A call to action

Yesterday, Sat. 1/4/25, I attended a gathering in Noxon to learn more about the bridge, to hear from elected officials & what we can do to bring more attention to decision makers. Tony Cox, Dan Rowan, & a rep. from Zinke's Flathead office, Steve Howke, was there. The organizer of this gathering reached out to all local, state & federal elected officials, with minimal or no response. [Where were Paul Fielder and Greg Hertz? Inquiring mind here.]

I am not a resident of Noxon, nor have I been to Noxon almost ever, but I was nudged to attend to hear from the residents to learn more. And learn more, I did! I was surprised the majority of attendees were from Heron, Trout Creek, Thompson & of course Plains & the Flathead.

The personal impact statements made by the scant number of Noxon residents were powerful to me. I never knew their vulnerability to closures & the potential collapse of the bridge. Steve/Zinke rep, also was impacted by hearing these sharings. For me the needle of " there's an issue with the Noxon bridge", to specifics about how this issue affects the quality of daily lives directly...getting gas, emergency services, food, transporting their children, economic consequences of the fire and so on, was stunning.

SANDERS COUNTY, this is an opportunity for us to build "bridges" on common ground! In my world view, we can all do something to help those most vulnerable here, in our county, no matter party, race, religion etc..no matter what. I strongly feel residents of Noxon are vulnerable and the majority of Sanders County does not know what that vulnerability looks like & affects every resident & their most basic needs.

Let's get creative in ringing the bell to get the attention of our local state and federally elected officials, decision makers, to be alerted to the critical impacts of the potential closure/collapse. Thank you to all those who attended, who spoke, & the organizers of this gathering. I very much appreciated the Ledger being with us as well. Thank you Annie.

Respectfully,

Dawn Gandalf,

Trout Creek