Rural communities all over America are shrinking. Consolidation of farms and agribusinesses reduces the number of local jobs. Those residents who remain must bear ever more of the tax base. As individual tax burdens grow, the towns no longer can support their schools, hospitals, and other amenities. As amenities disappear, fewer young people return. The […]
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In a recent High Country News column, Mark from Missoula lamented: “I’ve given up on one of the great American dreams — owning a home of my own.” He protests: “[I]t’s becoming impossible to find affordable housing in the West, even in the non-resort towns.” He’s wrong. Both his logic and data are flawed. Perhaps […]
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Professor William Cronon is a University of Wisconsin philosopher and historian who explores environmental history and the West. He is in Bozeman this week to deliver the annual Wallace Stegner Lecture, tomorrow night at 7:30 at the Museum of the Rockies. I recommend it. Cronon’s mere presence illustrates the evolution of the American West and […]
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Ramona and I just returned from Moab, UT, the mountain bike capital of the West. I discovered that Moab is also the epicenter of 4×4 off-roading and the home of the annual “Easter Jeep Safari.” This event draws over 1,000 of these tricked-out toys and the behemoth trucks that bring them to Moab from all […]
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In late 2002 Sierra Club Books published Downhill Slide: Why the Corporate Ski Industry Is Bad for Skiing, Ski Towns, and the Environment by ski journalist Hal Clifford. I just reread it after skiing our newest area, Moonlight Basin. Clifford gives an extremely harsh critique of the ski industry. He faults its cultural, economic, and […]
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During the holiday season from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, we confront the problem of plenty. The classic problem is what to get someone who has the ability to treat herself to far more than you could possibly afford. But there is another problem, one that requires inspiration and organization. How do we give something meaningful […]
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Last Fourth of July weekend I hiked up Mt. Baldy, a low summit in the small yet lovely Bridger Mountain Range just north of Bozeman, Montana. I started the hike from the “M” trailhead, surely the most traveled trail in Gallatin County. Mt. Baldy too is a popular local destination. One expects company out on […]
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Commerce spreads culture — the arts, entertainment, ideas, religious beliefs, etc. — and I’m grateful it does. Exposure to other cultures enriches our lives, broadens our perspectives, and demonstrates the rich variety of humanity. But we often hear complaints about America’s so-called “cultural imperialism.” McDonald’s, Levi’s, and Hollywood peddle degenerate American culture to gullible international […]
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I serve on the board of trustees for a local fire department whose members volunteer to serve our community. We’re working hard to recruit and retain people with high human capital. So is every employer in Gallatin County. A generation ago our fire district was a tight community of farmers and ranchers who prized self-sufficiency. […]
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I’m writing soon after the invasion of Iraq began. I’m scheduled to travel before this appears. What can I say that’s neither trite nor obsolete, but surely true? First, few adults live here by accident or assignment. We have consciously, deliberately elected to live in the Northern Rockies. The reasons carry a common theme; attraction […]
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