Walcher: The importance of Jim Evans in the battle for PILT
By Greg Walcher | Guest Columnist
I did a double-take when I saw the headline: “Meeker County to call on Congress to pay up for federal lands.”
I thought it must be a typo, because Meeker is a town and not a county (it’s in Rio Blanco County). The subtitle repeated it: “Analysis of public lands in Meeker County found that federal revenues fall short of what property taxes would generate.”
I wondered what reporter made such an error, but then noticed it was from the West Central Minnesota Tribune, an area where there is in fact a “Meeker County,” an entirely different place named for an entirely different historical figure. But the headline certainly makes clear that the two communities have something in common. South Central Minnesot...