(Billings, MT) The Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority (BSPRA), completed and has submitted its Rural and Tribal Public Engagement Report to the Federal Railroad Administration.
This project and its findings are BSPRA’s inaugural effort to formally and directly gather important public knowledge and judgements on passenger rail as a social determinant of health in rural and tribal areas. The project provides a baseline understanding of benefits and issues related to reestablishing passenger rail in southern Montana and creates a template for future public engagement related to long-distance passenger rail service.
Tribal nations represented in the project includes the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Crow Tribe, and Northern Cheyenne Tribe. Non-tribal rural communities included Paradise (Sanders County), Forsyth (Rosebud County), and Glendive (Dawson County).
