Can the town of Poplar be revitalized and rebuilt into a vibrant community?

Community planners from across the state and local officials believe its possible after discussing the issue during a one-day meeting at Fort Peck Community College Tuesday.

For the past year, Poplar has been one of three tribal communities in Montana that is being studied for possible re-invention involving the propositions of community development, workforce development, economic revitalization, quality community, quality workforce, and quality area environment.

The project, which also includes the Chippewa-Cree and Assiniboine and Gros Ventre tribes, is led by the Native American Community Development Corporation (NACDC) and the Indian Land Tenure Foundation.

A group discussion with Fort Peck tribal leaders and program directors Tuesday was led by Dr. Larry Swanson, a renowned community planner from the University of Montana. His background in community capacity building is highly regarded in the state.

The group focused on long-term growth, restoration, housing, community college and airport plans. An architect was on hand to do a “rough sketch” of Poplar’s new look under the revitalization effort.

“How can we regenerate and renew the community?” Swanson asked Chairman Rusty Stafne and other tribal officials. “How can all these various programs work together? What is your overall vision for the people?”

Swanson said for the regeneration effort to be successful, all local governments and programs will have to be on the same wavelength. “Where do you see the community in 10 or 20 years?” Swanson said. “The first step is to envision that.”

Helping the community is its assets and resources, which are more than what the towns surrounding the reservation have, Swanson said. The assets mostly include oil, wind energy and the local workforce.

To help in the revitalization effort, the city and Tribes would have to apply for grants to help with building of businesses and primping the town.

Stafne said discussion of the reservation’s two biggest assets – the MR & I Pipeline and the farming and ranching community – would have to be part of the discussion.

But the Tribes will soon be working with the city to increase the town’s official U.S. Census population count, which will help both governments in obtaining grants. “The majority of Poplar’s population is outside the town’s borders and most are tribal members,” Stafne said. “Yet, there is no participation in city government except for tribal members to pay their water and garbage bills. This disparity will soon be discussed with the city.”

Poplar’s mayor or city commission members were not in attendance.

According to the census bureau, Poplar has an estimated 800 residents within its borders. But more than 1,500 people live outside the town’s official boundaries. “We have to make sure they get that census right next year,” FPCC President Jim Shanley said. “Last time they didn’t get it right, they weren’t even close.”

Shanley also pointed out that the census reports Poplar’s median income level at or equal to the cities of Helena and Missoula, because the census doesn’t include the 1,500 people living outside of the town’s borders.

Through a series of community meetings, the ILTF/NACDC team identified four broad initiative areas where it believes it can provide the most assistance to the Fort Peck community. One of those areas included reviewing the Poplar Urban Renewal Plan to assist in the development of a long term Growth Plan in which Carlo Porteen and Mark Sansaver have been instrumental, officials said. The goal has been to identify areas of strategic importance to each community where the team feels it can provide assistance and where its participation can facilitate and enhance community action.

The centerpiece of the project will be the reshaping of downtown Poplar into a vibrant town center, a much-needed element, local officials said.

Tribal Vice Chairman Garrett Big Leggins said when he was an Indian Health Service employee, he was driving a doctor and his wife – a nurse – around town during a recruiting trip. Cruising past the boarded up businesses and burned buildings, the couple immediately made up their minds, he said.

“They said it looked like Beirut,” Big Leggins recalled. “They made up their minds right then and there and they were gone.”

Officials also discussed the amount of money that leaves the reservation. Many I.H.S. and school employees in Poplar drive from towns surrounding the reservation. Also, most local employees do their shopping in Williston or Billings. “The payroll and money is here,” Stafne said.

Shanley also told Swanson that the college is trying to keep up with in-demand career fields by offering coursework in truck driving and in the electrical field. The construction of an energy plant north of Culbertson and a coal plant near Fort Peck Dam will need hundreds of those types of workers.

The issue of the high crime rate on the reservation was discussed. Larry Wetsit, a manager with Scobey-based Nemont, said businesses won’t establish themselves in communities where they could be vandalized, burned or stolen from. Adequate recourse in a court system against crime suspects would also be considered by businesses, he said. “If a business isn’t secure, it will not bring its dollars to town.”

The group spent Tuesday morning mapping Poplar, photographing the town, and touring local businesses and housing projects.

Several state officials in attendance said the problems Poplar is facing are not unique to the area; many communities in the state are fighting to improve or save their towns.

Swanson said the group will return to Poplar in six to eight weeks for the next phase of discussion and planning. The sketches of what the town would look like in 10-20 years will also be completed and discussed, along with the report with information gathered Tuesday.