February/March 2008

Greetings,

We want to share with you recent activities at the O'Connor Center and current plans for the next two months. The Center is a regional studies and public policy program at The University of Montana located in the heart of the Rockies. The Rocky Mountain West is a region full of change and rich in history. We encourage you to contact us if you have any questions.

From all of us at the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West, The University of Montana

Montana's Western Profile
provided by William Farr

W hy the Montana-Idaho border has such a jagged, if not tortured, profile that contrasts so sharply with Montana's other three sides, so linear and geometrical, has an interesting history.  Most western states began their political existences as "territories," with the federal government appointing their executive officials. This allowed the federal government to supervise frontier areas until such time as they acquired an adequate number of people and an economic foundation sufficient for statehood. 

Montana east of the Continental Divide had been attached to a bewildering number of territories-
Louisiana Territory until 1812, Missouri Territory until 1821, Nebraska Territory until 1861, and, after that, the Dakota Territory. On the other side of the Rocky Mountains Montana belonged to "Oregon Country" from 1848 to 1853, then to Washington Territory until 1861. Gold rushes into what is now Idaho led Congress in 1863 to establish Idaho Territory, carved out of the neighboring territories of  Washington and Nebraska. Lewiston, lying between the Snake and Clearwater Rivers, became the capital of this new geographical behemoth, way to the West. 

When new gold fields were discovered across the Bitterroots and the Rockies, along the drainages of the upper Missouri, Idaho's capital ended up marooned on the other side of the mountains. Mining camps and towns objected, wanting their own territory, even if it meant dividing Idaho. 

Sidney Edgerton, a former Ohio congressman, was appointed chief justice of Idaho and landed in Bannack City, much to his dismay. He threw his support behind the local miners in 1864 and coaxed the Congress not only to create a new territory, Montana, but to move the western border 130 miles west of the Continental Divide.This territorial theft from Idaho would take in the populations of the Bitterroot Valley, the Deer Lodge Valley, and Flathead Lake, all key elements for claiming territorial status. The ostensible justification was that the Bitterroot Mountains were impassible in winter. Having outmaneuvered the Idaho opposition, in effect having "stolen" most of northern Idaho, leaving but an awkward "panhandle," Montana Territory acquired a western border that, in the late twentieth century, many swear resembles a profile of Richard Nixon, our 37^th President. 

On Jan. 31^st in Bozeman, Mont., Senior Fellow Bob Brown, along with Lee Newspaper's Capital Bureau Chief Chuck Johnson and former gubernatorial candidate Dorothy Bradley, spoke to a community meeting at the Museum of the Rockies on the topic of "Interpreting Political Developments in Montana Since the 1972 Constitution."

On Jan. 30^th in Missoula, Mont., Center Director Larry Swanson spoke to members of the Missoula Job Service Employers Council on workforce trends and issues facing Missoula and the larger region. The Missoula economy has been relatively fast-growing over the last decade and a half, but will be increasingly faced with labor force constraints in coming years. Swanson told the Council that expanding workforce development is quickly becoming one of the most urgent needs and challenges for the community.

On Jan. 29^th, the Center entertained a visit by Pascale Dechamps, Deputy Editor in Chief of Enjeux Les Echos magazine in France. The magazine is doing an upcoming special issue on regions of the U.S. in the context of the upcoming presidential elections. Ms. Dechamps' story is examining energy and environment issues in the Rocky Mountain West and how this relate to issues in the national campaign. Ms. Dechamps met with Center staff to discuss these issues.

On Jan. 26^th in Butte, Mont., Senior Fellow Pat Williams was among the team hosting and recognizing officials from the Chinese Consulate on their trip to Butte to establish a city-to-city relationship between Beijing, China and Butte.

On Jan. 25-27^th in Butte, Mont., Williams hosted a leaders seminar convened by the Policy Institute, which is headquartered in Helena, Mont.The annual seminar is focused on discussion and training for progressive policy leaders.  Author and radio commentator Ms. Laura Flanders, whose most recent book is Blue Grit, was the group's evening dinner speaker.

On Jan. 23^rd in Billings, Mont., Swanson made a presentation on preliminary findings from a study of the multi-state region served by First Interstate Bank (FIB) of Montana and Wyoming. The study is being done by the Center under contract with First Interstate Bank. The meeting was attended by FIB board members and chief executive officers.

On Jan. 16^th in Bellingham, Wash., Swanson participated in a planning meeting of university centers from across the U.S.-Canada border region, exploring the creation of a new Northern Border University Research Consortium. The meeting was hosted by the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University and included university representatives from the six major cross-border regions along the U.S.-Canada border. The meeting also was attended by representatives from several Canadian Consul General Offices who encouraged the university representatives to move forward with the border research group.

