Summer 2009  

Hello:

We hope you are enjoying the summer and can take time to read through recent activities of the Center.

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

MULLAN's MILITARY ROAD
Provided by William Farr

U.S.. Army Lt. John Mullan was both a trailblazer and eventually a trail maker.Between 1858 and 1862, he organized the construction of the first wagon road to cross the Rockies, binding together the navigable headwaters of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers. When Congress funded it, the road’s name was the Mullan Military Road, running from Fort Walla Walla along the Columbia to Fort Benton on the Missouri River. The road's purpose was to facilitate the movement of troops and supplies during times of Indian hostilities.

Mullan’s exploration began as a part of Isaac I. Stevens’ survey expedition, which itself was a part of a larger federal effort "to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean."There were four of these expeditions carried out in the years 1853-1856 and Stevens led the northern effort. Stevens was a West Point engineer, described by his modern biographer as a "young man in a hurry." His ambition led him to apply for and to be named governor of Washington Territory as well as the leader of the Northern Pacific survey that pursued a route between the 47^th parallel north and the 49^th.

John Mullan, also a West Point graduate, was among the explorers and engineers who made up the Stevens' party and it was his responsibility to select a wagon route as a part of the railway survey. He began his work in 1854 but the Coeur d’Alene Indian War got in the way and it wasn’t until 1859 that the construction of the military road began.

Employing some 230 people, Mullan’s crew carved out a 25-foot wide road across 624 miles of plains and mountains. The route couldn’t be too steep, but it had to cross both the Rocky Mountains and, even more difficult, the Coeur d’Alenes. Hacking their way through pine forests, and above all building river crossings and bridges along the Clark Fork, the Coeur d’Alene and St. Regis Rivers, the intrepid road-builders crisscrossed their way up and down fast flowing water courses. Bridges were a particular 

headache. There were hundreds of them and they washed out almost every spring. Congress, always parsimonious, had provided no funds beyond construction—nothing for maintenance. The rudimentary road, quickly constructed, began to deteriorate almost immediately.

However, only one military expedition actually used Mullan’s Military Road. Gold was being discovered in Idaho and Montana in the 1860s and the miners had to be supplied with tools, food, and transportation. While it was true the "road" had deteriorated to a "mule trail," the miners in their anxiousness did not care and one pack train after the other shuttled between Walla Walla and the emerging gold camps, paving the way for other users until Mullan Road was rendered obsolete with the arrival of transcontinental railroads. However, the modern-day Interstate 90 roughly follows the path of Mullan Road through the Rockies.

John Mullan died in 1909 in Washington, D.C. A burst of nostalgia led to the erection of six large statues and a series of roadside monuments dedicated to his achievement as both a trailblazer and road builder.

UM Announces Priorities for
Upcoming Capital Campaign

In May, UM Pres. George Dennison announced campus fundraising priorities for the next capital campaign being planned by the University of Montana Foundation. These priorities emerged from a list of fundraising objectives developed by UM’s Campus Development Committee under the direction of UM’s Provost. Included in the list of fundraising priorities are two involving the O’Connor Center. One is aimed at establishing an endowment of $1 million to partially endow the Center’s Senior Fellow in Regional History and Culture position – a position currently held by Prof. William Farr. The other is directed toward raising an additional $1 million to create a partially endowed Center Senior Fellow position in Energy Studies. The latter will allow the Center to create new capacity to explore and analyze large-scale energy development plans and scenarios in the region.

Approximately $400,000 will be raised to complete the $1 million endowment in regional history. The full $1 million must be raised in creating a new position in energy studies. Anyone interested in learning more about these Center endowment opportunities can contact Center Director Larry Swanson.

center staff activities

Doug Lawrence, the Center's Information Systems Specialist, taught a Computer Science course this summer semester entitled "Computer Modeling." The class teaches students fundamentals of using Microsoft Excel and Access and how they fit into the larger picture of computer modeling. Doug has been a UM adjunct professor for eight years.

Larry Swanson is serving on two committees organized by Missoula County Public Schools. One is evaluating uses for school owned property and assets. The other is helping advise the district on school planning for the future.

Swanson also continues to serve on the strategic planning committee of Missoula’s Community Medical Center. He also serves on the editorial advisory board of the Missoulian daily newspaper.

Gloria Phillip, the Center's Humanities Program Assistant, recently left the Center. Gloria worked at the Center for seven years and will be missed.

"Ain't going to happen."

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, responding to
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's statement that wind energy
could replace that produced by coal.
- Casper Star-Tribune
04/09/2009

"Ultimately, we cannot grow our way out of growth-related problems."

