Such growth predictors and trends can be used in practical ways, say several Montana State University researchers who have developed a system that can aid people who need to predict change and plan for their community. While not fool-proof, the computerized indicators account for about 75 percent of past growth in communities, says Maxwell. They can predict up to 90 percent of growth when special circumstances apply, such as when surrounding land is likely to stay in the federal Conservation Reserve Program for several years.
Growth is an issue in Montana and throughout the West.
Montana needs planning, says State Sen. Don Hargrove, R- Belgrade , who sponsored a bill in the last Montana Legislature to help communities save open land they designate for preservation. The land owner gets a one-time economic benefit, but can keep the land in agricultural production. A legislative joint study committee is studying Hargrove's bill in the interim before the next session. If you don't plan, you end up with nothing left. People who oppose planning, I think they aren't really opposing planning, but they're opposing heavy-handed government telling them what to do.