Sigb chairman Sheriff Leo Dutton State Single Point of Contact Ron Baldwin Statewide Interoperability Coordinator Quinn Ness

Montana Response to FirstNet Data Call

 

 

 

SIGB Chairman Sheriff Leo Dutton

State Single Point of Contact Ron Baldwin

Statewide Interoperability Coordinator Quinn Ness

 

Submitted to FirstNet September 30, 2015

Prepared under the direction of the Statewide Interoperability Governing Board (SIGB), an advisory board to Governor Bullock

Sent via e-mail 9/30/15
Doug Harder, State Plans – Technical Liaison

First Responder Network Authority

3122 Sterling Circle, Suite 100

Boulder, CO 80301

September 30, 2015

Dear Mr. Harder:

Enclosed please find the Montana data submittal for FirstNet. In addition to the Word document, you will find the information in spreadsheet form along with maps and the data behind the maps.

The information we have gathered accurately portrays the unique rural characteristics of Montana. Moreover, the Statewide Interoperability Governing Board (SIGB) has reviewed the data, including the baseline mapping data, and has recommended five (5) coverage area objectives by priority over seven (7) build-out phases.

The SIGB, its member Public Safety Associations; and, my staff and I look forward to working with FirstNet and its contractor(s) to provide public safety 4G LTE coverage to Montana’s citizens and visitors.

The Montana data submittal can be up-loaded from the following FTP site: ftp://ftp.geoinfo.msl.mt.gov/Documents/Projects/FirstNet/

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me at 406-444-2700 or [e-mail].

Sincerely

Ron Baldwin,

CIO & SPOC

State Information Technology Services Division

Department of Administration

State of Montana

Table of Contents:

Transmittal Letter
Executive Summary	Pg. 1
Section 1. Montana Statewide Governing Board (SIGB) Coverage Area Priority Recommendations to FirstNet	Pg.3
Section 2. Out of State Visitor Considerations	Pg.7
Section 3. Montana Public Safety Entity Agencies	Pg.13
Section 4. Mobile Data Survey Tabulated Results	Pg.16
Section 5. Mapping Map a) FirstNet Baseline Map: b) Montana State Library Baseline Map	Pg.24
Section 6. Appendix	Pg.26

Executive Summary:

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) issued a data call to the states and territories in order to assess and prioritize the potential coverage and capacity of 4G LTE service to the public safety community. After selecting a private partner, FirstNet and the private partner will develop fifty-six (56) network deployment plans, one for each state and territory. The information and recommendations contained in this document will be considered by FirstNet while selecting a private partner and subsequently developing the Montana Network Deployment Plan.

To satisfy FirstNet’s requirements and collect the requested data, Staff used a variety of sources. Information was collected from federal fire and law enforcement data bases as well as the U.S. Census Bureau. The Montana State Library GIS Section has drawn several maps of Montana that reveal where Montanans’ live and how we rely on our highways. Moreover, by the State wide Interoperability Governing Board’s (SIGB’s) direction, information was gathered from the Montana Department of Commerce Office of Tourism about out-of-state visitors.

Montana public safety associations sit on the SIGB, which is an advisory board to Governor Steve Bullock. For advice and notification to local members to take the Mobile Data Survey, Staff leaned into the SIGB associations including the Montana State Fire Chiefs Association (MSFCA), the Montana Volunteer Fire Fighters Association (MVFFA), the Montana Sheriffs and Police Officers Association (MSPOA), the Montana Association of Chiefs of Police (MACOP), and the Montana Emergency Medical Services Association (MEMSA). In addition, meetings were held with Tribal representatives to gather their input into the data call.

All of this information was considered over several months by the SIGB as it deliberated over coverage area priorities to recommend to FirstNet. The Montana Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Single Point of Contact (SPOC), Ron Baldwin, facilitated discussions with and by the SIGB. The priorities are:

1.  Provide the FirstNet Network to sixty-three county seats/tribal headquarters over seven (7) build-out phases.

2.  Provide coverage on Montana highways in order of traffic usage with initial coverage to include Interstates, and other heavily traveled routes to Glacier National Park (GNP) and Yellowstone National Park (YNP) in the summers and heavily traveled routes to Montana’s destination ski areas in the winter.

3.  Provide coverage to critical infrastructure including dams, power plants, transmission lines, industrial sites and railroads.

4.  Provide coverage to rural Incorporated Towns, Census Designated Places (CDP), farm and ranch areas; and, in areas not otherwise classified other than this segment of the population lives in counties.

