"Keep it Bitterroot" campaign enters home stretch MTN photo and last updated 2021-07-21 19:06:18-04 STEVENSVILLE â A campaign aimed at conserving the "water, wildlife and working lands" in Ravalli County enters the home stretch. However, organizers say it's a race against the new development pressures spurred by the pandemic. There's a building boom in the Bitterroot this summer, at least partly a result of relocations spurred by the pandemic exodus from other states. "We all see it and it's great for our local economy," Lauren Rennaker tells me as we survey lands already protected from atop the Stevensville Bench. "But at the same time we want to make sure that we protect what makes this place so special, and that's our critical water resources, open lands for wildlife habitat and local agriculture."