A PARTNLRSllIP 

 ^ by Don Kinney, 



^ City-County Planning Director, Helena 



For many reasons, including a fear 

 of the unknOT/n and past history, Montanans 

 have not promoted until recently the tech- 

 nique of land use planning in the develop- 

 ment of their state. The immediate past 

 state legislature took a major step for- 

 ward when they appropriated sufficient 

 funds for the State Office of Planning 

 and Economic Development to allow the of- 

 fice to operate in an efficient manner. 

 It is the author's hope that this type 

 of forward thinking by our state leaders 

 will continue in the future. 



However, action on the state level 

 is not enough. Counties, cities, and 

 towns must also see the benefits of land 

 planning and take steps to implement 

 its use into their functions. Many times 

 it is hard for citizens of this state to 

 see the advantages of planning, especial- 

 ly when we do not have the population pres- 

 sures that plague other states. In 

 the opinion of many, this is an oppor- 

 ktunity for the state and its citizens to 

 plan ahead for the eventual problems. The 

 leaders and citizens of the state have an 

 opportunity to see the mistakes that 

 other areas have made and hopefully from 

 this knowledge, plan for the future 

 avoiding the obvious errors. 



One error that is most obvious and 

 one that should concern the citizens of 

 this state is the lack of protection of 

 our agricultural lands. It is common 

 knowledge that in many areas of this na- 

 tion, thousands of acres of prime and agri- 

 cultural land is lost forever every year 

 when it is used for urban expansion. 

 Some call it progress and some call it a 

 waste. 



The people of Montana, as well as 

 the total population of the nation, must 

 make a decision soon. Will it be anoth- 

 er unneeded, ugly, uneconomical strip 

 commercial zone or will it be the preser- 

 vation of needed, ascetically pleasing, 

 economical open space and crop lands? 



Planning Boards, City & County Com- 

 missioners, State Legislators, private 

 groups, and the citizens of this state 

 uust make the final decision. Planning 

 is only a tool that will help to formu- 

 late the land development policy deci- 

 sions. All interested persons must 

 Join together in a partnership and work 

 together to develop policies which will 

 accomodate all persons and fields of 

 endeavors. Ask your political leaders 

 to make themselves knowledgeable of the 

 problem and then to take action on devel- 

 oping laws which will help to protect 

 our natural resources. Ask your local 

 Planning Board what they are doing to 

 promote agricultural zoning inyyour area 

 based upon a land use plan. To learn 

 of other ways you may help, contact the 

 State Office of Planning & Economic Devel- 

 opment, your local Planning Boards, and 

 other agencies such as the Soil & Water 

 Conservation Boards. 



If you, as a person, will become 

 personally knowledgeable of the tech- 

 niques of land use planning and under- 

 stand what is being done in the field 

 by others, you will lose this undue fear 

 of planning, zoning, subdivision reg- 

 ulations, and so on, and will under- 

 stand that they are protection tools - 

 not limiting tools. 



Shown above are members of the Mont- 

 ana State Planning & Economic Develop- 

 ment Commission, and State Soil Conserva- 

 tion Committee at a meeting of the two 

 state agencies to discuss economic plan- 

 ning & Development of mutual concern. 



