There is an open space bond issue for Missoula County voters on the November ballet. What does this mean? Voters have the opportunity to continue a fund that was established over a decade ago for the use of preserving open spaces for agricultural uses, wildlife habitat, clean sources of water and habitat for native fish and plants.
Even in rural communities like Seeley Lake, Condon and Potomac, important wildlife areas, rural lifestyles and family ranches are threatened by sprawl and development, and this fund has preserved that vital habitat. Local ranches located in critical areas have been allowed to remain intact by using this fund to create conservation easements.
Wildlife depends on corridors to access undeveloped areas and these are being lost rapidly. When we learned of the importance of our property as a wildlife corridor, we decided to place it into a conservation easement. While we did not benefit financially from doing this, the open space bond fund did finance some of the transition and legal costs involved. Not only will this benefit numerous species of wildlife, some of which is endangered, but the spectacular view from the highway will remain, and the scenery is why most tourists visit Western Montana and bring their wallets with them.
This open space bond fund is a small price to pay to forever protect our most vital wild places and rural lifestyle. You don’t have to go far before seeing properties protected by the previous open space bonds, so ensure that your future generations can also enjoy the Montana that you love by voting yes on the Open Space Bond and Stewardship Levy.
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