PCEC Is Working for the Future of Park County

Give-a-Hoot is in full swing, summer is heating up, we're hard at work and eyeing the high country.

The most meaningful metric for us is the breadth and depth of our support in Park County. Our accomplishments are possible because of you. And so, we are aiming for as many individual gifts as we can get: even the smallest Give-a-Hoot donation is meaningful to us.

We’ve been hearing from many in our community about concerns revolving around industrial and commercial development in Park County. We’ve seen a lot of activity in that area lately. 

Last April, after you made your voices heard, the Park County Commission voted unanimously to send a letter of opposition regarding the proposed gravel pit and asphalt plant on State Trust Land (Section 22) in Paradise Valley. We are still thrilled by this position, and the fact that they heard the concerns of their constituents. You showed up and they listened!

While the final outcome of the gravel mine on Section 22 is still uncertain, what we know for sure is that the people of Park County do not want to see this place irrevocably transformed by industrial and commercial ventures that would further harm habitat and wildlife.

PCEC has tracked that gravel mine on public land for the last four years, and followed Riverside Contracting’s attempts to develop a mine in Park County for the last ten years. It has been just one of many industrial scale developments we have had to contend with. Each time, PCEC has taken the lead, and successfully pushed back on these ill-conceived ideas from taking root in Park County.

For over 35 years PCEC has been at the vanguard of land use issues in Park County. In just the last few years, we have successfully protected over 30,000 acres of public land from two gold mines, stopped a tire dump from being built in Mill Creek, forced the removal of oil and gas leases from going to auction on public lands next to Livingston and the Yellowstone River, and sounded the alarm about a private equity proposal for a sprawling luxury resort up Suce Creek. 

For decades, we have made advances and we have experienced setbacks, but most importantly we have kept at it. Our experience has shown that Park county moves at the speed of trust, with a fierce independent streak that carries a healthy skepticism of top-down solutions. 

We keep that in mind when we do our work. We will sound the alarm and rush to respond when it’s necessary. We will also take the time to sit down with our friends, neighbors and even our skeptics in order to find sensible solutions to local issues.

The local public deserves a voice. So many of the development threats we see come from an outside entity. Do we want to let private equity from another state or country pave over our future without any community review and input? 

We will keep at this work in a steady and measured manner that generates support for sensible land use planning that is built from the ground up, by and for locals who live and work here. We don’t want to see working ranch lands turned into luxury amenity playgrounds, or water-hogging data centers. The integrity of Park County matters to all of us, and we will continue to push for its protection and preservation.