HEALTH Strings Under the Big Sky - Explore Big Sky

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12 June 29, 2012 local news BIG SKY – The goal is to have 30 new wayfinding signs up around the Big Sky community by next ski season. The project, led by the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce and Ryan Hamilton, also aims to install new lighting at the intersection of Lone Mountain Trail and Highway 191, and an entryway monument in the next two years. The Chamber recently passed two milestones in this quest. First, the Big Sky Resort Tax Board funded $225,000 toward the projects on June 13. $150,000 of that will go toward the wayfinding signage and $60,000 to the lighting project. Another $15,000 will go toward preliminary work for the entryway monument. And second, on June 21, the Gallatin County Commission voted in favor of a zone text amendment to the Big Sky Zoning Regulations that would allow for such signage to exist. Ham- ilton and County staff had rewritten the proposed text amendment several times and were relieved to have overwhelming support for this iteration at the meeting. “If you want to talk about a zoning district like Big Sky, having a sign at the entrance is going to benefit the entire district,”Commission Chairman Steve White said. “It’s a very unique amendment.” Addressing the planning department’s questions, White made findings that the project will promote scenic beauty and public safety, encourage growth, enhance the resort experience, and preserve and protect property values. The Chamber’s overall plan has been complicated by the fact that the signs will sit not only along county roadways, but also on federal, state explorebigsky.com and private right of ways. Next up: “We still have to apply for final approval for the signs,” said Hamilton, who has already been working on the project for two years. This means Hamilton, with architects and engineers from CTA, will apply to Gallatin and Madison counties and to the Montana Department of Transportation for approval of the proposed signs, including size, design, content and location. The DOT has strict safety specifications for sign materials and construction. “When you put a sign in the DOT right of way, there are certain parameters that all parties involved need to agree on,” Hamilton said. The Chamber, he said, is leading this project and will thus be assuming responsibility for installing, insuring and maintaining the signs. Currently, the Chamber is sticking with the plan to use the black diamond, blue square and green circle themes to denote destinations at the mountain, canyon and meadow, respectively. The plan to use steel and wood has changed to overlaying a graphic that looks like steel and wood atop the DOT’s regulation materials. The signs will be a community asset, owned and maintained by the Chamber, Hamilton said. They’ll also be designed to minimize maintenance. “We have substantial services and attractions to offer,” Chamber president David O’Connor said. “Many of those people are on a vacation, looking to do cool things. One of the most basic fundamental things [we can do is] tell them those things are here when they’re driving by.” Hamilton has held a series of public meetings with individuals and businesses about all of these projects, taking comments about the design, placement, wording and other details. The project will be in line with the Chamber’s new branding campaign, O’Connor said. “This is not a billboard program, we’re not looking to alter the pristine experience.” explorebigsky.com Big Sky Weekly Wayfinding signs and lighting on the docket for this year entryway monument a ways out By emily stifler big sky weekly managing editor "we spend so much time and effort, collectively and individually, to bring people to this community and to tell the Big sky story. we need to illustrate to people that they’ve gotten here.” Hamilton is also working with CTA to get permits for the lighting. The lights, probably six of them in all, will line Lone Mountain Trail at the turnoff. “We want that Spur Road to be a subtle path,” O’Connor said. “Because so many people come at night, it would identify that as a turning place into the community.” Once the Chamber chooses a light pole and fixture style, Hamilton will put it out for public comment. The light poles will serve a double purpose in branding the community by holding banners for event promotion and community branding messages. The Chamber is still in preliminary planning for the entryway monument project. “We spend so much time and effort, collectively and individually, to bring people to this community and to tell the Big Sky story,” O’Connor said. “We need to illustrate to people that they’ve gotten here.” “I shudder to think of how many people pass by the intersection that have no clue there’s anything up there.” The double-sided monument, which will be a maximum of 35 feet tall by 90 feet long, would sit perpendicular to Highway 191. Hamilton has been talking to Conoco owner Renae Schumacher about putting it on the strip of lawn just west of the Conoco sign, which is also more than 30 feet tall. Some of the $15,000 in resort tax funding will pay an attorney to help draft an easement, and the rest would go to design. “This project in particular needs to have buy-in by the community,” Hamilton said. He plans to hold additional public meetings during the design process. As well, he says, it’s going to be a significant community effort. In addition to asking for resort tax funding, the Chamber will ask contractors, masons, landscapers, irrigators and others to help out as much as they can. “It’s going to be one of those barn raising projects, as I see it,” Hamilton said. “Let’s show our community pride by coming together to build a community asset like this.”
