Prosperity forum will focus on action

A year-long series of discussions about the future of Lincoln County’s economy and communities will culminate April 29, with the ninth community prosperity forum, “Building a  Remarkable, Resilient Community.”

The forum, sponsored by a number of local businesses and organizations, will bring consultant Vicky Soderberg to Libby to help summarize the eight previous discussions and bridge the gap between dialogue and action.

“This is not a nuts and bolts planning session,” Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness executive director and event organizer Phil Hough said. “It’s the bridge between the conversations we’ve had and the planning stages.”

The forums were born, Hough said, from conversations he’d had with local real estate broker Molly “Montana” Kiernan about increasing community engagement. Hough’s organization had run into serious obstacles in their efforts to have Scotchman Peaks designated as wilderness.

“We needed to find some common ground away from the polarizing rhetoric,” Hough said.

One of the major forces contributing to the polarization between industry and conservation is the economic situation of Lincoln County. The county has one of the highest rates of unemployment and poverty in the state. Hough said any discussion about wilderness and conservation took a backseat to the need for stable jobs and a vibrant economy.

“We need to build a better economy here before we can get to the other conversations,” he said.

The previous forums have focused on various elements of vibrant economies, including strategies for growing local businesses, anchor industries, technology sector job growth, the importance of medical care, strengthening the recreation and tourism economies and understanding small business loans and grants.

The upcoming forum, Hough said, is intended to bring those discussions together and begin the process of planning a bright future for a community in crisis. The discussion will begin with a more philosophical discussion about the communities’ identities.

“We will start by gathering on April 29 to discuss our communities’ sense of place,” Hough said.

The second part of the discussion will focus on strategies to build upon the history and legacy of the area and use those to power a more resilient and vibrant future.

“What do we have here? How do we make it better? Those are questions we have to consider,” he said.

The answers to those questions come from an open dialogue among the people who live and work in the communities and from the relationships they share, he said.

“If we take away some of the labels, and we can sit down and have honest, open dialogue, we’re all concerned about preserving something,” Hough said. “We need to find and preserve that balance between industry and conservation, it’s all about the interconnected relationships we share.”

The forum will begin at 6 p.m. April 29, in the Maki Theatre. It is sponsored by Libby Area Chamber of Commerce, Revett Minerals, Kootenai River Development Council, Molly Montana Real Estate, Idaho Forest Group, Clearwater Montana Properties, Lincoln County Tourism Bureau, Lincoln County Asbestos Resource Program, Libby Now!, Kootenai Job Service, Cabinet Peaks Medical Center, Montana Wilderness Association and Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness.