County candidates localizing global issue

SANDPOINT - Bonner County commission candidates Todd Crossett and Brian Orr pledged on Tuesday to make sure the global issue of climate change does not get lost at the local level.

The two Democrats, along with Boundary County commission candidate Jerry Pavia, also a Democrat, outlined their positions on global warming during a candidate's forum organized by the Climate Change Action Network and the Model Forest Policy Program at the Sandpoint Finance & Technical Center.

None in the trio of commission candidates present at the forum quibbled with the fact that the Panhandle's population is growing, temperatures are increasing, and water and forest resources are threatened by the changes. They just had minor variations on how to deal with the issue.

Crossett, who faces Republican Cornel Rasor for the District 1 seat in this fall's general election, emphasized the importance of planning ahead for the changes and finding solutions through collaboration at the local level.

"In reality, all solutions come from communities," said Crossett, who cited the recent land use code reform in Bonner County as a means of addressing the issue of climate change.

The code reform, which proposed broader waterfront setbacks, was the product of a diverse group of people putting aside philosophical differences and working toward common objectives.

Collaboration was a recurring theme in Pavia's remarks. He said the current commission is not listening to the advice it gets from residents or looking ahead to consider future challenges.

"They aren't looking 20, 30, 40 years down the line," said Pavia, who's running against Republican Ron Smith for that commission's District 1 post.

Orr, who's trying to regain the District 2 seat he lost to Republican Joe Young in 2004, played up his efforts in establishing a wellhead protection zone in western Bonner County and said the county also needs to look inward when tackling the climate issue. He said the county could take steps to curb its energy consumption and encouraging residents to do so by promoting the concept in economic terms.

"In this case, the carrot is the cost savings," said Orr.

Pavia suggested landowners be issued carbon credits on their tax bills if they manage their property in a way that protects forests and water quality, but Crossett predicted incentives could ultimately sell themselves.

Crossett pointed out that sport utility vehicles were once all the rage - until fuel costs began spurring people to opt for vehicles which sip gas instead of guzzling it.

"The times change. People's taste change," he said.

Both Crossett and Orr said they would prefer to see Bonner County fight terrestrial and aquatic weeds with methods other than strictly herbicides. Crossett has long advocated for a more holistic approach, including the use of biological controls. Orr said biological and mechanical methods are not getting a fair shake here.

"It seems to be the easy solution - to just spray it and it will go away," Orr said. "I've long disagreed with the wholesale spraying of herbicides."