What most people don’t know is how self sustaining Montana used to be.
“Montana pulled out of the Great Depression in the early 1940s with the United States’ sudden immersion into World War II (1941–1945). Montana agriculture recovered when the long drought cycle ended and a series of wet years produced bumper crops and robust livestock herds again. World War II markets demanded Montana’s natural resources—especially timber, copper, petroleum, hydroelectric power, and coal. An economy based on the extraction
and development of natural resources drove Montana’s golden eco- nomic age through the 1950s and 1960s. National markets and federal programs dictated Montanan’s economic course.”
Montana was the “Treasure State” and the “Bonanza State” before it became the “Big Sky State” due to the immensity and value of natural resources. That changed dramatically once the environmental movement started and put an end to most of the extraction industry, and agriculture became less viable as well.
When you eliminate the ability to collect the resources and kill the profitability of the agricultural market, you don’t have much left to bolster the economy. Montana didn’t ask for the deficit, the government forced it on Montana. That effect still languishes here and too few people understand what happened and now want to point the stink finger at Montana and not economic policies tied to environmental mandates.