Group pushes for cell-phone tower in Swan Valley

When two Deer Lodge prison farm escapees headed for the Mission Mountain Range in June, they holed up in the far recesses of the Swan Valley.

The men were desperate.

And they may have known just what they were doing, heading for what Swan Lake resident Sue Ellison says is a 60-mile cell-phone dead zone along the Swan Highway (Montana 83). A chance sighting of the fugitives couldn't have been translated into a quick cell-phone call to notify authorities.

Ellison said Lake County Sheriff Lucky Larson had to set up his search command post at the Swan Lake Community Club building rather than out in the woods where the men likely would be found.

Larson needed the club's land-line phone.

Searchers had only their two-way radios to count on if they needed to call for help.

Eventually one of the escapees walked into a home while the residents were in the yard, grabbed the home's phone, Ellison said, and locked himself in the bedroom. With no land line and without cell coverage, Ellison said, the residents had to drive to the sheriff's command post to report his location.

Both men were captured without incident or injury - this time.

But it's not the first, and it won't be the last time that emergencies in the Swan Valley will beg the need for instant communications. With the disappearance of public pay phones, timely rescues could be a roll of the dice.

For that reason, Ellison is spearheading the Swan Lake Community Club's effort to petition Verizon Wireless to put up a tower anywhere in the Swan Valley to target those cell-phone dead zones. Volunteers with the community club are pitching in time and effort for the cause.

Ten petitions asking for the cell coverage drew 2,300 signatures in just eight weeks this summer - not counting signatures on two more petitions that disappeared. Signers included full-time and part-time residents, their extended families, business travelers, firefighters and emergency personnel, foresters, visitors from throughout Montana, the United States and Canada.

The petitions went to Verizon Wireless, the cell provider for 80 percent of the petition signers.

"This petition is not limited to locals whining about people being left out of the 21st century," Ellison said. She pointed to potential for injuries at area campgrounds, hiking trails, lakes and rivers. "Our main concern is emergency services."

If fires in the Swan Valley could have been reported via cell phone this summer, the extent of burning may have changed.

Storms send trees crashing down on power lines and, since most telephones are electrically powered, homes instantly drop out of communication. Even the old-style "bag phones," which can be carried in a pouch from location to location, still need to be plugged into an electrical outlet for service.

Ellison herself crashed her vehicle on a stretch of black ice on the Swan Highway three or four years ago. She crawled out of her rear window, unhurt, and flagged down a passer-by who made the five-mile drive to the Swan Village Trading Post to call for help.

In her case the 10-minute wait was not life-threatening. Others might not be so lucky. For them, an instant cell-phone call could make all the difference.

So far, Verizon Wireless has not shown immediate interest in providing the cell service the Swan Lake Community Club is seeking.

"A number of factors - including expense, zoning, population, anticipated usage and other factors - are considered when new cell sites are put into the overall construction matrix," Verizon's Bob Kelley wrote in response to Ellison's request. "Montana's Swan Valley will continue to receive in-depth analysis. At this time, it is not part of our 2008 build plan. I will keep you updated as future plans are developed."

Ellison is hoping for a final decision by the end of December.

She hopes the answer is yes, but won't be deterred by a "no."

"I will contact not only other cell-phone providers," she pledged, "but also state and national Montana Congressional representatives who profess to represent constituents and bring Montana into the 21st century of rapid communication."

The community club has been on this quest since the topic came up at the club's May meeting. Other cell-service proponents are concerned about the location and appearance of future cell towers in the Swan, effectively limiting a company's options for answering the call for service.

"We're just saying we need coverage," Ellison said, "and you guys determine the best" solution.

To the northeast, Browning's story recently had a happy ending.

In October, Chinook Wireless announced that it expanded cell coverage to the Browning and Blackfeet Indian Reservation area by erecting a tower off U.S. 2 and Heart Butte Road. Earlier in the year, Chinook had added sites on U.S. 2 near Meriwether Road.

The Montana company with headquarters in Great Falls and Missoula bought out the wireless entities of both the Three Rivers Telephone and Blackfoot Telephone cooperatives about two years ago, vice president of business development Ernie Peterson said.

Since then, he said, its cell coverage "expansion is very fast compared with most companies."

Peterson said Chinook fielded calls from the Browning area asking for cell service, so the growth in that direction was a natural extension. Before that, Chinook's northern reach had ended around Valier, Pendroy and Shady Grove just outside Cut Bank.

Throughout the state's population centers, much of the United States and into Canada, Peterson said, agreements with AT&T and other major companies means Chinook Wireless customers have essentially uninterrupted home calling networks.

And the company is continuing its march westward.

"As you head farther west on U.S. 2 and onto the other side of the park, a lot of areas don't have coverage, partly because of the terrain," Peterson said. "We're looking at where we can provide service."

Ellison said she had heard of a petition drive around Troy to establish cell phone coverage there, but Peterson said Chinook is not looking at extreme Northwest Montana or the Troy area.

How soon Chinook's expansion reaches any given area depends on factors, Peterson said, such as zoning and availability of towers.

He skirted predictions and hard

numbers on how many people are served, but said a "substantial number" of people are being served because of the Browning/Blackfeet expansion.

Ellison continues her work for her Swan Lake neighborhood, but holds a more global view, too.

"Personally, I'd like to see cell-phone service available statewide," she said, "as I realize many small and somewhat isolated communities have the same issues and concerns we have on the Swan Highway.

"I use my cell phone nationally and internationally when traveling in my job and sometimes must incur roaming charges. Such charges are a trifle if contact to emergency services is necessary. I imagine most people feel the same."

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com