Small communities outside Missoula grapple with growth, change
Lolo, Frenchtown, East Missoula and Bonner have seen rapid population growth, added pressure
Rob Chaney/Missoulian
The former Smurfit-Stone Container pulp mill employed hundreds of workers and covered 3,200 acres south of Frenchtown before it was closed in 2010. The mill has sat vacant since, a stark contrast to the bustling economic activity at the former Stimson timber mill in Bonner 20 miles to the east.
Tom Bauer/Missoulian
Lee Bridges stands in her sheet metal fabrication shop on her property in East Missoula where she lives. Bridges wants her community to come up with its own zoning designations through Missoula County rather than be zoned by the City of Missoula once they are annexed.
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