CARDWELL -- No matter where NorthWestern Energy Corp. proposes building a high power line through southwest Montana, it's an unpopular sell to people whose homes and land it would pass by.

"Everybody else said no so you came through us," John Pullman, a landowner in the Boulder Valley, said during a meeting at the Cardwell School Monday that drew more than 45 people. That pretty much summed up the sentiment of landowners who are miffed that NorthWestern would propose a major power line through an agricultural valley. NorthWestern is planning to build a 500-kilovolt power line from Townsend to Twin Falls, Idaho, and has proposed three potential routes.

One route travels from Townsend to Boulder, then passes well north of Butte, then heading to a substation at Mill Creek before shifting south. Another proposal calls for the line to be built south to Three Forks before linking into Mill Creek, while the preferred route passes though the Boulder Valley.

NorthWestern has already held a series of public meetings and heard from numerous landowners who don't want the line near their homes. But many of the more than 40 people who attended Monday's meeting said they'd never been contacted by the company or government officials telling them the Boulder Valley was included in the preferred route. That's despite the fact that NorthWestern has been working on the project for over a year and considered several other routes as well.

"We had basically no time to study this plan and comment on it," said Will Gavin.

A group called Boulder Valley Concerned Citizens sent a letter to the state Department of Environmental Quality outlining numerous concerns with the project. Among them are how a major power line would affect wildlife, soil erosion and water quality and the view.

Several people asked the state to extend the comment period on the project, which ends Friday.

Officials stressed to the crowd that the proposal is far from a done deal. They said it takes years to plan a major power line and they wanted to hear from the public about its concerns and tweak the plan.

"Just because there's a line on a map and it goes through your property, that doesn't mean it's necessarily set in stone," said Warren McCullough, a DEQ spokesman. "If you really want to help us get our job done, we're looking for comments."

Kelly Weber questioned whether NorthWestern chose the route because the valley has a special agricultural zoning district baring development of more than one home per 640 acres.

And Pullman said the project would benefit NorthWestern but not its customers on their power rates while landowners saw their property values reduced by a line. "This is a shift of equity from private landowners to the shareholders of NorthWestern Energy," he said. "This is a takeaway."

But Mike Cashell with NorthWestern said while it's true the power would be used out of state, it would also benefit Montanans. And Montana already produces more power than it uses and sells it to other markets.

Much of the power on the line would be produced by new wind farms to come on line in coming years.

"Montana is rich in natural resources," he said. "There's a potential for great economic development for the state."

Paul Callahan, a consultant who is conducting the environmental study of the project, urged the crowd to make specific comments on the plan. He assured the group that public input is considered when state officials decide whether to permit the project.

"If you think you're beating your head against the wall, you're not," he said. "You're doing exactly what you're supposed to do in this process."