Lincoln County delegation goes to Helena for aid

Lincoln County is in the midst of an economic crisis. The county holds the top spot on Montana’s unemployment rankings and projections for the future are bleak. A delegation from Lincoln County traveled to Helena last week to meet with state officials in hopes of formulating plans to address those concerns.

The delegation was comprised of commissioners Greg Larson and Mike Cole, as well as Eureka Mayor LeeAnn Schermerhorn, Tracy McIntyre of the Eureka Rural Development Partners, Tina Oliphant of Kootenai River Development Council and Jeni Bradley Evans, representing the City of Troy.

The two-day session involved meeting with state and federal agency heads, including presentations on the programs offered by each agency and discussions of project ideas to diversity Lincoln County’s economy.

“We received presentations on each agency’s departmental programs and we shared with them many project ideas and needs that, if implemented, would increase recreation, tourism and overall resource utilization and economic activity in Lincoln County,” Commissioner Greg Larson said.

Larson’s primary focus for the meeting was on finding ways to create long-term employment opportunities in the county.

“We stressed that our greatest need is the creation of family jobs with benefits to secure a strong future for Lincoln County,” he said.

The declining economic situation of Lincoln County has pushed many people to look for work outside the county, looking east toward oilfields in the eastern Montana and North Dakota, creating its own set of adverse circumstances.

“The impact on families can be severe from both an economic and social standpoint. The separation of parents from each other and/or a parent and children can be very stressful and lead to major social issues that absenteeism can cause. Plus we have already experienced families losing loved ones due to automobile accidents from increased time traveling to and from work. It is wrong that our workforce is being penalized because of land management restrictions placed on public lands over the last 30 years. The major difference between work there and little or no work here is private lands there versus public here,” Larson said.

Larson said the most important take-away from the trip was the existence of a number of assistance sources for the county to utilize, and the commissioners and others involved in economic development efforts in the county are focused on those sources.

“We learned that there are many assistance sources that we could and should utilize more, that we need to invest more time and effort into short-, mid- and long-term planning activities to put Lincoln County in a better position to compete for program assistance funding,” he said.

The trip was positive and worthwhile, Larson said, as it gave officials from the various agencies of the cities and county the opportunity to demonstrate a common goal.

“It was great to see leaders from our three cities working together toward a common goal of improving the economic conditions of Lincoln County. We got to know each other better and are now in a better position to work more closely together in the future,” Larsson said.