The arguments went back for generations leaving neighbors feuding, government agencies frustrated, and environmental groups forced to the side. At stake was the future of thousands of acres of pristine land in the Blackfoot Valley, MT needed by landowners to raise cattle, government agencies for tourism and restoration, and environmental groups for preservation. With developers and subdivisions looming, the people of the Blackfoot Valley created an innovation in land use planning that will inspire even those who have never been beneath a Montana "big sky".
