Jefferson County, Montana, a county of large land area and relatively small population, has become increasingly representative of the kind of “community based” politics that increasingly threatens private property rights. Claiming to be a rapid growth county (which it is by percentage, but not by actual numbers), Jefferson County, with the help of the environmentalist Sonoran Institute, has developed a “Growth Policy” that persistently shifts government policies toward the authoritarian taking of private property. In obstructing access to public information, Jefferson County officials have made false statements and violated Montana State law. While the Jefferson County government’s behavior is directed to property within county borders, that behavior is symptomatic of certain other Montana counties as well as of growing government tyranny at all levels, and provides a troubling study of some of the behaviors such governments tend to exhibit.
Compiled by The Alternative View, 406-285-3119, mothrlod@avicom.net