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slope that would gradually strip landowners' rights over time. Some are worried that the BSCNHA board of directors could approach local government leaders in the future to ask for eminent domain and zoning changes. "Its not the federal government that's going to come knocking on your door to say, 'hey, we'd like to take 100 acres of your property,'" Janet explained. "It's going to be a local ask. To me, that doesn't make the ask any more palatable." e BSCNHA argued it has made extensive efforts to gather feedback from community members over the course of the past several years – to include holding multiple presentations and public meetings in various communities. According to the dra feasibility study released by the BSCNHA on July 1, the corporation spoke with a total of 1,474 residents regarding the proposed NHA prior to the dra's completion. ose contacts, labeled in the study as "citizen encounters," represent just 1.7 percent of the people who would be impacted by the NHA, Janet pointed out. Aer the dra feasibility study was released for a 45-day public review in July, the board created an online comment form on its website to solicit feedback from the community. Notices were sent out to over 400 residents, news releases were published by five Montana newspapers, announcements were issued via radio stations in Great Falls, and copies of the feasibility study were made available in Fort Benton and Cascade County libraries, state offices, city and county commission offices, congressional offices, and at the four national landmark locations contained within the proposed NHA. In mid-July, the Montanans Opposing Big Sky Country National Heritage Area group began circulating a petition of dissention. e opposition petition amassed 1,500 signatures in just two weeks – a figure that has more than doubled since that time. "If one of the key advantages of the NHA is citizen voice and resident voice, and only 1.7 percent of the residents have said yes…and we have twice as many in a much, much, much shorter timeframe that have said, resoundingly, no – how is that 'citizen voice?'" Janet asked. It is a question she said the NHA still hasn't responded to. "I'm not here to tell you what to think or how to make a decision," Janet said. "I'm here to share some information in terms of what I've found as I've been looking into these national heritage areas." "My husband's family has been stewarding that land since the 1800s, and that somebody may be able to come in and interfere with that stewardship is something that causes alarm," she added. "If it is a resident-voiced, grassroots effort, we need to be a part of the conversation." e farming and ranching communities have been abuzz regarding the proposal in recent months. On October 15, the Cascade Town Council unanimously voted to oppose the BSCNHA. e Eden Community Hall Board of Directors followed suit, as has the Ranchers-Calemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America. According to apiarist Rae Grulkowski, who also raises poultry alongside her husband near Stocke, multiple area Huerite colonies, the Great Falls Realtors Association, the Cascade Conservation District, the Town Council of Belt, the Chouteau County Trailblazers Organization, the Cascade and Chouteau County Farm Bureaus, the Montana Stockgrowers' Association, the Montana Grain Growers Association, and the Montana Wool Growers Association have all provided either wrien or verbal commitments of opposition. "One of the concerns that the Cascade Conservation District has is this: We cannot trace any significant effort to inform and directly engage the private landowners – those that live and work out in the country, on the land that would be impacted," the Cascade Conservation District Board of Supervisors said in a recent press release. e board has formally voiced its opposition to the NHA, but also noted that they do not "doubt the good intentions" of those involved in the proposed designation. "In fact, their objectives are honorable in that the potential for economic development and growth is at the heart of this effort," the board noted. "But we submit that perhaps more energy should be dedicated to aracting and robustly engaging the people that live here on the land." Rae has been instrumental in raising awareness about the NHA proposal through her opposition group's Facebook page and a multitude of community presentations. e opposition group has contended that the BCSNHA has failed to be transparent throughout the NHA planning process. ey further argued that the group claims to want to protect the local culture, but that their tactics have actually disregarded the culture of farming and ranching in Central Montana – the pride of stewarding the land and of preserving the heritage of local families. "Whether you oppose or not, you need to at least be aware that there is something going on with these designations on your land," Rae said. According to an Oct. 5 press release from the BSCNHA, the public comments received regarding the dra feasibility study will be incorporated into the final document to be forwarded to the National Park Service in order to determine whether or not the criteria for NHA consideration have been met. It is unclear whether or not that document has been sent. e BSCNHA did not respond to Farm 406's request for comment for this story. 25 farm406

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