Based on recent letters to the editor in local newspapers and comments made by county officials at a July 27 public gathering, the $124,000 state-funded feasibility study for an unpaved 10-mile section of heavily traveled North Fork Road appears to be headed for the filing cabinets and DVD storage. In these times calling for fiscal austerity, it seems a shame to see the relatively small, by government standards, amount of $124,000 being wasted on something doomed from the start. Nonetheless, Montana Department of Transportation Director Jim Lynch should be commended for his willingness to provide funding for the study. Congratulations to contractor Parsons Brinkerhoff as well for the excellent work produced.
A recent article in a local newspaper closed outlining challenges implementing the options presented in the North Fork Flathead Road Draft Corridor Study Document. These challenges could be overcome by a proactive Flathead County Commission. Unfortunately, there seems to be a determined unwillingness by county officials to seek funding from a combination of federal, state, and local resources. It seems unlikely the groundwork will be accomplished to obtain prioritization in state and federal programs. According to news articles, the general public continues to misunderstand the scope of the study. There is a tendency to believe, actively promoted by paving opponents, that the proposal includes the entire length of the North Fork Road rather than a 10-mile corridor with virtually no private property along its length. No effort has been made to change this misunderstanding by officialdom or the media. Opponents of road improvement, which might include the possibility of paving, are undoubtedly pleased that this has limited public consensus. That there is a low tax base in the area where work would be done is another reason given for the unlikely event improvements will be made as a result of this study. However invalid that reason might be, it effectively contributes to negative views. The foregoing, along with a surprising lack of interest by local media outlets in providing accurate information, relegated facts to obscurity and misinformation to the rumor mill. Under the feasibility study, paving would be one of the options connecting the end of state highway 486 at Canyon Creek on the North Fork Road coming out of Columbia Falls to the paved Camas Road coming out of Glacier National Park.
In the Aug. 5 edition of the Hungry Horse News, columnist and long-time North Fork resident Larry Wilson wrote an excellent commentary, which pretty much sums up the outlook of a great many people. Wilson is so disillusioned, he wisely chose to save himself the time and expense of attending the July 27 meeting given his informed awareness of political attitudes.
With irrational opposition from Glacier National Park, noncommittal fence-riding by the Forest Service, no groundswell of support from Columbia Falls business interests, aforementioned lack of interest by the county along with an intransigent North Fork Landowners Association, perhaps it would have been best to spend the $124 thousand on a study where some success would be achieved and the state would have realized some measure of return on its investment. It might have saved a lot of money and inconvenience to many people, to say nothing of having to once again witness a short-sighted bureaucracy and unreasonable environmental activism.
Robert Grimaldi
Polebridge