Kristy Bruner, community planning director of the Jackson Hole
Conservation Alliance, which opposes the Jackson/Teton
County Comprehensive Plan because it allows too much
development in the Wyoming county.
- Jackson Hole News & Guide
04/22/2009

"In our county, tourism is big, and we don't want a swap-off with wind energy ... We want to hunt and visit those wide-open spaces and keep those areas where wind farms just should not be."

Carbon County Commissioner Terry Weickum, at a
forum in Wyoming designed to encourage citizens to get
involved in deciding where wind farms should be sited.
- Casper Star-Tribune
04/24/2009 

"The fuel reduction money is putting people to work."

Wayne Hirst, a Libby logger, about thinning projects in
Montana's federal, state and private forests.
- Missoulian
05/13/2009

Kevin Howlet director of the Confederated Salish and
Kootenai Tribes' Health and Human Services Department,
about Montana Sen. Max Baucus' healthcare plan.
- Missoulian
05/29/2009

"This is not about science or biology, it’s about politics. Wyoming says they have too many wolves and the environmental groups say there aren’t enough."

Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, about two new lawsuits filed over wolf
management in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
- Helena Independent Record
06/03/2009

"Contractors are eager and hungry to go to work, and their bids are reflecting it."

Jeff Stratten, spokesman for the Idaho Transportation
Department, on project bids coming in lower than
anticipated, freeing up funding for more projects.
- Spokane Spokesman-Review
06/22/2009

"If you live in that interface, let's just assume you won't get help. You're responsible for your own situation."

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, on the need for
homeowners living in the wildland urban interface
to take responsibility for fireproofing their homes.
- Missoulian
06/23/2009

"You are going to take a whippin. Pick your whip."

Kim Blough of Nampa, about Idaho's plan to curb
vehicle emissions that mandates counties have a plan
in place before the 2010 Legislature convenes.
- Idaho Statesman
06/26/2009

regional trends

State Energy Production
and Economic Prosperity

According to statistics from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Montana consumed about 430 trillion Btus of energy in various forms in 2006 while producing about 1,200 trillion Btus from a variety of sources. Assuming this was a typical year, the state consumes less than 36% of what it produces in energy or, alternatively, it produces about 2.8 times more energy than what it consumes.

This makes Montana one of the nation’s 11 states that are "net exporters" of energy. The top net exporting states are Wyoming, West Virginia, Louisiana, New Mexico, Alaska, and Kentucky, ranked in that order. All are net exporters of over 1,000 trillion Btus a year. Of the five Rocky Mountain West states, four are net energy exporters including Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Montana. Idaho is a net energy importer.

Unemployment nationally continued to rise as the nation’s current economic recession moved into its 17^th month in duration in June. The seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate reached 9.5% in June, up from 9.4% in May and up from 5.6% in June, 2008. Unadjusted for seasonality, unemployment in June was 9.7%, up from 9.1% in May. The map below shows average monthly unemployment rates for the 12-month period ending in May, 2009, at the county level.

Click to enlarge

The Interior West and Central Plains regions of the U.S. continue to have the lowest unemployment rates. Among states North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate at 4.0% in May, unadjusted for seasonality. Nebraska had the 2^nd lowest (4.4%) and South Dakota had the 3^rd lowest (4.9%). Wyoming was 4^th lowest (5.0%) and Utah 5^th lowest (5.2%), while Montana was 7^th lowest at 5.8%. Unemployment was highest in Michigan at 13.9%, followed by Oregon and Rhode Island, both with unemployment over 12%. California had the 5^th highest unemployment rate at 11.2% and Nevada the 7^th highest at 11.0%.

recent activities

Between May 18^th and the 20^th at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Center Director Larry Swanson attended an international conference hosted by PASCAL International Observatory and the Centre for Policy Studies in Higher Education and Training at UBC. The conference was entitled "Community Engagement and Service: The Third Mission of Universities." Swanson also attended a follow-on meeting on the 21^st that focused on PASCAL’s University Regional Engagement or PURE Project. The international organization based at the University of Glasgow in Scotland is working closely with participating universities and regional authorities in 15 regions around the world, assisting in how they engage with their regions in important areas of community and regional development. Swanson gave an invited presentation on why "Region’s Matter" in furthering place management and the development of learning regions. 

On  May 15^th in Helena, Mont., Swanson gave a presentation to staff with the Montana State Fund (MSF) as part of MSF’s annual staff retreat and planning meeting. He discussed growth patterns and population change in Montana, as well as emerging labor force trends in the state and region.

