I read with interest when Gary Gilman was labeled "political" (Public Forum, Oct. 26) for taking a stand against Dean Johnson's actions concerning the dedicated sales tax for natural resources.
If standing up for providing the best we can do to repair the damage that has been done to our natural resources in Minnesota and provide an opportunity for my children and their children to enjoy what I have enjoyed in this state is considered political, then please put me on that list as well.
I too, like Gilman, think a dedicated sales tax is needed and the money should go to repair and develop the natural resources of rural Minnesota where the game and the fish live, and not to metro parks or the like. Teddy Roosevelt said that the wildlife of this country cannot speak for themselves so we must. Thank you, Gary Gilman, for being part of that voice.
It has been over 20 years since sportsmen rallied against and defeated then-Attorney General Warren Spannaus and his anti-gun stand, that I have seen so much opposition put forth by sportsmen against a political figure.
Sportsmen organizations, not only locally but also state- and nationwide, have joined in opposing Dean Johnson's actions or lack thereof. One of the largest booths this year at the Game Fair in Anoka was that of "Sportsmen against Johnson." No other politician shared the "honor" of having a booth opposed to them.
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Minnesota's natural resources are now in worse shape, not better, after 20-some years of Dean Johnson's representation. If we keep up the pressure to do what is right for the natural resources, maybe both Gilman and I can be moved from the "political" to the "radical" list that some of Johnson's other detractors seem to be on. Heck, that might be fun, I haven't been labeled a radical since I was in college and campaigned for Eugene McCarthy.
Steve Iverson
Willmar