5.  Provide a full range of deployable equipment that can reach a cell tower or satellite. It is particularly important to provide data and communications to forest and wild land fire fighters as well as emergency management personnel who respond to floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters.

According to current FirstNet information, the public safety 4G LTE Network will be built-out in seven (7) phases. Phases one (1) through five (5) will focus on existing privately held infrastructure. 4G LTE equipment will be installed at existing cell sites and those sites will be hardened to enhance security. FirstNet will deploy in and near population concentrations first and extend out to sparsely populated areas. The last two (2) expansion phases may include the use of publically owned infrastructure; this is important to our state because of our sparse population spread over 145,546 square miles. Congress gave FirstNet until 2022 to spend the initial seven (7) billion dollars it authorized for the Network.

Montana Tribal Nations: Although there have been several meetings with tribal representatives, priority coverage areas have not yet been identified by each Tribal Nation. Working with the Tribes will continue long past the September 30, 2015 FirstNet data submission. In recognition of the Tribal Nations, as a placeholder, the Tribes are included in Priority number one (1). Also, note the Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs sits on the SIGB and has been helpful in coordinating with Tribal Officials.

It goes without saying that Montana’s rural demographic make-up, its widely disbursed population, and its highly variable geographic features present real challenges to Network deployment. The FirstNet 4G LTE Network holds the promise of providing public safety state of the art communication and data tools to serve Montana residents and visitors. Critical information will be passed in real time that will greatly enhance saving lives, including the lives of first responders who protect our citizens and their property.

Section 1. SIGB Coverage Area Priority Recommendations

 The Montana SIBG is a fifteen member board appointed by the Governor. The Board includes local public safety officials who are representing associations of sheriffs, police, fire, and emergency medical public safety professionals. The Governor’s Director of Indian Affairs sits on the Board in part to be a conduit to Montana’s seven (7) Tribal Nations about FirstNet developments.

The SIGB has discussed priority coverage area recommendations at its August and September, 2015 meetings. Based on those deliberations and supporting data, below are the SIGB recommended 4G LTE Priority Coverage Areas:

1.  Provide the FirstNet Network to sixty-three county seats/tribal headquarters over seven (7) build-out phases.

2.  Provide coverage on Montana highways in order of traffic usage with initial coverage to include Interstates, and other heavily traveled routes to Glacier National Park (GNP) and Yellowstone National Park (YNP) in the summers and heavily traveled routes to Montana’s destination ski areas in the winter.

3.  Provide coverage to critical infrastructure including dams, power plants, transmission lines, industrial sites and railroads.

4.  Provide coverage to rural Incorporated Towns, Census Designated Places (CDP), farm and ranch areas; and, in areas not otherwise classified other than segment of the population lives in counties.

5.  Provide a full range of deployable equipment that can reach a cell tower or satellite. It is particularly important to provide data and communications to forest and wild land fire fighters as well as emergency management personnel who respond to floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters.

Chart A, Montana SIGB recommended coverage area priorities by FirstNet suggested seven (7) phases
Demographic data that supports the SIGB Priority Coverage Area Recommendations:

Demographic Data
Category	Count	Population	Square Miles	Pop/Sq. Mi.
Incorporated Cities & Towns	129	536,190	292	1.8
Census Designated Places	235	151,702	1,891	80
# of Farm & Ranch	29,300	39,930	90,655	.44
Federal Lands			40,601
Tribal Nations	7	28,359	12,107	2
Balance of State	Rural	264,763	38,084	7
	Totals:	1,020,944	145,546	7

The Chart above breaks out the Montana population by where people live and approximate square mile area. About 53% of the population lives in incorporated cities and towns. Note that the fifty-six (56) County Seats are a sub-set of the incorporated cities and towns with a population of 472,117 and an aggregate of 222 square miles. Also note that Montana’s seven (7) largest cities are a sub-set of the incorporated cities and towns with a population of 352,170 and an aggregate of 44 square miles.

As the reader can see, Montana cities and towns are placed on an estimated 292 square miles. This is a diminutive number compared to the total land area of 145,546 square miles.

This Graph illustrates the inverse relationship between population and square miles. Populated areas are placed on low square miles while sparsely populated areas are on large square mile areas. The economic challenge for FirstNet is covering Montana's vast square mile area.

