Progress in wilderness advocacy is measured on the ground, as it were, at the grass roots, and Idaho and Montana wilderness group Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness finds itself better rooted by two current and important endorsements. Sandpoint Rotary Club president Matthew Kerr and Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce executive director Kate McAlister recently tendered letters of endorsement — and encouragement — to FSPW in the wake of presentations made by FSPW executive director Phil Hough and program coordinator Sandy Compton.
Compton’s presentation, made in January, prompted Sandpoint Rotarian and real estate agent Stan Hatch to champion an endorsement by the club and its membership, which Kerr signed and sent a few weeks ago. “Our members,” Kerr wrote, “indeed, most of the citizens of Sandpoint, have a direct and close relationship with this land, a quality that works quietly inside us to allow the ‘better angels of our nature’ to have full voice. We are continually inspired and fulfilled by the mountains here, even if we don’t realize it’s happening.”
The letter from the Sandpoint Chamber is a refreshment of an endorsement given to FSPW several years ago, to better reflect the current nature of the community, which is striving to preserve the area’s natural heritage as well as embrace beneficial change. McAlister says, in part, “Part of the Chamber’s vision statement is to help ‘build a future of prosperity through partnerships,’ We strongly believe one of the best ways we can build a future of prosperity is to help protect the natural resources and beauty of our area and all it has to offer.” The letter from the Chamber was presented to Hough during a June 9 presentation to the organization in Sandpoint.
