Page 21 - Flathead Beacon // 12.30.15

must look hard at how to fund cost overruns that are already emerging. An estimated $1.7 million in over- ages surfaced in the rst two months of building the $14.95 million project that is slated to be completed in two years.
Increased Bear Activity Leads to Attacks, Del- isting Debate: Grizzly and black bears roamed the Flathead Valley in greater abundance as they pre- pared to den up for the winter, and the potential for con icts to become dangerous and even fatal was underscored in a spate of attacks, as well as a sig- ni cant uptick in reports of bear-human con icts. On Oct. 1, an elderly woman died from injuries she su ered days earlier when a black bear mauled her inside her home near Ashley Lake, where bears had been “extensively fed,” according to wildlife man- agers. The same week of the fatal attack, a hiker in Glacier National Park was grabbed and shaken by a grizzly bear, but managed to deploy his bear spray and haze the bear o . Then, on Oct. 3, a bow hunt- er was attacked by a grizzly northwest of Choteau, and staved o a more vicious attack by jamming his arm down the bear’s throat. Amidst this heightened activity, the debate over delisting grizzly bears from the Endangered Species Act is heating up as popula- tions near Yellowstone and in Northwest Montana continue to grow.
Environmental Cleanup Leaves Some Asbes- tos in Libby: In its long-delayed nal cleanup plan for the contaminated mining town of Libby, where asbestos exposure has sickened thousands, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on May 5 pro- posed leaving some of the deadly material in places
7.8%
Flathead County’s non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate in January.
5.9%
Flathead County’s jobless rate in December.
1,149
where it presents minimal risk, including in the walls of houses and underground. The plan is more than 15 years in the making, dating back to early media re- ports that revealed widespread illness caused by as- bestos exposure from the W.R. Grace and Co. vermic- ulite mine and prompted the EPA’s response. Health o cials estimate that more than 400 Libby residents have died of asbestos-related disease in the past sev- eral decades and thousands more are sickened from breathing asbestos bers. Local o cials are await- ing the next piece of a puzzle that will guide the nal stages of a decade-long cleanup in that community.
Badger-Two Medicine Inches Closer to Protec- tion from Energy Development: A pristine area south of Glacier National Park inched closer to being protected from development after the U.S. Interior Department announced in November that it plans to cancel the 6,200-acre energy lease in the Bad- ger-Two Medicine area. Drilling has been mired in repeated bureaucratic delays, prompting the lease- holder, Solenex, to sue the government in 2013. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recommended canceling all the leases in an Oct. 30 letter to Interi- or Secretary Sally Jewell. Following the ood of sup- port for protecting Badger-Two Medicine, attorneys on both sides of the dispute announced they were working to resolve the case outside of court.
Big Mountain Jesus Saved: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in August that a six-foot-tall statue known as Big Mountain Jesus can remain on the section of Flathead National Forest at White- sh Mountain Resort, ending a years-long debate over the statue. The issue has made its way through
Ready for REAL Results?
Estimated jobs added in Flathead County in 2015, fourth most among Montana counties.
10,700
Estimated jobs added in Montana this year
$10
MILLION
Federal transportation grant funding awarded to the city of Kalispell to build a new industrial rail park and launch its core area redevelopment plan.
$34 MILLION
Contract to build the nal phase of the Kalispell bypass, the largest single contract in the state’s history.
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