MONTANA CHAPTER

DECEMBER 1998 Page II

GRANTS LIST AVAILABLE A list of grants available for conservation-oriented projects has been developed by Northern Director Alan Rollo. The list, primarily of federal and state resources, contains contact numbers, submittal dates and other information. Anyone who would like a copy of the list can contact Alan at (406) 727-4437. NEW MEMBERS The Chapter would like to welcome the follwoing new members: Shirley Gammon - Bozeman Louis Bobloz - Townsend Members in these areas should be sure to welcome these new members and encourage them to get involved in the Chapter's activities. MONTANA CHAPTER ANNUAL MEETING Contact Valerie Oksendahl for information on how to get involved and particpate on the Planning Committee for the Montana Chapter Buffer Conference. Membership information is also available. SWCS SCHOLARSHIP The Montana Chapter of the SWCS is sponsoring two scholarships this year to students enrolled in an agriculture or natural science related curriculum. A $500 scholarship will be awarded (fall of 1999) for a student who has been enrolled for one year and a $250 scholarship will be awarded (fall of 1999) with no limitations on prior college education.

CHAPTER DEVELOPMENT IN BILOXI! The Chapter Development Committee will be hosting the Chapter Development Workshop at the SWCS International Meeting, to be held in Biloxi, Mississippi. The workshop will be held on Saturday, August, 7th. Information on agenda items will be forthcoming in future newsletters. For additional information, contact our regional representative, Valerie Oksendahl at (406) 538-7401. REGIONAL CHAPTER DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP The Chapter Development Workshop for the Northern Plains Region will be held in Newcastle, Wyoming, this year. All Executive Council members are encouraged to participate. Members wanting to become more involved should contact Valerie Oksendahl, Regional Representative for more information. Workshop dates: March 4 and 5, 1999. REED SUPPORTS SWCS Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Chief Pearlie Reed recently attended the Montana Association of Conservation Districts Annual Meeting and expressed strong support for SWCS. He encouraged Montana NRCS staff to be active members in the SWCS, and supported professional papers and posters. This provides a good opportunity for members to become more active, and for the membership recruitment of NRCS staff who are not already members. A membership form can be filled out on your computer and printed off to send in.

The title of this article was also the title of Montana's first statewide growth summit held in Helena in November. We can be proud that the Montana SWCS Chapter was one of several agricultural, business, governmentals, environmental, and citizen groups that helped sponsor and organize this summit. It was expected (and hoped for) that there would be at least 150 people register. It turned out to be 320! It surprised even the organizers how much interest and concern there is in Montana regarding urban sprawl and poor growth planning.

The theme of this summit was to explore planning tools that can be used to assist communities to effectively manage growth. To hear what the status of growth is in Montana, featured speakers included county commissioners, the Mayor of Helena, State Senator Lorents Grosfield, plus many community leaders throught Montana.

The state speakers were complimented with nationally renowned community planners, academics, and authors who outlined case studies on what other communities throughout the country are doing to address this issue. An example of the approaches discussed were the clustering of development, open space designations, purchasing of development rights, urban redevelopment, and zoning, many of which could be applicable to Montana communities.

It became clear to me that much of Montana's urban sprawl is poorly planned and irreversible. Even in a rural state like Montana, urban growth is beginning to generate serious conflict with surrounding agricultural operations, adversely impacting the environment, and stressing many of our communities' abilities to provide essential services to their citizens.

There will be a follow-up meeting to the summit in January. It only makes sense to take what we have learned at this summit and put it into action. I will represent the Montana SWCS Chapter at this meeting and report back on the suggested courses of action.

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