Montana News
Briefs: Missoula Fire Department funding
Construction begins on a museum dedicated to the U.S. Forest Service and the American conservation movement; Road safety funding gets a green light; The Missoula Fire Department gets $7 million in federal funds toward expanding their mental health crisis team.
- Duration:
- 2m
- Broadcast on:
- 09 Sep 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
With Montana News, I'm Eleanor Smith. Construction in Missoula began Friday on a new museum dedicated to the history of the U.S. Forest Service and the American Conservation Movement. The National Museum of Forest Service History is a Missoula-based non-profit. The museum has collected more than 50,000 historic objects but has not had a permanent location to showcase that collection. Once complete, the National Conservation Legacy Center will display the museum's collections on a 31-acre campus near the Missoula airport. The center is expected to cost more than $13 million to build with construction lasting until late 2025. Three Montana communities are receiving about $4 million to improve road safety for drivers and pedestrians. Montana Public Radio's Aaron Bolton reports Montana's roads are among the deadliest in the country. The Bunk Beat Nation will receive a little over $3 million from a federal program to reduce deaths on roadways. Bozeman and the crow tribe will receive smaller amounts. Those communities are in the planning phase for projects. Montana has one of the highest fatality rates per capita on its roads according to the latest federal data. Jessica Chikino is with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. We see that Montana is in the top 10 of states when it comes to crashes where the driver was drunk. The state is also in the top 10 for people dying in crashes because they weren't wearing a seatbelt. She says road projects can't mitigate those behaviors. But she says rural states like Montana can reduce speed limits or narrow roads and build roundabouts to reduce speeding. In Columbia Falls, I'm Aaron Bolton. The city of Missoula Fire Department has received $7 million of federal funding to increase staffing. The money will go towards expanding the city's emergency response capacity. It will also be used to support the Fire Department's mobile support team that addresses mental health crises. This federal money will be used along with the city's new levy passed in June to fund emergency response efforts. The levy will raise $7 million in its first year.