Montana House passes bill allowing for state veterans cemetery in C-Falls
Kenley Rose Wheeler helps carry flags to put at gravesites at the Montana Veterans Home Cemetery in 2019 in Columbia Falls. Flags are put out on the graves prior to Veterans Day each year. Veterans Day is Thursday, Nov. 11. (Chris Peterson/Hungry Horse News file photo)
The Montana House of Representatives voted unanimously Tuesday in support of creating a state veterans cemetery in Northwest Montana.
The bill, known as HB81 and sponsored by Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, would set aside 150 acres of land adjacent to the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls for a future burial ground. The cemetery will be open to veterans in nine counties in the region: Lincoln, Sanders, Flathead, Lake, Glacier, Toole, Pondera, Teton and Liberty counties.
Veterans cemeteries already exist in Fort Harrison in Lewis and Clark County as well as in Missoula and Miles City. Mitchell’s legislation would allow for a new cemetery in Flathead County and the door remains open for a burial ground in Yellowstone County.*
The Montana Veterans Home, which is located in Columbia Falls, includes a cemetery, according to Mitchell, but it is open only to veterans who lived at the facility. If passed by the Senate, the bill will give veterans in the Flathead and surrounding areas an option to be buried closer to home.
“Any of those veterans that are in that area will have the availability to be buried at the state veterans cemetery, including their spouses if they wish,” Mitchell said.
According to the fiscal note, upon passage of the bill, the Department of Military Affairs and the Montana Veteran Affairs Division (MVAD) can apply for a grant from the federal Veterans Administration to develop the cemetery. The legislation calls for shunting about $160,000 annually from cannabis tax revenue to pay to maintain and staff the grounds.
Because of the proposed funding scheme, the project is contingent on the approval of legislation that would provide an allocation of cannabis funds to MVAD, which is detailed in HB 2.
“These veterans deserve everything for their sacrifices,” Mitchell said in a statement after the bill passed the House. “It’s a great day for Flathead County, Northwest Montana and Montana as a whole.”
Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or at 758-4459.
*This story has been updated.