By Gwyneth Hyndman
Swan Valley - A new non-profit has formed with an aim to conserve and enhance the natural resources and rural way of life in the Swan Valley, largely in response to the controversial proposed expansion of Holland Lake Lodge.
Founder Grace Siloti, a Condon resident since 1976, said that the fight over the proposed development at Holland Lake Lodge by Utah-based group POWDR - a project that was sent back to the drawing board by the Flathead National Forest just before Thanksgiving - “has really shaken people up” and she added that the battle would be continuing, beyond Holland Lake.
Hence the establishment of the group Community of Condon for the Preservation of the Swan Valley - which received its official designation as a 501(c)(3) organization in the mail on Dec. 21
Siloti said in her travels around Montana, she has noted similar battles being fought over development and wanted to form a group that would be able to share information and strategies as Montana continues to be “discovered.”
What Montana - and specifically the Swan Valley - has is both pristine and endangered, she noted.
“It’s really disturbing,” she said. “I’ve traveled the world … and I’ve realized there’s not much left … I feel really strong about preservation - I want my children and grandchildren to be able to experience all of this without being wealthy.
“I’m not anti-growth in the right places, where it makes sense,” Siloti said. “But does the Swan Valley really need to be exploited for the rich and famous? No.”
Right now the first steps of the group are to focus on learning more about other non-profits that are “commonsense and based on preservation.”
“Who knows where this will take us. Right now we are concentrating on what is in our backyard. But we’d like to share it with other communities who are fighting the same thing we are - maybe we can help them.”
Being involved in the Save Holland Lake Lodge group had inspired and motivated many to go beyond their political outlooks and unite for a cause, she said.
“This whole journey has been amazing - we are all on different sides politically, but being a bi-partisan group is a beautiful thing - we all realize how valuable and irreplaceable this place is.”
Siloti said residents had watched the growth in resort communities like Whitefish, Big Sky and Bozeman carefully.
“We know what we are seeing, and we know when to say ‘whoa.’
“We’ve never had to fight like this before - and we know that POWDR is only the first to try.”
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