# Snowy Mountain Development Corporation April10, 2013
Montana Department ofTransportation 2701 Prospect Avenue PO Box 201001 Helena, MT 59620-1001
Dear Sir; (ll
This letter is written in support of maintaining air service to the Lewistown/central Montana community. SMDC is a regional economic development organization servingthe six counties in central Montana including Judith Basin, Fergus, Petroleum, Musselshell, Wheatland and Golden Valley; covering 12,328 square miles roughly the size ofVermont, Delaware and Rhode Island combined with 14 incorporated and 25 unincorporated municipalities and a population of21,742 (U.S. Census Bureau 20120).
lewistown is currentlythe only community in that region that has regular service to a larger destination and is only served by one airline. The airline is dependent upon funding from Essential Air Services, the federal government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the U.S. that were served by certified airli.nes priorto deregulation were able to maintain commercial service. This is a vast rural, often called "frontier" region that needs these airline services to sustain, and continue providing resources for the nation and the world including agriculture, manufacturing and natural resources. Air transportation infrastructure is the key to manufacturers serving the world through access to travel to those markets, transporting goods, and allowing access to and from this region. Air transportation infrastructure is necessary to ensure the ongoing development of natural resources and energy sources. Airtransportation is necessary to ensure the ongoing agricultural industry has abilityto travel to product markets across the nation and world. Central Montana lacks access to railroad and interstate transportation infrastructure, also. Air transportation infrastructure provides emergency supplies to the community and was extremely important in 2011 when the community was isolated due to the highway infrastructure failing in the disastrous floodingthat occurred that spring. The only way to get supplies to the hospital, leave or come intothe community duringthat disaster was by airtransportation.
In recent years, the community has demonstrated the need forthe service to a connecting air transportation hub- such as Denver. The need exists within the community; howeverthe current service does not adequately address that need and therefore ridership has decreased. The central Montana region definitely needs an airtransportation system with connections to a hub to ensure that our businesses are able to continue providing products to the U.S. and the world.
We hope that you will understand that need for transportation infrastructure especially in the isolated area ofcentral Montana and find a way to address that desperate need. Your thoughtful consideration ofmaintainingthis important infrastructure is greatly appreciated. Sincerely,

Kathie 

### A. Bailey, Executive Director

613 N.E. Main Street• Lewistown, MT 59457• (406) 535-2591 • smdcexecd@midrivers.com "This institution is an equalopportunityprovider, and employer." Dial 7-1-1 forMontana Relay Montana PTAC, which servesasa Procurement TechnicalAssistance Center(PTAC), is fundedInpart through a cooperative agreementfrom the Departmentof Defense {000} through aprogram thatis administeredbythe Defense LogisticsAgency (OLA). The contentof anywritten materials or verbalcommunications of the PTACdoes notnecessarilyreflectthe official views of orimplyendorsementby000 orOLA.