There was a time during the golden age of the conservation movement when being “anti-conservation” or “anti-environmentalist” was akin to speaking up for reinstatement of the Jim Crow laws. This conservation enlightenment reached levels of acceptance almost unimaginable today. An illustrative apex occurred in 1972, when 100 delegates from the largely rural and conservative state […]

A major portion of the budget surplus of the state of Montana should be used to repair roads. The sorry state of many roads cause damage that in total possibly exceeds the amount of the surplus. Cooperation between municipalities and the state could develop a workable plan where cost sharing would benefit everyone. The readers […]

Lobbyists have a really bad name. And associating political opponents with them is increasingly popular as a way to imply “corruption,” “insider status” and “backroom deals.” So goes the race between Sen. Jon Tester and Congressman Denny Rehberg for Tester’s Senate seat. What began last year as general criticism of campaign cash from and ties […]

Despite tough economic times of late, Montanans should take heart in an emerging success story: our track record of producing successful wind energy projects. The wind farm in Judith Gap has provided a much-needed economic boost to this rural area in our state, as well as five other large and small wind-harvesting projects active around […]

President Franklin Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps for millions of youth to serve and restore America’s parks and stabilize the economy. The Going-to-the Sun Road could not have been built without the CCC. CCC served in Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park. From reforestation to campground development to trail building to fire hazard […]

Business culture is often viewed as “woo-woo”. People will roll their eyes when you say the words. Some are so turned off that they stop listening to you when you say the phrase, thinking the conversation will be about things that aren’t the least bit business-oriented. To me, that’s reason enough to avoid using the […]

Free speech or taxpayer-funded propaganda? Recently both Montana universities sponsored a conference for Power Shift. Power Shift seemingly stands for the promotion of clean energy. Look deeper: The organization is a subsidiary of the Energy Action Coalition and is linked to the Occupy and Greenpeace movements. Power Shift’s motto is “we demand 100% clean energy.” […]

We wanted to write to clarify the current discussion about the proposal currently before the voters for the Whitefish High School, and specifically discuss the $7 million approach that has become part of the discourse. We did not present the $7 million alternative to the community’s planning group. It arose in response to a question […]

It’s been about 30 years since Montana has had any new federally designated wilderness. In my view that is not necessarily bad. Wilderness has its place, but so do forest management activities and the production of wood products. From my experience, though, if there is any place in our state that seems appropriate for wilderness […]

“With the fearful strain that is upon me day and night, I fear that if I could not laugh, I would die.” – Abraham Lincoln Lincoln’s humor, in fact any humor, seems noticeably absent from this season’s presidential campaigns. The candidates’ emotions seem limited to reverence, hostility, pomposity and aloofness – each of which, without […]

The Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire has been publishing statistics on angel investing for decades. Over the past several years, the number of U.S. companies funded by angel investors has increased from about 50,000 per year to over 60,000 annually. Mark Boslet, senior editor with Venture Capital Journal, posted the […]

If there is a silver lining to the housing collapse, it is that the house-flipping mania is over now. Maybe we can get back to the business of building and remodeling real houses for real people who actually plan to stay awhile. However, designing and building homes for the “New Normal” and the diverse demographics […]

Have you ever been told: “Don’t rassle with pigs – you’ll only get dirty and the pigs love it.” Um, this time I didn’t just rassle, but went swimming – and needed a shower afterwards. The Montana Commission of Political Practices (CPP) has been in the news lately. There was major bickering between Commissioner Dave […]

Infrastructure is one of those things you don’t necessarily think about as a new business owner. Thing is, strong infrastructure often turns out to be the competitive edge that no one (other than you) notices. Your clientele notices “stuff”: You’re always on top of things and that you rarely, if ever, have to say “oh, […]

Real quick, explain how these primaries and caucuses work in layman’s terms. Perhaps you can, but I’ve been following the GOP primary elections more closely than most and still have difficulty understanding it all. It’s as if layers of rules are added specifically to confuse us. Take a look at what happened in Missouri. This […]