our
way of life is connected to the land. When those connections
are broken, people suffer and a culture dies.
Montana Lifestyles are traditions that are passed down
from generation to generation. When the landscapes that our parents
enjoyed to use are no longer open to that same type of use, the connection
between the tradition and the land is broken and that lifestyle cannot be
passed on or sustained.
When a stream is closed to fishing or a road that led
into a favorite hunting area is gated or ripped out, there is no way to
introduce our children to the special experiences that we knew there and
no way to refresh the imagery of those times in our minds.
Montanans not only enjoy their rich natural heritage,
they make their living from it. We call Montana "The Treasure
State". The land is our treasure and we have taken good care of
it just as the land has taken good care of us. At least it used
to. But now our ridgetops are sprouting second homes for wealthy
tourists attracted to what the promoters call "Big Sky
Country". They don't like to see logging trucks and cows along
the highways or lumber mills, grain silos and mines in their viewsheds.
Radical environmentalism has targeted Montana to promote
their agenda in The Wildlands Project and other schemes that restrict and
prevent Montanans from enjoying the fruits of their labor in our mountains
and on our plains. Mining has virtually disappeared from the
state. Even small scale and recreational miners are under
attack. Scores of mills have closed and thousands have lost their
jobs in the woods and at the mills. Ranchers, especially small
ranchers, are beset by a host of problems stemming from the assault
of the environmentalists and their allies in government. Water
rights, grazing rights, livestock predation by wolves, the spread of
brucelosis by wild buffalo, and the pressure of high property taxes have
made ranching and farming undesirable or impossible for many
Montanans.
Most of these ranchers, loggers and miners learned their
trade from their fathers who also instilled a love for the work and the
land while they taught the secrets of their craft. They passed on a
Montana Lifestyle.
These lifestyles, these people are the endangered
species of Montana.
In the hope that more Americans
might come to understand Montana and its people, we present these cameos
of Montana Lifestyles
Fishing
Montanans are not the only people
who like to fish, but here fishing has an element of wildness that is
not found in many states outside of the Rocky Mountain west. There
are lakes and streams on the valley floors that offer great fishing to
all ages and types of fishermen but the cold, clear mountain streams and
high lakes in glacial cirques, enclosed by rocky peaks call all Montana
fishermen to their waters.
Because these places are wild they
have always been hard to get to. Now, for the very young, the
elderly, the handicapped or the infirm, most of them are not just hard,
they are impossible. Primitive roads that led to many pristine
fishing spots have been closed. And for many Montanans the only
way to get there now is by memories and old photo albums.
hunting - Coming
Soon
Ranching - Coming
Soon
logging - Coming
Soon
mining -
Although there has been a
resurgence in recent years of interest in mining and prospecting among
individuals , industrial mining that provided good paying jobs for
Montanans is a thing of the past. But only because of prohibitive
environmental regulations. Montana is still the "Treasure
State" but the treasure and the jobs are locked away behind green
doors. When logging and mining were important industries in
Montana we ranked in the top 20 in per capita income. Now that we
have lost those jobs we rank dead last.
Other Outdoor
Pursuits - Coming Soon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