On Jan. 15^th, Senior Fellow Daniel Kemmis gave a keynote address to a Rural Community Conference in Billings sponsored by the Montana State University Extension Service. The purpose of the Conference was to provide networking opportunities among rural communities, build community capacity and create a dialogue for action and change in Montana communities. Kemmis spoke on "Creating, Building and Sustaining a Thriving Rural Community."

On Jan. 15^th in Helena, Mont., Williams participated in a press conference regarding U.S. mine law reform.Mining reform legislation has passed the U.S. House and is currently under active consideration in the Senate. Williams twice worked on major mining reform legislation during his nine terms in the U.S. Congress. 

On Jan. 11^th in Clancy, Mont., Brown interviewed longtime Montana legislator and former Speaker of the State House of Representatives Bob Marks at his home. He also conducted a similar interview on Jan. 9^th in Missoula, Mont., with prominent long-time business leader Joe Reber at his home in Missoula.  The interviews are being compiled for inclusion in the Mansfield Library historical archives.

On Jan. 10^th the O'Connor Center entertained staff from the Canadian Consul General Office in  Denver during their visit to  Missoula. Consul staff visiting the Center included the office's recently appointed Consul General Dale Eisler, Consul for General Relations Marc Boucher, Agriculture Specialist and Consul Kim O'Neil, and Academic, Economic and Political Affairs Officer Jamie Caton. Center staff discussed past work on Canadian issues relative to the cross-border region.

On Jan. 10^th in Missoula, Mont., Williams spoke to Leadership Missoula.His speech was entitled "All Politics is Local."

On Jan. 9^th at the University of Montana, Swanson guest lectured on region growth and change in a class on the Crown of the Continent region offered by UM Geography.

On Jan. 8^th in Missoula, Mont., Swanson participated in a planning meeting of the Community Regional Medical Center strategic planning committee.

On Dec. 7^th in Seattle, Wash., Swanson presented at the 2007 CEO Bank Directors Conference hosted by the Washington State Bankers Association. Swanson discussed key population, demographic, and economic trends in Washington State and the larger region.   

On Dec. 6^th in Helena, Mont., Swanson gave an invited presentation to members of the Montana Legislature's Revenue and Transportation Committee on demographic and population trends in Montana, exploring implications of these trends for income growth, taxation and other issues.

On Dec. 4^th in Missoula, Mont., Williams was interviewed for a film being produced for showing at the ceremony honoring the recipients of the annual Governors Arts Award being held in the State Capitol building on Feb. 8^th. 

On Dec. 3^rd in Missoula, Mont., Swanson and Farr participated in a meeting hosted by the University of Montana exploring a potential partnership between UM and Glacier National Park to broaden education on the Crown of the Continent region where the park is located.

regional trends

Rapidly Aging Population

Recent estimates done in 2006 at the county-level of the population by age show how quickly the U.S. population is aging. The map below shows areas of the Rocky Mountain West with relatively high proportions of residents who are 65 years of age and older. Areas in black have the oldest populations - 20% and more of all residents are 65 and older. Areas in gray also are relatively old with 15 to 20% of residents 65 and older. Areas with relatively young populations are shown in green - ones with fewer than 10% of residents who are 65 and older.

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center in the news 

Bush rebate plan is a 'fairy tale' adding new, unaffordable debt - Idaho Mountain Express, Feb. 1, 2008

Recession worries dominate Montana's reaction to Bush address - Great Falls Tribune, Jan. 29, 2008

U.S. West no longer bastion of Republican politics - NPR, Jan. 13, 2008

Williams discusses landscape restoration - The New West, 1st edition

Once protected, Western wolves now a problem of plenty - Taipei Times, Jan. 6, 2008

Health business booms on U.S. 93 - Missoulian, Jan. 2, 2008

Wolves in U.S. West to lose protection - International Herald Tribune, Jan. 2, 2008

A Divide as Wolves Rebound in a Changing West - New York Times, Jan. 2, 2008

Montana Public Radio interviews Center Director on state's influx of baby boomers - MTPR, Jan. 1, 2008

Western Montana economy keeps on growing into new year - Missoula Magazine - January 2008

Why the West is booming - CNN, Dec. 28, 2007

Baby boomers migrate to Rocky Mountain West - USA Today, Dec. 28, 2007 

Being from Missoula may be political liability - Billings Gazette, Dec. 26, 2007

Rural communities conference set - Billings Gazette, 
Dec. 19, 2007

State supports development - Great Falls Tribune, Dec. 13, 2007

upcoming events

On Feb. 11^th in West Yellowstone, Mont., Center Director Larry Swanson will participate in a planning meeting organized by the Yellowstone Business Partnership, which recently received funding from rural development and transportation planning agencies in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, to conduct a variety of sub-regional planning studies in area economic development and transportation coordination. These studies are building on an earlier study sponsored by YBP examining how area "seasonality" in visitation and area tourism was affecting area economies. Swanson and the O'Connor Center were a major contractor on this study and will serve as a resource and technical consultant on the follow-on work.

