Flathead open space bond on ballot
Source: The Missoulian, by Michael Jamison
October 13, 2008
KALISPELL - Flathead County, home to the three fastest-growing cities in Montana, is losing agricultural and forest open space at a tremendous rate, as developers build subdivisions across rural lands.
“It's been a steady loss,” said Marilyn Wood. “We can't afford to allow that to continue.”
Whether locals can afford to stop it is another matter entirely.
On Nov. 4, when voters go to the polls here, they'll be asked to back a $10 million open space bond, money that will buy rural land - or at least conservation easements on land. The idea is to secure recreational access, especially at waterfront sites, to protect wildlife, to preserve sweeping views, to ensure water quality and to allow the Flathead's rural way of life to persist into coming decades.
“Ten million sounds like a lot,” admitted Wood, who runs the Flathead Land Trust, “but it's really a very reasonable amount for a program that's going to have such a big impact.”
And residents appear to agree. A survey of Flathead Valley residents showed two-thirds of those polled supported the 20-year bond, which will cost the owner of a $200,000 home about $19 a year.
That poll, Wood said, was “instrumental in changing the minds of our county commissioners” who just five years ago refused to allow a similar measure onto the ballot. “The survey definitely helped to put the voter information in front of them.”
Since 1985, the Flathead Land Trust has been buying up acres and easements, with a focus on waterways, hunting and fishing access and wildlife corridors. It is a marriage of conservation and economics, Wood said, because a large part of the area's economy is anchored in open space attractions and amenities.
Wood and other supporters of the bond measure say the time is right for such an investment, because open space is diminishing quickly and land prices are climbing. Opponents argue taxpayer investment is unnecessary in a rural county where the vast majority of land already is in public ownership.
If approved, the bond measure calls for a steering committee to oversee the fund, with regular public audits and county commission oversight. Similar open space bonds have passed in Missoula, Ravalli and Gallatin counties, Wood said, and money generated in those places has been matched through partnerships with federal, state and nonprofit funding sources.
Supporters include the Flathead County Parks Board, the local offices of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and the Land-Use Committee of the county's long-range planning task force.
“The people surveyed said the No. 1 issue for them was overdevelopment and unplanned growth,” Wood said, adding that pollsters also revealed growing concerns about water quality and recreational access.
That poll, however, was conducted prior to recent downturns in the national economy, and Wood admits taxpayer focus may well be shifting to other priorities.
“The economy is definitely a concern for everybody,” she said, “but we still need to put this out there. It's really a very small investment with the promise of a tremendous future return.”
Complicating the measure, however, is a growing reluctance among investors to buy municipal bonds, regardless of voter sentiment.
“That could be a factor,” Wood said, “and the county commission will certainly have to take that into account when deciding when to actually offer the bonds. The good news is that, if this passes, they don't have to sell the bonds right away. They can wait for the best time, whenever that may be.”
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