Growth, Development, and Restoration--Philipsburg, Granite County
Philipsburg Restoration
The secret is out. Philipsburg, the once quite seat of Granite County, has been discovered.
With a uniquely Western and fully restored Main Street, the town is well located to take advantage of its considerable outdoor amenities.
Philipsburg sits halfway between Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park, and 30-miles from two National Wilderness Areas. The scenic valley is scooped from the Sapphire Mountains on the west, the Flint Range on the east, and the Pintler Mountains to the south. The area is home to nationally renowned bighorn sheep herds along Rock Creek, a blue ribbon trout stream. It also holds the most productive habitat for moose in west-central Montana and it’s known for big bull elk, in the steep, rugged Welcome Creek Wilderness and along the Continental Divide.
Broadway Street ~ Philipsburg, Montana. Photo courtesy of the Philipsburg Chamber of Commerce.
Today, more than 900 people call Philipsburg home and more than 2,800 people live in Granite County. While not the fastest growing place in Montana, it bears the strain of a small town discovered by new residents who are increasingly searching for a friendly place to call home.
Philipsburg and Granite County are steeped in old Western history and new Western growing pains that can in part be solved through restorative developments.
In this decade, the Montana Departments of Environmental Quality, Agriculture, Commerce, Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Natural Resources and Conservation, and Justice’s Natural Resource Damage Program offered grants, loans and seed money that helped to funnel nearly $8 million into county restoration and revitalization programs. This significant infusion of restoration funds and loans provides good paying jobs that continue to simulate the local economy.
But significant needs still exist.
Overlook of Philipsburg, Montana. Photo by Donna Holmes, courtesy of Quantus Design.
Consider Philipsburg’s drinking water and wastewater treatment problem. Philipsburg has simply out grown its wastewater treatment lagoon, which discharges into Flint Creek, an important trout-stream and tributary to the Clark Fork River. The entire system is plagued by failing collection lines and by the social pressure of population growth.
The solution is a three-phase $12.5 million infrastructure rehabilitation that exceeds the community's ability to pay the bill. Meanwhile, a developer has broken ground for the first phase of a proposed development totaling 86 home sites that will be served by wells and septic tanks outside the town limits.
The modern appeal and growing social and environmental problems of places like Philipsburg offer examples of Montana’s need to integrate restoration planning.
In this case, Philipsburg needs significant funding to rehabilitate its water treatment infrastructure and is searching far and wide for state and federal grants. Under the current manner of restoration funding, it will take several years and multiple funding sources for Philipsburg to upgrade its water-treatment facility. As partial funds arrive, to complete the restoration circle, others will seek funding for projects aimed at improving the aquatic resources of Flint Creek and the Clark Fork River.
Montana wants to close the circle faster and more efficiently. We need to consider the big restoration picture as we increasingly turn to restorative developments. Integrated restoration offers an important alternative that can improve our environment and our lives while creating good paying jobs for Montanans for decades to come.