Population & Square Miles
Area	Population	Square Miles
Inc. City/Town	536,190	292
CDP	151,702	1,891
Balance of State	264,763	38,084
Farm & Ranch	39,930	90,655
Federal Land	Unknown	40,601
7 Tribal Nations	28,359	12,107

Section 2. Out -of -State Visitor Considerations

According to the Montana Department of Commerce Tourism Office, over ten million non-residents visit Montana each year. There are over one million air passengers that de-plane each year at Montana airports. The other nine (9) million drive on the Interstate Highways (I-90, I-15, I 94), and other four (4) and two (2) lane highways to their destinations. Data sets are available for Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks where tourists come through Montana /Park entrances. Here is the data:

YNP Visitors by Gate
Special Use Data	Year-to-Date	This Month (August, 2014)
West Gate (W Yellowstone)	1,327,602	360,800
Highway 191 Non-recreational Visit	810,190	153,952
North Gate (Gardiner)	577,115	132,824
Northeast Gate (Cooke City)	178,312	56,191
Totals:	2,893,219	703,767
Reference 1: https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/Reports/Park/YELL

Through August, for the year 2015, over 2.8 million visitors have entered YNP through Montana Park Gates. The data indicates that the highest visitor volume (1.327m) comes through the West Park Gate that is near the town of West Yellowstone.

This Graph also demonstrates how Montana visitors surge into the state during the summer months.

GNP Visitors by Month, 2014 and 2015
Year	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC	Total
2014	12,087	14,530	18,139	48,270	134,741	414,671	689,064	579,007					1,910,509
2015	12,111	10,242	13,214	28,667	112,187	334,074	699,650	675,119	353,497	72,694	15,706	11,367	2,338,528

Reference 2: https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Park%20YTD%20Version%201?Park=GLAC

Glacier National Park can only be accessed through Montana Gates. The West Glacier Gate sees over one million visitors, twice as many as the gates on the east side of the continental divide. West Glacier can only be accessed through the Flathead Valley.

GNP Visitors by Entrance Gate 2014
West Glacier	1,070,590
St. Mary	484,529
Many Glacier	300,767
Two Medicine	151,964
Walton/Goatlick	103,014
Camas	101,987
Polebridge	59,741
Belly River	40,000
Cut Bank	12,000
Total:	2,324,593

Montana Bed Tax revenues data is captured by economic region for 2014:

Montana Bed Tax Revenues by Quarter and Economic Region 2014
Region	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
Yellowstone	1,416,382	1,865,315	3,718,711	1,017,942
Glacier	868,529	1,628,303	4,071,727	904,773
Southeast	824,669	1,285,979	1,547,000	935,787
Central	426,630	569,089	741,857	455,208
Missouri	141,155	203,574	259,589	218,488

Finally, below is the count for the 2014 Montana Ski Season:

Skier Visit Days by Ski Area 2014
Ski Area	Skier Visit Days
Big Sky	440,000
Whitefish	310,290
Bridger	204,501
Red Lodge	87,805
Lookout	57,738
Discovery	55,738
Snow Bowl	50,719
Lost Trail	40,488
Showdown	40,207
Great Divide	40,000
Blacktail	33,241
Maverick	6,772
Turner Mountain	1,337

Reference 3: MT Department of Commerce, Office of Tourism

In conclusion, Montana experiences an influx of visitors during the year that increases the population as much as 10X as a cumulative number over twelve (12) months.

Available data sets indicate that high visitor impact areas include the Bozeman to Big Sky to West Yellowstone corridor (US 191), Bozeman to Bridger Bowl Ski Area (MT 86), the Kalispell to West Glacier corridor (US 2 and MT 206), and, Kalispell to the Whitefish Mountain Resort (US 2 and 93).

Section 3. Montana Public Safety Entity Agencies

As part of the data call, FirstNet has requested basic information about Montana public safety entities. This includes a list of agencies with addresses, contact information and staffing levels. The Montana PSE Associations have varying degrees of information. Several federal data bases have aided in presenting a snap shot of Montana PSE’s. Namely, the United States Fire Administration (USFA) Census of Montana Fire Fighters and the 2013 UCR Master File maintained by the FBI are used. First, here is summary information on the Fire Fighters:

Montana Fire Fighters by Personnel Type and Agency
Type	Personnel	Agency
Career	474	13
Mostly Career	59	3
Mostly Volunteer	1,103	27
Volunteer	4,962	435
Totals:	6,598	478

Montana Law Enforcement Census from the 2013 UCR Master File maintained by the FBI:

This database included population figures, making it possible to display the number of Officers and Support Staff by population groupings. The x-axis defines the population groupings:

Montana Law Enforcement Officers and Support Staff
Population	Officers	Support Staff	Totals:
110k-20k	858	569	1,427
19k-10k	57	43	100
9k-1k	610	263	873
999-0	28	7	35
Totals:	1,553	882	2,435

 Reference 4: 2013 UCR Masterfile data