MISSOULA – Yes for Open Space, Rivers and Farmland started their campaign trying to convince Missoula voters to vote for a bond supporting open space conservation.
County commissioners approved of putting a $15 million bond on the November ballot, and the Missoula City Council is putting in a city open space stewardship levy on the ballot to support the bond.
The $15 million from the Open Space bond would go to conservation work that is still needed after the 2006 open spaces bond funds have been almost depleted.
Some may argue that Missoula already has plenty of natural open spaces, but officials who support the open space bond say there is even more land in Missoula we can work to protect.
"We have a lot of great public land available but that does not address everything that we are concerned about here today there is plenty of private land that holds conservation value that is in jeopardy of being lost," Missoula County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier said. "There are issues related to accessing public lands that a bond can help preserve there are working landscapes that are not public land but equally deserve our attention and are part of the culture and heritage and natural landscape of this place."
The campaign kicked off at the River Road Neighborhood farm, which is an open space itself, to show off what open space support can bring to the community.