egional explorebigsky.com Skyline Bus system adds new service to West Yellowstone summer schedule began June 18 by emily stiFler big Sky weekly managing editor BIG SKY, BOZEMAN, WEST YEL- LOWSTONE – After several years of planning and collaboration, the Skyline Bus system is expanding to include a route from Bozeman to West Yellowstone. The new service is set to begin in July. “It was a gap in service to and around Yellowstone National Park,” said Skyline’s regional coordinator David Kack. The Montana Department of Transportation agreed to put $75,000 toward the service for fiscal year 2013, and Skyline is now finalizing the details on that contract. The Big Sky Resort Tax board in June agreed to fund $300,000, which will go primarily go to the ongoing services in Big Sky and between Big Sky and Bozeman. Skyline also requested $30,000 from Gallatin County, which the county commission voted against in an initial budget vote in June. This decision was an “issue of budgetary priorities, said Commission Chairman Steve White. The commission, which votes on its final budget in August, has never supported Skyline fiscally. Regardless, Kack said, “we want to get the service [to West] out on the street. We don't want to wait until August when the county may or may not provide any support.” Skyline also requested $5,000 from West Yellowstone, and also asked its town council to send a letter to Gallatin County asking it to support the service. Skyline is part of the Linx bus system, which is a transportation cooperative that works with 20 providers in the Greater Yellowstone region and also runs busses into the park itself. “Our goal is to improve connectivity using existing systems already in place,” said Linx Field Representative from West Yellowstone, Kimberly Brown. This new service allows just that. Linx’s summer operation center is in West, and Brown says of the most popular requests is from people flying into Bozeman who want to get to West so they can see the park. Riders could use this new service to connect to another carrier in West and ride into Yellowstone Park, to Jackson, Pocatello, Salt Lake City, or other spots around the region. The service will also compliment an existing one provided by the West Yellowstone Foundation, which offers rides around West and up to Bozeman three days a week. While that service is geared mainly for residents of West to get to Bozeman for medical appointments or shopping, Kack says Skyline is meant more to get people to West. And he notes, it’s 365 days a year. Wildfire Season: Spring somewhat similar to 1988 more than 30,000 acres burning by emily stiFler big Sky weekly managing editor BOZEMAN – Predictions for an average wildfire season may soon go up in smoke, as more than 30,000 acres were already burning in southwest and south-central Montana in late July. Gov. Brian Schweitzer on June 26 announced a state of emergency Lewis and Clark, Broadwater, Jefferson and Madison counties. When the Weekly went to press on Wed June 27, three fires were burning in southwest Montana: the 14,770-acre Beartrap 2 Fire along the Madison River near Norris; the 6,400-acre Pony Fire in the Tobacco Root Mountains west of Pony, and the 686-acre Antelope Lane Fire, in the Bull Mountains north of Whitehall. The Corral Fire was also burning 1,200 acres in the Scratchgravel Hills, outside of Helena, and the Dahl Fire was burning 18,751 acres in Musselshell County. More than 500 firefighters from volunteer, county, state and regional crews were already working on the Pony, Beartrap and Antelope fires, combined. More were on the way, but were slow in arriving because many had been on assignment in other parts of the West. record breaking march heat (from earthobservatory.nasa.gov/iotd/view.php?id=77465) The previous few days had seen winds sustained at 20 miles an hour with gusts up to 50. Combined with temperatures in the high 90s and dry fuels, it was “a recipe for very intense fire behavior,” said Terina Mullen a fire mitigation and education specialist from the Western Montana District BLM Office. The winds also hampered firefighting efforts, grounded aircraft, and on June 25, caused the Beartrap 2 Fire to jump the Madison River and cross Highway 84. As of press time, the Beartrap 2 and Pony fires were not contained at all, and the Antelope Lane Fire was 40 percent contained. Highway 84 was closed briefly, as were all BLM facilities on the Madison River. The Bear Trap 2 Fire was caused by fireworks, the Antelope Lane by lighting, and the others all unknown. Residents of the South Boulder River above the Indiana University Field Station in the Tobacco Roots were evacuated, and the Pony Fire had already burned two structures there. Evacuations were also in effect for Blacks Ford south to Norris, and two structures had also been burned by the Beartrap 2 Fire. This level of fire activity isn’t typical for this time of year, Mullen said. explorebigsky.com Big Sky Weekly Skyline has been in service for five years. With more than 60,000 people using the Bozeman – Big Sky service in the last year, the number of people riding Skyline is up from its previous high of 47,449. Ridership on the service within Big Sky has also increased by about 8.5 percent over last year. Skyline’s summer schedule began Monday, June 18 and will run through Sept. 9. The schedule offers two Canyon – Mountain Routes for rides around Big Sky, and three round trips per day on the Link Express for rides between Bozeman and Big Sky. Demand response service is also available in Big Sky. Busses operate seven days a week. While the Skyline service within Big Sky is free, a small fare is charged on the service between Big Sky and Bozeman, and will be charged for the ride between Bozeman and West. skylinebus.com linx.coop Although the region had an average snowpack as of April 1, a warm spring caused the snowpack to melt faster. As forests dry out faster, fire risk increases earlier, said research ecologist Greg Pederson with the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center in Bozeman. “Even though we did alright for spring moisture it doesn't seem to have been enough to decrease fire risks substantially into the early summer,” Pederson said. “As soon as you shut off the precipitation and get a wave train of days above 80 and 90 degrees with high winds, it can dry out really fast,” Pederson said. “We have a setup right now, climatically… that is similar in some ways to 1988,” Pederson said, referring to the year that fires burned nearly 1.2 million acres in and around Yellowstone Park. “Early high pressure systems that block precipitation, also lead to warm spring temperatures, and early snow melt out. Preconditioning the region to a long hot summer with dry soils, raising fire risk because forests are dry and flammable.” Across the Western U.S. this March, temperatures were between 12 and 15 degrees C above the 20th century monthly average for March, Pederson added. “Basically with the warm and early spring, we had a perfect setup for a big fire and low streamflow year across the West.” June 29, 2012 13
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