course, since it was an odd-numbered year, the Montana Legislature. Yet, one set of stories seemed to capture the attention of readers whether it was news or commentary: Yellowstone National Park. But not just any story. The controversial hunting, largely by tribes exercising treaty rights and the state of Montana’s response, caught the interest of people in Montana and far away. Looking back at 2023, here are the Top most viewed commentaries on the Daily Montanan site: 1. Kill ’em or Kill ’em by Darrell Ehrlick There are names for people who want to kill animals for revenge. In Montana, we call them “governor.” To be fair, we also call them the head of the Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the leader of the state Department of Agriculture. As much that can be said about the concept of killing animals to show the feds how tough you really are, I give Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte credit for one thing: He has clearly articulated exactly where he stands. For more, please continue to read here. 2. Montana education chief claims evidence of litterboxes in school. Department provides none by Darrell Ehrlick Many Montana school districts started class this week. School supplies lists for students included the normal things – pencils, notebooks, maybe even some glue sticks. But no district is requiring cat litter. For more, please continue to read here. 3. Close Beattie Gulch before someone gets killed by Mike Garrity Pointing to the danger to residents, landowners, other hunters and the public during the bison hunt/cull this year, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Roam Free Nation, Gallatin Wildlife Association and Council on Wildlife and Fish recently sent a letter to Mary Erickson, Supervisor of the Custer Gallatin National Forest, asking her to close Beattie Gulch to hunting. For more, please continue to read here. 4. Trump flounders as lawyers flee his side by George Ochenski Anyone under indictment for 91 criminal and civil charges including everything from election tampering to fraudulent business practices might start to crack from the stress. With the potential to lose his properties and maybe wind up broke in a prison cell, it’s no wonder the 77-year old former president is getting more erratic by the day as his former attorneys jump ship, admitting their own crimes and cutting plea deals to testify against him. For more, please continue to read here. 5. Montana’s headwaters are in hot water by George Ochenski It’s not even August and Montana’s world-famous trout streams are being shut down due to low flows and high water temperatures — so high they severely stress or kill fish that rely on enough cold, clean water to survive. Given these are the headwater streams and rivers pouring off the snow-capped mountains of the Continental Divide, Montana is in hot water again — and that’s anything but good. The list of rivers now being limited to “hoot owl” restrictions is long and growing quickly. For more, please continue to read here. 6. If you’re elderly or work for a living or own a mobile home, Gianforte does not have your back by Margie MacDonald If you are an elderly Montana veteran on social security in a mobile home park, Gov. Greg Gianforte does not have your back! Montana’s manufactured homeowners had just two minutes to defend their homes in hearings on House Bill 889 sponsored by Rep. Jonathan Karlen of Missoula, yet they persuaded the House and the Senate to adopt a modest package of protections for park residents confronting large out-of-state private equity firms buying up the parks on which their homes rest. For more, please continue to read here. 7. Montana’s official state religion by James C. Nelson The supermajority/Freedom Caucus is creating a state religion in Montana—Christianity—despite that our Constitution prohibits doing that. Article II, section 5 states: “Freedom of Religion. The state shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” (Italics added.) Cases in point: House Bill 744, which would allow students and teachers to openly discuss religious beliefs; House Bill 745, which deals with religious texts and prayer in schools; and House Bill 502, which clarifies earlier legislation requiring parental notification of sex education materials, all passed the House on mostly party-line votes, with Republicans for and Democrats against. For more, please continue to read here. 8. Cease fire! The Yellowstone bison need a chance to recover by Stephany Seay It is time for a cease-fire in the so-called “buffalo hunts” that take place on the western and northern edges of Yellowstone National Park. Last winter was the worst “hunting” season the buffalo suffered since the 19th century. For more, please continue to read here. 9. Corporate capture, theft and pillage of public lands on Yellowstone’s western flank by Steve Kelly Are you aware of the electronic media blackout which allows the government’s forest conquest and pillage – also known as, “active forest management” – campaign to remain invisible? Media-government collaboration has been gaslighting the citizenry for decades. You will seldom, if ever, see on local or national TV a live action story about clearcutting. Ever hear about bulldozing a road through a native forest on the local radio station? Not likely. For more, please continue to read here. 10. Why can’t national park officials leave Glacier alone? By Steve Kelly It’s been decided. Glacier National Park won’t be deterred from sprinting ahead with its grand experiment to use poison to kill rainbow trout planted in Gunsight Lake a century ago. Back then, Gunsight Lake had no fish. Rather than restore Gunsight to its original (fishless) condition, Park managers want to introduce three new species – bull trout, cutthroat trout hybrids (whatever that is exactly) and mountain whitefish. What could possibly go wrong with an experiment so grand as this? For more, please continue to read here. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/12/29/the-top-10-most-viewed-commentaries-on-the-daily-montanan-for-2022-2/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/