County adopts socioeconomic supplement

The county commissioners have officially approved a new socioeconomic supplement for Crook County. The supplement will be attached to the recently adopted Natural Resource Management Plan with a focus on the impact of natural resources on the health of Crook County.

“We’re ready to put it to use,” said Commissioner Jeanne Whalen as a motion was passed to adopt the supplement last week.

Connie McCune and Rachel Powers of DJ&A of Missoula, the company responsible for preparing the plan, were present at the meeting to answer any last-minute questions. The supplement has been underway since last April, said Powers, and the final report is, “the culmination of all that effort.”

The supplement was funded by the state through the same program that was used to create the natural resource management plan itself. Like the plan, the supplement can be used in the future to negotiate with federal entities and to pursue potential grants.

The original intent was to investigate how four specific industries and the service industries that support them have influenced growth and economic stability in Crook County, which is highly reliant on natural resources through the four industries that characterize its economy: agriculture, recreation/tourism, timber harvesting and the mining and fossil fuel industries.

The full supplement will be available for public viewing on the county website.