July 11 (Bloomberg) -- ``Paradise Lost'' is an old story with new addresses, including the Flathead Valley in northwestern Montana, where breathtaking beauty is under siege by talk radio, political extremism and other innovations of the trousered ape.

Patrice O'Neill, well known for her ``Not in Our Town'' documentary on hate crimes, led a film crew to Kalispell, Montana, after being tipped that big trouble was afoot.

Kalispell, a town of 16,000, is a magnet for celebrities, the roaming rich and environmental activists dedicated to restraining forest use. Many locals are none too pleased, having lost their jobs and retirements as the timber industry took its hits.

Adding to the sting are lawsuits that closed down public land to trail bikes and other recreational applications of the internal combustion engine. It's as if the locals had been attacked by aliens.

This social cauldron has produced, among other things, a militia movement, an anti-militia movement, swastika burnings, anti- hate meetings, some very bad telephone behavior and a thoroughly toxic radio talk-show host.

The chief villain in this program (part of PBS's ``POV'' series) is John Stokes, a former real estate broker who ran unsuccessfully for the Montana senate. He now owns KGEZ radio and is on the air three hours a day lashing ``left-wing lunatics'' and ``environmentalist Nazis'' along with communists and other ``kumbaya'' types. Stokes is as subtle as a forest fire.

`Green Slime'

Early on we see him at a rally during which a green swastika is put to the torch. He insists the Third Reich was ``born out of the environmental movement'' and argues that enviros are ``green slime'' whose ``days are numbered.'' He has broadcast the home addresses of environmentalists, ominous at any time, but especially so because of the discovery, a few years ago, that a group called Project 7 had drawn up a hit list of local officials.

Stokes's message is clearly resonating. During a community meeting, a beefy antagonist calls an official the ``best communist money can buy.'' High school teacher Randy Hansen tells of a student who told him the UN is comprised of ``blue helmeted Nazis who ought to be executed,'' which he admits he found a bit intimidating.

A memorable bumper sticker perhaps best sums up the Stokes camp's feelings: ``Honk if you've bitch-slapped an environmentalist today.''

Mysterious Death

On the other side of the divide we find the likes of Keith Hammer, an environmental activist, who insists the local forests are ``totally overrun by corporate America.'' Mayor Pam Kennedy tells an ``anti-hate'' rally that citizens are being harassed, intimidated, even beaten and killed.

The body count, truth be told, is a bit low. One woman from the progressive side did die in a creek, though there was no evidence of murder.

``What was probably an accident remained a mysterious death,'' O'Neill says.

Yet there is enough bad karma to choke a moose, much of which is spread via telephone. An appliance shop owner named Dagon Browning says liberals call him up to complain that he advertises on Stokes's radio show. The all seem to read from a ``prepared statement,'' he says.

That's nothing compared to a call former cop Brenda Kitterman says she received. A male, speaking calmly, promised to ``cut off your legs, cut off your genitalia.'' Sensibly, she taught her daughters the fine art of shooting a semi-automatic pistol and also stocks her house with ``bear spray.''

Devastating Fires

A flashpoint came last year as the fire season approached. One plan suggested thinning the forest, but Greens argued that would allow too much logging, a view that largely prevailed. Then three fires struck, devastating parts of nearby Glacier National Park.

Stokes took to the airwaves in full gloat.

``I hope you're happy with yourselves,'' he taunted, adding that the environmentalists now had ``blood on their hands.''

O'Neill attempts to get both sides of the story and largely succeeds, though she comes across a bit preachy at times. She clearly hopes to encourage the ``anti-hate'' movement, whose appeal appears to have encountered a sex barrier. She visits a new anti- hate club at the high school whose members, viewers will quickly note, are all girls.

These land-use issues are far from resolved, though at show's end Stokes says he supports an effort to recall local commissioners.

``We can't assassinate people in this country,'' he observes.

In this environment, that's a helpful reminder, though it might cost him a few points in the ratings.

Last Updated: July 11, 2005 00:03 EDT