Letters to the editor Nov. 3

Flathead Valley’s future

The Flathead Valley is rapidly changing before our very own eyes. Growth is expected and anticipated, but out of control growth, with no attention to infrastructure is almost criminal and extremely short sighted.

Our leaders somehow have bought into the misconception, or developers convinced them, that we are in desperate need of more housing. The question is for who? Not locals. They are built for ingress people moving here from all points of big cities around the country. Why is it that most of the new apartments are partially empty?

I have learned in my years involved with local politics and watching how developers operate that they have absolutely no concern or pay attention to our infrastructure, such as schools, sewer plants, hospitals, the police and sheriff’s department, and especially roads. Guess who pays to fix our infrastructure issues? Yes, local taxpayers, you and I. 

Our culture is affected forever with no concern for our overburdened tax base. I have also learned that most developers are a conglomerate with multiple investors that literally have to spend their money, confirmed by a local banker. This should cause us all to be concerned for our future in “The Last Best Place.”

Ultimately, there will have to be a “development moratorium” put in place but it will then be too late. Politicians, and planners, who make final decisions on these developments are paid by our tax dollars and they do listen. Please show up in force and give respectful comments and concerns. They listen, I know, and if they don’t hear from you these monstrous developments will continue to get easily approved.

— Former Flathead County Commissioner Gary Hall, Columbia Falls

Old Reserve

As I travel Old Reserve scanning the now empty fields where canola, wheat and hemp had recently been harvested, I have fond memories of watching the elk in winter and the sandhill cranes in spring grazing on these farmlands. 

These fields will soon see bulldozers replacing combines as hundreds of houses are soon to be built.  I’m told this is progress, that we need the housing.  Perhaps this is true, growing populations need places to live.  

The elk, cranes and other wildlife will find fields elsewhere in our valley.  But we must work together to try and preserve the “elsewhere” or eventually the wildlife in our valley will disappear.

— Jim Swab, Kalispell