Urban Heat Map and Natural Soil Remediation
Hello Everyone!
We hope that this message finds you all well and enjoying the abundance of beaty that nature has provided this Spring!
We wanted to provide you some information that is related to the land and trees at the proposed Midtown Commons site. Last Wednesday, June 3rd the City of Missoula Climate Committee heard a presentation from experts of the Climate Ready Missoula team about an urban heat study that had been conducted on August 12, 2025. Members of the Climate Ready Missoula team, supported by citizen scientists, collected temperatures from different locations in the city of Missoula and the county. They used this data to determine several things including temperature differences at different parts of the city, heat zones and factors that help support cooling and mitigation of climate change impacts in urban settings. You can find the study and heat map here if you'd like to learn more. The findings indicate that next to the Southgate Mall (where the Midtown Commons land is), is one of the hottest areas in the city already. The findings also indicate that an incredibly important factor in mitigating heat is the preservation of our urban forest and mature tree canopy. I reached out to members of the Climate Ready Missoula team following this meeting to ask about their opinions regarding the potential clearcutting of the mature canopy of trees at the Midtown site. In response, they said that they were not consulted in the planning process for this project, nor were they aware of many details related to the project. They did say that maintaining and preserving our urban forest is a top priority in their climate ready plan. The exclusion of climate specialists highlights another major oversight in the planning of and sale of our public land.
If you have an opportunity to visit the land this week you are in for a real treat! The above picture was taken last night (06/09/26). Silvery Lupine are in bloom in the field, which are an important native Montana plant species and are especially crucial in remediating soil, "Silvery lupine, as are all members of the bean family, is an important nitrogen fixer and makes nutrient available for other plants. Since they often grow in areas with poor soil development, their presence helps increase soil fertility to the benefit of plant diversity." (Kathy Lloyd, Montana Native Plant Society). The Lupine, as do the Cottonwoods, give us continual hope and a reminder of the magic of nature. Because this land has remained undeveloped, following the closure of the sawmill, nature has been able to plant, take root, remediate, thrive, encourage other plants and animals to come along and has provided innumerable health benefits to us all.
We have more hopeful updates to come!