Ensuring the Future of Ravalli County

We recognize that the Bitterroot Valley is a unique and exceptional place to live.  

Our goal is to safeguard its extraordinary qualities while leveraging those assets to foster a vibrant economic climate that provides for the wellbeing of all who live here. 

We intend to accomplish this through citizen engagement, objective analysis, strategic planning, and the thoughtful application of public and private resources.

In doing so, our aim is to ensure those living in the Bitterroot Valley continue to enjoy:

• Abundant natural resources

• Engaged citizenry

• Effective governance

• Economic security

• Educational opportunity

• Health and wellbeing

• Thriving arts & culture

Envisioning an End State

Any group seeking to accomplish a goal requires a shared vision.  Our vision is that of a just, resilient, and self-reliant community in the Bitterroot Valley. Creating a circular economy that supports economic health is paramount in realizing that vision.

The economic health of our community is measured by the degree to which it can establish and maintain the following:

• Water and airshed integrity

• Diversity and abundance of wildlife

• Open and public space

• Energy autonomy

• Locally derived food, shelter, and necessities

• Adequate transportation and communication infrastructure

• Robust primary, secondary, and post-graduate education

• Comprehensive health and human services

A Path Forward

In order to ensure economic health in Ravalli County, community-led initiatives will be developed to address these focal areas:

• Establish water and air quality standards and protections

• Prepare a strategic plan

• Capital investment

• Increase local production capacity

  • Food

  • Shelter

  • Clothing

  • Necessities

• Build and maintain adequate and up-to-date infrastructure

  • Water & sewer

  • Electricity production & transmission

  • Transportation

  • Irrigation

  • Communication

  • Open & public spaces

  • Health & human services

  • Primary, secondary & post-graduate education

Making Sense of the Situation

Effective decision-making is not possible without proper analysis and comprehensive understanding of the physical and economic environment in which we operate. Therefore, the first step toward a resilient, self-reliant community in the Bitterroot Valley is the development of a 50-year strategic plan for Ravalli County.

In addressing the focal areas stated above, this strategic plan will build upon the following foundational precepts:

• Objective analysis (economic and environmental)

• Relative value determination (citizen derived)

• Vision statement (proposed end state)

• Development policy 

• Implementation plan

• Oversight

An Open Approach to Growth

We recognize the potential for continued development in Ravalli County, and assume its inevitability. Our intent is to see this growth guided in such a manner as best provides for the welfare of its citizens, while ensuring the sanctity of our natural resources and maintaining the unique cultural identity found within the communities and environs of the Bitterroot Valley.

Our approach is designed around the following activities:

• Suitability analysis

• Public outreach and input

• Futuring

• Managing for intent

• Project assessment

• Incentivization

Our Common Goal – An Equitable and Just Society

Ultimately, the purpose of any economic, ecologic, or social system is to provide for the well being of its participants. It is our hope and greatest aspiration that this outline serves not only as the basis for a system of human organization capable of meeting the physical and spiritual needs here in the Bitterroot Valley but also as a demonstration of humanity’s capacity for transcendent change.

Resilience is the ability to continue functioning in the face of disruption.

If your community was faced with a natural disaster, what would it do? How would it react? Does it have both the physical resources and the social organization required to remain functional in the face of disaster and bounce back in the wake of it?

Resilience, in individuals, organizations, and communities, is defined by their capacity to use the technical, economic, and social resources available within them and to effectively put those resources to use overcoming the physical and psychological challenges they confront.

Take Mexico Beach, Florida for example. In the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, the small oceanfront community has struggled to rebound. Six months after the storm’s passage, damage is still noticeable. Some businesses and residents may never return.

Why are some places like Mexico Beach and Puerto Rico unable to recover from a natural disaster such as Hurricane Michael or Maria, while others like the British Virgin Islands can? The answer is they lack resilience.

What does this have to do with the Bitterroot Valley, you ask?

The Bitterroot Valley has the potential to be one of the most resilient places on Earth to live. With ample sunshine, arable land, water, and timber, Ravalli County is in the enviable position of having the requisite resources on hand to not only ensure resilience, but to be completely self-reliant. The question is, are we taking full advantage of this remarkable opportunity?

A truly resilient system can only be had when the three components of resilience – technical knowledge, material sustenance, and organization – are present. If any one of the three are lacking, the system may well be able to weather small shocks, but it will collapse in the face of any significant event, whether that be from internal or external sources.

Such was the case in Puerto Rico. While the people of the island were quick to pull together to help one another, their society was utterly reliant upon the outside world for everything necessary to rebuild. They lacked the material resources to reconstruct their battered infrastructure, as well as much of the technical expertise, leaving them in a state of incapacitation.

What is the lesson here for the Bitterroot Valley?

It is two-fold. One, that there is a unique opportunity here to create an extremely resilient community, one capable of withstanding both natural and economic disruption. Two, that in order to truly realize that opportunity, the valley’s capacity for self-sufficiency must be protected and, in fact, enhanced through the development of a circular economy.