«-- Odds 'n Sods: | Main | The Insidious Nature of Inflation--The Debasement of the U.S. Dollar Continues --»
Two Letters Re: Advice on Retreat Locales--Former Microwave Sites?
Dear Jim and Family,
This is in response to the article about microwave sites for survival
shelters. As it happens, I spent half my summer just South of Whitehall,
a couple years before I met you in [deleted for OPSEC]. I was finishing
my geology degree and the geology of the area is very interesting.
This is the
new free mapping program through Wikipedia. It allows for
annotations and contains good quality aerial photos of the terrain
using Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
The region described around Whitehall is curious and deceptive. For
one thing, there's an active gold mine north of the interstate, where
much of the town's population works (or worked, I'm not sure if its
still open.) One of the forks of the Missouri river flows through the
area and its geologically complex. If a person were to consider land
there, they shouldn't settle for 1.3 acres when they can still buy
land by the full section [one square mile] for a reasonable price.
Pasture land is worth the most, land that held trees but has been cleared
is
worth
the least.
Hilly/mountainous or rocky land is also worth little so sells cheaply.
Or did 10 years ago, anyway. Whitehall is on the wrong side of a mountain
pass from the nearest city, Butte. Its further, around 60 miles to
Bozeman which has the highest crime rate in the state due to the high
numbers of Los Angelinos. They have drugs and gangs there, from what
the locals told me.
Whitehall is a very close knit community. They are
predominantly religious, and their main battle is with losing their
kids to the city, the second most
war is being fought with alcoholism and unemployment. Everybody in
the region knows everybody else. They're all good rifle shots and visibility,
when it isn't overcast and raining, is something around 80 miles. In
that country, artillery would make you king, not a mere 50 BMG.
That said if you're an outsider you may find yourself in a world of
hurt.
It would be really important to practice the same religion, to suffer
the same hardships and attend the same schools as the locals. Its the
kind of place where being there 20 years still makes you "the
new guy". If you are from California and intend to emigrate to
Montana, reconsider. They don't like Californians there. You could
say they're in agreement on the issue. Californians are bad, no matter
how good you may be. That's why I don't live there.
As with all poor communities with failing employment, everybody has
2-3 jobs besides their main one. With the collapse of the US dollar,
if there's still gold in Whitehall it will continue to be mined and
some of that money will filter into the local economy.
The local king there is the inventor of the circular irrigation systems,
the source of those circles of green on the aerial photo. I've never
met him and don't know his politics. He cares enough to stay in his
home, which means something. Its cattle country and they grow a lot
of hay and alfalfa but it also rains in summer, which means crops like
wheat and barley are often ruined. They also get a lot of frost, even
in summer mornings, so don't expect veggies to survive without using
greenhouses. Most of the population have large metal quonset huts for
their barns, and some people live in them. They're all over the landscape.
As for wildlife I saw Elk, Grizzly, eagles, and wolves there, as well
as many coyotes and rattlesnakes. Horseback riding is popular and 4WD is
mandatory for most roads there, as pavement is optional. Its worth
visiting the place to get your own take on it, just don't think you
understand them simply because you visited once. There's a lot of hurt
in the region. Sincerely, - InyoKern
Jim,
After reading your blog a few days ago, regarding surplus microwave
tower sites, I was a little suspicious that it sounded too good to
be true. I did a Google search and discovered any information about
it was at least six years old. One of the primary sources was a company
called American Tower. This morning, I called the Western states
rep to ask if this policy of selling surplus towers was still ongoing,
and she replied (1) she hasn't been involved in this surplus tower
sales in the past and (2) she was amazed that besides my call, she
had received at one email regarding the same issue. (I suspect a
fellow blog-reader is pursuing the same trail.) She did say they
do sell
surplus sites, and if I wanted to make an offer on one, that would
be fine. I explained to her I was trying to find out what sites might
be available for sale. She suggested I send her an email with my
specific question, and she would get the information to me. So apparently
they are still available (I suspect maybe for more money than $20K),
and I will continue following this trail and share whatever information
I can. - Chet
JWR Replies: Anyone that is now looking to buy
one of these sites is indeed about five years too late, at least
for
the
American
Tower Company auctions. However, many
of
these
sites may now be available
on the secondary market, assuming that some of them were bought by
speculators that never did anything with them. In my opinion, if you
can find one
that has water, it would be a bargain at twice the
typical "+/- $20K" price from back in 2001. I wouldn't
be surprised to find that most of them were bought up by cellular
phone companies. In many instances, all that these companies were looking
for was a site with good line-of-sight, and they probably didn't use
much of the original
infrastructure--perhaps not even the original tower. In that case you
be able to buy the land and structures and "lease back" or perpetually
"grant back" the
cellular
site
rights
to the cellular carrier. And for those that were bought by private
parties, you can
always
track
down
the
current
owners
by
way of the
County Recorder's
Office.
