Look Who's Been Caught in the Act of Doing Good

Steve Eckels, an accomplished musician and teacher has lived in the Flathead for ten years inspiring youth as a music teacher and entertaining the community in numerous performances and four CDs. When moving to Montana, Steve had no question that he would be breathing fresh, clean mountain air. But his expectations were not met when he noticed that the winter air might not be as clean as he thought, due to the popularity of wood-burning stoves in his neighborhood. Others have complained about the additional impacts the regular burning of fields and forest slash piles in the early spring and late fall have.

Steve got busy looking for solutions. His research led him to state officials at the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. They encouraged him to begin a local promotion of "Spare the Air Month"(February), which he did. This annual event now provides annual reporting of air quality trends in the Flathead and encourages local governments to stay on top of this issue and community members to get involved in speaking up for improving air quality. More needs to be done and Steve encourages others to join him in this work. Steve would like to see the city and county work to put in place a buy-back program for inefficient wood stoves that degrade local air quality particularly in high density neighborhoods found in our cities. As a result of Steve's efforts, there has been a slow improvement in the air quality over the last four years.

Programs to require paving of unpaved roads, parking lots, and the use of liquid deicers (though these may cause water quality issues that need to be monitored) rather than sand on icy streets have helped, as well as action by the city county health department to expand the air quality district around Kalispell. This expansion is providing better enforcement of air quality rules in new growth areas of the city. Burning on the outskirts of the city remains an issue that needs better solutions.

Getting the attention of local government leaders and the public at large on issues like air quality is a challenge for any individual. After a few years of making phone calls and writing letters to the editor, Steve also started to attend public meetings in the city to have his voice be heard. You may have seen him on you local TV station addressing the Kalispell City Council and this time asking for them to provide leadership on addressing the noise issues in Kalispell, especially air traffic generated noise. The City of Kalispell generously allows time for the public to bring such non-adgenda items to the council's attention at the first of each council meeting. Additionally these meetings are broadcasted on the local public TV station (Channel 9 on cable and Channel 13 without cable) and can be watched at the city's web site as well, which helps alert the public to these issues.

As a result of his efforts and the changes they have brought, Steve is confident in our local, direct government and optimistic that the citizens can truly spark change. Thank you Steve for all of your hard work and commitment to the public process and to making this a healthier place to live!