Commissioners taking busload to State Department open house

The Lincoln County Commissioners have chartered a bus for county residents who want to attend a town hall meeting Wednesday in Kalispell lead by The U.S. State Department’s lead negotiator for the Columbia River Treaty.

State Sen. Mike Cuffe has said that showing community interest in the treaty negotiations with Canada is important. If negotiations go the way Cuffe hopes for, Lincoln County could receive as much as $48 million annually in revenue in recognition of the contribution the Libby Dam makes to power generation, as well as the sacrifices the county made in terms of usable land and resources when the dam was built.

Cuffe told the Lincoln County Commissioners on March 6 that he would like to see a busload of county residents at the town hall in Kalispell, to make it clear to the negotiating team that Lincoln County residents realize how important the negotiations are.

The Lincoln County Commissioners agreed, and have chartered a bus to do just that.

Troy commissioner Jerry Bennett said that there will only be 50 seats available on the bus, so the commissioners need those interested to contact either Bennett or Libby commissioner Mark Peck to reserve a seat.

The bus will depart from the Ace Hardware parking lot at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

For those traveling by their own vehicle, the meeting will take place at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell at 5:30 p.m.

To enquire about a seat on the bus, contact commissioner Mark Peck at 406-283-2317 or mpeck@libby.org, or commissioner Jerry Bennett at 406-283-2319 or jbennett@libby.org.

Additional information about the Columbia River Treaty and Cuffe’s decade’s-long fight to have Lincoln County’s contributions and sacrifices recognized can be found in the March 8 edition of The Western News. Copies are available at our office at 311 California Avenue, Libby.

The article can also be accessed online at by entering “Columbia River Treaty” into the search bar at TheWesternNews.com.