On April 30^th in Hamilton, Mont., Swanson spoke and participated in a business workshop hosted by Farmers State Bank entitled "Building Success." The meeting focused on ways that businesses could work their way through the current economic slowdown. Other speakers included John Donovan of the Small Business Administration in Helena, Dave Glaser of the Montana Community Development Corporation in Missoula, and Julie Foster of the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority.

On April 28^th in Missoula, Mont., at the 2^nd gathering of the Missoula Business Forum, Swanson gave a presentation entitled, "Beyond the Current Economic Slowdown: Positioning Missoula for Future Economic Success." The forum was organized and hosted by business organizations and associations in the city including the Missoula Chamber of Commerce, Missoula Organization of Realtors, Missoula Convention and Visitor Bureau, Missoula Area Economic Development Corp., Missoula Downtown Association, Missoula Mid-Town Association, Missoula Building Industry Association, and Missoula Women’s Business Network. The meeting also was sponsored by First Security Bank, the Missoulian newspaper, and Doubletree Hotel. Jane Karas, President of Flathead Valley Community College, Wolfgang Ametsbichler, head of the Missoula Job Service, Hal Fraser of First Security Bank and head of the Missoula Redevelopment Agency board, and Geoff Sutton with the Montana World Trade Center – all also spoke at the meeting.

center in the news 

Health services top spot for hiring - Missoulian, June 6, 2009

Economist: Missoula lags behind other cities - Missoulian,
May 4, 2009

Economist: Area could recover quickly - Ravalli Republic,
April 30, 2009

Missoula resilient during recession - At forum, statistics show city good place to live - Missoulian, April 28, 2009

City's economic future subject of forum - Missoulian, April 19, 2009

New editorial advisory board includes Center Director Larry Swanson - Missoulian, April 5, 2009 

UM geographers track 'return migration' to rural towns - Great Falls Tribune, April 1, 2009

upcoming events

On July 20^th and 21^st in Denver, Colo., Center Director Larry Swanson will participate in a two-day meeting hosted by the World Wildlife Fund that will focus on strategies for the creation of private nature reserves in the Northern Great Plains. The meeting will include a small gathering of researchers, practitioners, and other experts doing work on wildlife management on private lands and related issues in economics.

On Sept. 28^th through the 30^th in Missoula, Mont., the 8^th Annual Montana Nonprofit Association conference will be held entitled "Connections." Approximately 400 persons, largely from nonprofit organizations across the state, will attend. Swanson will speak at the conference on the 30^th discussing key economic and demographic trends in Montana, and possible roles of nonprofit organizations in emerging issues related to these trends.

BEETLE-KILLED FORESTS
HOLD POTENTIAL FOR
DISASTROUS WILDFIRE SEASON
Provided by Shellie Nelson, Editor, Headwaters News

The National Interagency Fire Center released its four-month fire forecast in June that said most of the Rocky Mountain Region, including Montana and neighboring states, would have an average wildfire season. But with millions of acres of beetle-killed timber stretching from Colorado north to Canada, there is growing potential for a catastrophic wildfire season.

The U.S. Forest Service calls the pine-bark beetle infestation in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming "historically unprecedented," and the state of Montana estimates that three million acres of forest between Helena and Butte are dead or dying from the tiny bugs’ burrowing ways.

Foresters estimate that over the next 15 years, dead and dying forests will cover 22 million more acres in the Rocky Mountain West. Wildfires in those areas of Colorado, Wyoming and Montana where beetle damage is the highest will be expensive to fight, given the number of people who live in the wildland-urban interface in those regions.

In a report published earlier this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Colorado and Montana reviewed all 44,613 fuel-reduction projects done by federal land agencies between 2000 and 2008, and found that only 11 percent of those projects were actually done in the wildland-urban interface and the 1.5-mile buffer zone where consequences of wildfire are the highest.

The U.S. Forest Service released its own analysis on June 24 that said 43 percent of the fuel-reduction projects on 10.8 million acres of federal lands were in the wildland-urban interface, a difference that could be explained by different definitions and constraints of the two studies.

Julius Seyler and the Blackfeet. An Impressionist at Glacier National Park, a book by William Farr, Associate Director at the Center will be out during the fall of 2009. This biographical portrait of Seyler focuses on his special relationship with the Blackfeet, developed in the summers of 1913 and 1914. The book will feature more than 100 images, many in color, and hopefully, says Farr, will secure Seyler’s place as one of the paramount portrayers of the place we still call the Crown of the Continent. It is volume 7 in the Charles M. Russell Center Series on Art and Photography of the American West.

Swanson and the Center continue their work on a demographic study for the Missoula Public School District, including projections of future school enrollment levels in the area and population growth patterns.