Building a Resilient Future for the West Central Mountains

Why This Matters

The West Central Mountains (WCM) region—covering Valley County, New Meadows, and Meadows Valley—is a place of incredible natural beauty, strong communities, and a high quality of life. However, rapid growth, rising housing costs, infrastructure challenges, and increasing environmental risks threaten the region’s long-term resilience. Resilience isn’t just about recovering from challenges—it’s about ensuring our communities can adapt and thrive in the face of change. That means strengthening our economy, preparing for natural hazards like wildfires and floods, and ensuring essential services like housing, utilities, and healthcare are accessible to all.

What We’ve Accomplished So Far:

Phase I: Pre-Assessment

In Phase I, we conducted a regional resilience pre-assessment, gathering insights from across the community. This included:

• ~40 interviews with community members

• A comprehensive review of existing reports to understand key regional challenges

• 120+ participants in a two-hour pre-assessment workshop at the West Central Mountains Economic Summit

This process helped us identify four key resilience areas that guide our next steps.

How We’ll Work Together

To ensure solutions reflect community needs, we’re using multiple approaches to gather ideas and find common ground:

• Community surveys – Tell us what matters most to you (March – April).
• Community forums  – Discussions where residents, businesses, and leaders can more deeply explore challenges and potential solutions (April – June)
• A day-long, community-wide workshop (June 2025) – Bringing together 200+ participants to finalize an actionable resilience plan for the region.

How You Can Get Involved

We need your voice to make sure this plan reflects the needs and priorities of our communities! Here’s how you can contribute:

• Sign up to be involved 

• Take our surveys (will be emailed) – Share your thoughts and help guide the process. Your input will directly shape the region’s resilience plan!
• Participate in a community forum – Discuss challenges and solutions with your community.
• Attend the final community-wide workshop – Be part of shaping a resilience action plan.

Together, We Can Build a Stronger, More Resilient Community

Your input is essential to shaping a future where our communities are not just prepared for challenges but positioned to thrive. Stay informed, get involved, and help us make WCM a model for rural resilience.

Let’s build this future together!