On Feb. 12^th in Twin Falls, Idaho, Swanson will make a presentation to bank officials and advisory committee members of the First Federal Bank of Southern Idaho at one of the bank's Economic Breakfast meetings. He will discuss economic and demographic trends affecting the southern Idaho region.

On Feb. 20^th in Missoula, Mont., Swanson will make a presentation at the Missoula Downtown Rotary Club, examining major trends in population aging and how these will play out in the Missoula area and statewide in Montana. 

On Feb. 27^th in Missoula, Mont., Swanson will speak at a meeting of The Wildlife Society (TWS) entitled, "Northwest Connections: Sustaining Our Wildlife Populations in the Face of Climate Change, Human Population Growth, and Energy Development." His presentation is entitled "Human Population and Development Trends in the Pacific Northwest." The conference will be held Feb. 25-29.

On Feb. 28^th from Bozeman, Mont., Swanson will make a video-conference presentation that will be simulcast to six sub-regional teams who are engaged in economic development planning studies under the coordination of the Yellowstone Business Partnership. The six teams have been selected from different sub-regions of the larger region surrounding  Yellowstone Park and are working on projects to strengthen the region's inter-coordination and economic prosperity.

On March 18^th in Missoula, Mont, Swanson will speak at the 9^th Annual Conference of the Association of Montana Floodplain Managers (AMFM). The conference is entitled, "At the Confluence of Change: Balancing Community Growth with Floodplain Management." He will discuss population growth patterns in the region.

On March 20^th and 21^st in Missoula, Mont., Swanson will meet with and speak to members of the Poplar, Mont., community planning group working on a renewal plan for Poplar.Swanson and the Center are providing technical support for planning studies currently being done on three Montana reservations - Fort Peck, Fort Belknap, and Rocky Boy.  This support is being provided through a contract with the Native American Community Development Corp. and Indian Land Tenure Foundation.

project activity

The Sixth Annual Hammond Lecture in Western / Environmental History, Alexander Hamilton and the West, was presented by Professor Michael Allen on Tuesday, January 31, 2008 at the North Underground Lecture Hall of The University of Montana. The event was co-sponsored by the Hammond Endowment in the Department of History and the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in conjunction with "Alexander Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America," a traveling exhibit hosted by the Missoula Public Library.

Professor Allen, author of A Patriot's History of the United States and Congress and the West, 1783 - 1787, focused on Hamilton's influence on western development and the differences between Hamilton's vision of the West with those of his Republican nemesis, Thomas Jefferson, unlike other Federalists. In regard to slavery, land acquisition, agriculture and statehood, Hamilton was willing to compromise. Allen stated that Hamilton's views were modern - much ahead of his time and similar to those of Abraham Lincoln.

Kemmis, Daniel. 2008. "Institutional Reform for Public Lands?" in Accounting for Mother Nature: Changing Demands for Her Bounty. (Eds.) Terry L. Anderson, Laura E. Huggins, and Thomas Michael Power. Stanford University Press.

D uring the spring semester, Senior Fellow Pat Williams is teaching classes in Forestry, "Montana Wilderness Policy & Politics" and History/Geography "Regionalism and the Rocky Mountain West." During the recent Interim Session he taught a class entitled "Congress and the Wilderness Struggles" through UM Continuing Education's Lifelong Learning Institute. In the semester just concluded, Williams taught a class within the Environmental Studies Department. He also continues an active schedule of guest lectures, including at an occasional high school class.

Williams continues to provide regular commentaries produced for and aired by Montana Public Radio. Reading copies of those are available through either KUFM or CRMW.

Senior Fellow Bob Brown, along with Missoula State Senator Dave Wanzenried, is teaching Political Science 383, "Montana Politics: The Real Story" spring semester.

Senior Fellow Daniel Kemmis has been elected to the Board of Directors of Philanthropy Northwest, an association of community, private and public foundations operating in the  Pacific Northwest. The association seeks to promote effectiveness in the practice of philanthropy by offering technical assistance, information, consulting and networking to both established and emerging grantmaking institutions and philanthropists. Kemmis is currently serving as chair of the board of the Northwest Area Foundation, which operates within the Philanthropy Northwest region.