Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
If you would like to comment on the county’s soon-to-be-adopted socioeconomic plan, your opportunity to do so is coming up on Monday. The plan is the end result of a study that focused on the impact of natural resources on the health of Crook County.
The Crook County Socioeconomic Supplement is to be added to the Natural Resource Management Plan if it passes the approval of both the Crook County Land Use Planning & Zoning Commission and the county commissioners. Prepared by DJ&A of Missoula, it was funded by the state as an addition to the program that was used to create the natural resource management plan itself.
The socioeconomic study, like the natural resource plan, can be used in the future to negotiate with federal entities and to pursue potential grants. The intent was to investigate how four specific industries and the service industries that support them have influenced growth and economic stability in Crook County.
“Crook County’s economy is highly reliant upon natural resources. Four industries that characterize Crook County’s economy while also being reliant on public lands are: agriculture, recreation/tourism, timber harvesting and the mining and fossil fuel industries,” states the supplement.
“There were an estimated 842 (34% of total) jobs within Crook County in 2018 reliant on these four industries.”
The study also looked at how demographics such as age, education and income reflect the influence of these natural resource industries and how the industries in neighboring counties impact this one.
Additionally, the supplement details the impact of infrastructure – or lack of infrastructure – such as available broadband and explores how the resiliency of the county has been impacted by the diversity of natural resource-based industries and the effect of recreation and tourism trends on the local economy.
The four industries named in the study, “Are directly or indirectly dependent on federal and state lands thus changes in public land policy and management can have large impacts on the entire county,” concludes the study.
“The culture of Crook County is grounded in rural values, conservation, wise use of natural nonrenewable and renewable resources, and the preservation of private property rights,” the study continues.
“A substantial part of Crook County’s present and future economic viability is strongly tied to the land and its management.”
The study also makes various suggestions for future considerations that would promote economic resilience in this county. The recommendations are based on a study by Headwaters Economics that examined 25 western counties heavily reliant on “declining industries such as mining and timber.”
The suggestions included leveraging natural amenities such as “small towns with beautiful landscapes and access to outdoor recreation” to attract tourism and new residents or entrepreneurs that can help diversify the economy. The study recommends demonstrating flexibility and adaptability to embrace new economic opportunities, such as in manufacturing, forest and watershed restoration, retirement-related services and tourism.
The third recommendation is to actively engage in collaborative community planning and governance.
“Evidence from formerly timber-dependent communities shows that economic diversity results from deliberate efforts on the part of community leaders to build relationships and partnerships among government, businesses and nonprofit organizations locally and with state and regional partners,” states the study.
Finally, the supplement recommends taking advantage of connections to metropolitan markets.
“Acceptable commute times are growing because people want to live in communities that have natural amenities,” it states.
“Counties that have the geographic advantage of natural beauty and access to recreation can leverage opportunities by expanding connections – via air travel, highways, public transit and internet broadband – to major markets.”
Land Use will convene in the community room of the Crook County Courthouse on December 13 at 7 p.m. and will be taking written or oral comments on the supplement. After the public hearing, the commission will vote to recommend that the county commissioners schedule a public hearing to approve and adopt the supplement into the Natural Resource Management Plan.
Written comments can be submitted ahead of time to Crook County Growth & Development at PO Box 825, Sundance. The supplement can be viewed on the public notices page of the county website.
