From highway to water concerns, Richland County Commissioner Loren Young expressed his feelings during a meeting with representatives from the office of U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., on June 13.
Young said that despite the oil industry slowdown, Highway 200 between Sidney and Fairview remains more busy than portions of the Interstate.
“It’s one of the major feeders for the Bakken,” Young noted.
Although he feels government agencies try their best to finance highways, he thinks a special fund should be available when an area experiences an unusual impact.
“There should be a special fund for needed road projects,” Young said. “They {government officials} are doing a good job with what they have. But more help is needed.”
He added, “Really now is when they should do something instead of waiting until we are in crisis.”
Young said one of his current concerns is that the federal government needs to support the Dry RedWater Regional Water Project. “They need to keep pushing that forward,” the commissioner noted.
He is disappointed in the long process pertaining to the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project and the survival of pallid sturgeon. “There has to be a way that enough is enough at some point,” Young said. “There were very few negatives at the public meetings. How many times do we have to do it?”
Young noted the great majority of area residents all agree with what should be done with the diversion dam.
“It’s just wrong that people who don’t even live here can make a big effect on our lives,” Young said.
The commissioner told Daines’ representatives that he has spent more than seven years of his 10 years in office aware of the irrigation project’s battle with some environmentalist groups.
“These special interest groups never quit,” Young said. “Some of their ideas are good, but they just want to eliminate everything.”
Young also mentioned his concerns with the Waters of the U.S. rule. “I don’t think the U.S. government has a need to know all about our water up to our driveway,” Young said.
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