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(The following article by Jared Miller was posted on the Great Falls Tribune website on June 2.)

HAVRE, Mont. — The loss of passenger rail service on the Hi-Line could have frightening consequences for Carol Ortman.

The Havre woman boards Amtrak at least twice a year to visit top breast-cancer doctors in New York City. Without the modestly priced rail service, that level of care would be out of reach.

“(Amtrak) makes the best health care in the nation available to someone who lives in the middle of nowhere,” said Ortman, who pays about $300 for the round-trip fare to New York.

Ortman told her story Wednesday during a whistle-stop tour rally in Havre that featured energetic speeches by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a number of state legislators, tribal leaders, local elected officials and Hi-Line residents.

They sounded off for two hours about a Bush-administration plan that would force states to help subsidize Amtrak — a move that could spell the end of passenger rail service in Montana.

The legislation would require states to maintain railroad infrastructure while Amtrak focused on running the trains. The move would shift some of Amtrak’s $908 million in annual losses on long-distance trains to states that use the services.

Montana’s elected leaders responded swiftly and succinctly to the administration’s proposal: “Nutty” is how Baucus described it.

Schweitzer said the plan would crush an important chunk of the state economy. Havre Mayor Bob Rice compared the loss of Amtrak to the loss of a limb.

Amtrak employs 68 in Montana and contributes $14 million to the state’s economy each year, said spokesman Marc Magliari.

“We will not let Amtrak stop its service in the great state of Montana,” Baucus said.

About 300 people packed the Havre Eagles hall Wednesday to support Amtrak with applause, whistles and glossy signs that said: “Amtrak Yes.”

They took turns explaining how the loss of passenger rail service on the Hi-Line would change their lives.

Linda Keeler, a Havre native, said back problems stop her from driving more than an hour at time. Without Amtrak, she couldn’t leave the state.

“I have never once been on that train when it was not packed,” Keeler said. “We absolutely have to have this service on the Hi-Line.”

Esther Peterson, a senior citizen from Havre, said many seniors cannot afford cars, and many more cannot drive. Amtrak allows them to reach doctors and get medical care outside the state.

“I’m getting damn tired of the government taking our tax dollars and spending it on their things,” Peterson said.

Alex Capdeville, chancellor at Montana State University-Northern in Havre, said the loss of Amtrak could cause the school’s enrollment to plummet. Students from across Montana and the region use the train to get to school and to get home for the holidays, he said.

The loss of Amtrak in Montana would be a burden to wildland firefighters and members of the military who rely on the train to get home, officials said.

Native Americans also would feel the sting, tribal officials said Wednesday.

Indian students from around the nation and their families use Amtrak to reach Kicking Horse Job Corps Center in the Flathead Valley.

Native American students from the Hi-Line take the train to schools in Fargo, N.D., and in Salem, Ore., said Bruce Sunchild, vice chairman of the Chippewa Cree Business Committee.

Jonathan Windy Boy, state representative and member of the Chippewa Cree Business Committee, said the railroad is critical to ongoing economic development projects on Rocky Boy’s Reservation southwest of Havre.

“We have our differences around here … but this is an issues that we believe we need to stand together on,” Windy Boy said.

Meanwhile, Rehberg introduced legislation Wednesday that would set aside $2 billion for Amtrak in each of the next three years. The funds would cover operating expenses and the cost of some capital construction projects.

A representative from Rehberg’s office and from the office of Sen. Conrad Burns attended the rally and said their bosses support Amtrak.

Schweitzer’s tour also made stops Wednesday in Glasgow, Shelby, East Glacier and Whitefish.