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The responsiveness of local government was on display at
the Island Park Community meeting with the Fremont County Commissioners. The
topic was the Island Park National Monument study initiated by Fremont County
Planning and Building Department.
The capacity crowd left no doubt that there was
widespread interest in the future of Island Park. Tom Cluff, the administrator
of the Fremont County Planning and Building Dept., indicated that in response
to chatter of possible consideration of National Monument designation, the
county had decided to be proactive. A HUD grant was obtained to conduct a study
of the Island Park caldera in the hope of heading off such a designation.
The commissioning of the study was interpreted as county
government approval of the National Monument. This perception was reinforced
when Jan Brown of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition was hired by the County as
a consultant for the study. It was assumed that the continuing restrictions
within Yellowstone Park would bleed over into Island Park if the same voices
were involved.
Mr. Cluff announced that the study had been called off
and that there was no interest in promoting a National Monument. He advised
that there was still seventy five thousand dollars of HUD money available to
conduct a yet to be determined study.
After his presentation, each County Commissioner took
their turn apologizing for the misunderstanding and promising to do all in
their power to discourage the monument designation. To their credit, three more
humble public servants I had not seen.
This is precisely why local control is so important.
When politicians deal with friends and neighbors, the opinions of those
residents are much more important.
A proposal made at the meeting was to put the question
on November’s ballot, asking Fremont County voters if they are in favor of a
National Monument designation. The response would arm county officials if the
designation ever gathers steam. Not a bad idea.
As far as the $75K still kicking around, I would suggest
that the county study how to protect habitat and wildlife while improving the
experience in Island Park for ATV/snowmobile riders, hunters, anglers, campers
and hikers.
