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The year 2010 will be long remembered in most of Montana for green grass all summer, low fire danger and heavy calves.  For a change, Montana farmers and ranchers could really smile about the price they received for their commodities, from cattle to wheat and wool to sugar beets. Sure, there were a few times this summer and fall when you wondered if it would stop raining long enough to get your hay baled or your grain harvested, but Montanans will rarely cuss moisture, and we had moisture aplenty. It’s a real pat on the back for all that hard work you’ve done when you take the calves to the sale barn and receive a high price for them. The same with grain harvest.  In agriculture, the market is so volatile that any time you receive a nice paycheck for those days and nights spent in the calving shed or on the combine—it truly is your reward for a job well done. Even more rewarding  is the knowledge that you are providing food and fiber for a hungry world.

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Custer Country, Montana’s largest tourism region, has released its 2010 Custer Country Vacation Guide.  Newly-organized and containing  new photos and articles, the 132-page guide covers events, attractions and historic information about the 34,000 square-mile region that covers 13 counties and two Indian reservations in southeastern Montana.

Those interested in the legend of Lieutenant Colonel  George Custer, the Indian wars, Captain William Clark’s exploration of the Yellowstone River, hunting, fishing, biking, motorcycling, bird- and wildlife-watching and photography will enjoy this handy guide to what there is to see and do in Custer Country.  Motorcyclists and RVers will also find the guide useful for pointing out the off-the-beaten-path routes to take to avoid traffic and crowds, and to find the most scenic routes from major cities to the small, friendly towns in the region.

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[Clarification: Information regarding Denbury's failed plan for Elk Basin does not pertain to two other Montana projects -- Cedar Creek Anticline and Belle Creek -- while the company plans to divest itself of the Elk Basin property they are moving forward with the other two, with expectations of going into production as soon as they complete the construction of a pipeline, in early 2013.] By Evelyn Pyburn

Even though it hovers at the western edge of the Bakken, Baker, Montana is being focused upon as “the hub of the Williston Basin.” Baker is where oil companies are headquartering and where pipelines are intersecting.

What’s happening in the Bakken and the resurgence of eastern Montana oil fields dominated much of the discussion at the recent Montana Petroleum Association (MPA) Conference in Billings.

 

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Barkey, one of the state's top economists, responded, "We have enormous problems to work out. There are a lot of things to worry about... We are managing short term problems so they are no longer impeding short term growth. We would all feel better if we knew where Congress was going to land in regulatory reform."

The economists believe that Montana's economy actually turned around last summer, following a year of minus one percent negative growth, a dip that was about 1.5 percent worse than they predicted for the state last year. But, that's only if we don't have a "double-dip recession," warned Barkey. A double-dipper could happen if the monetary authorities decide to tighten the economy too early, he explained – or if there are more job losses, and the savings rates increase significantly, which will leave consumer spending weak.