Montana
Mother Nature will continue to limit growth in Montana and the West • Daily Montanan
“For there is not sufficient water to supply the land.” – John Wesley Powell, 1893
The basic tenet of capitalism is that continuous growth is necessary for the economy. And indeed, our politicians from both major parties wholeheartedly and without question embrace the unrealistic concept that you can have infinite growth on a finite resource base.
But as the West’s climate-caused mega-drought continues, it appears Mother Nature is about to tune us up to the fact that she, not the theoretical economists, calls the shots and will, whether they like it or not, limit Montana’s out-of-control and out-of-resources growth.
Not that this wasn’t foreseen.
“Gentlemen, you are piling up a heritage of conflict and litigation over water rights. For there is not sufficient water to supply the land.” That prescient advice was rendered at an irrigation conference in 1893 by John Wesley Powell, who had a vast wealth of experience in the West, including being the first to take open boats down the raging — and now drying — Colorado River in his 1869 expedition.
His prophetic vision was ignored by powerful railroad barons, intent on “settling the West” and plundering its vast resources. Yet, only 30 years after Powell’s warning, their dreams of continuous growth and vast profits did nothing to fend off the Dust Bowl that would bring an end to thousands of subsistence farmers, literally blowing them off the powdered, bone-dry land due to a lack of rain and snow.
A century later, the West is now faced with a similar lack of precipitation, and as Powell predicted, the “heritage of conflict and litigation over water rights” is sweeping the West thanks in large part to the fact that state governments have awarded more water rights than there is water in the rivers to fulfill them.
The examples are many, and stacking up every day. Here in Montana the Big Hole, our once world-famous trout stream, is experiencing collapsing trout populations due to low flows and high water temperatures. Even the rivers draining Glacier National Park are struggling with lack of water due to increasingly lower snowpacks. One only need look at our brown mountains in December to see the proof and wonder “when will it snow?”
Or how about the continuing desiccation of the Great Salt Lake — which threatens to make Salt Lake City unlivable for its three million residents due to the toxic dusts blowing off the dry salt flats? In desperation, the state has already spent tens of millions of dollars trying to re-water the lake. And now, some $50 million of federal money is being thrown down that black hole trying to deny the drought while another $10 million is slated to lease water rights. But here’s the rub, water leasing only works if there’s water in the rivers to lease.
Closer to home, a real estate developer is proposing “Old Town Sheridan,” an 800-home development in Sheridan, Montana, that is being pitched “as a veteran-centered, faith-based community with everything from light manufacturing to an equine center and a golf club.” It’s laughable since the would-be developer has no land and apparently hasn’t checked the flows in the Jefferson River, which saw its golden days as a trout stream pass many years ago and now barely trickles to the confluence with the Gallatin and Madison at Three Forks.
It’s obvious there’s no limit to greed in the West. But in the end, as Powell predicted, it will be Mother Nature that puts the limits on growth in our naturally arid region — and it’s about time we acknowledged that inescapable truth.
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing
02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from March 2 drawing
03-08-17-24-34, Star Ball: 06, ASB: 02
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from March 2 drawing
06-12-19-29, Bonus: 11
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 2 drawing
21-28-58-65-67, Powerball: 25
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 2 drawing
28-41-42-50-55, Bonus: 02
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Everyone makes mistakes, even experienced professionals; a good reminder for the rest of us to learn from those mistakes. The motion in State v. Stroup starts off well in its initial pages (no case law hallucinations), but is then followed by several pages of two other motions, which I don’t think the lawyer was planning to file, and which appear to have been AI-generated: It begins with the “Below is concise motion language you can drop into …” language quoted above.
Griffen Smith (Missoulian) reported on the story, and included the prosecutor’s motion to strike that filing, on the grounds that it violates a local rule (3(G)) requiring disclosure of the use of generative AI:
The document does not include a generative artificial intelligence disclosure as required. However, page 7 begins as follows: “Below is concise motion language you can drop into a ‘Motion to Admit Mental-Disease Evidence and for Related Instructions’ keyed to 45-6-204, 45-6-201, and 4614-102. Adjust headings/captions to your local practice.” Page 10 states “Below is a full motion you can paste into your pleading, then adjust names, dates, and styles to fit local practice.” These pages also include several apparent hyperlinks to “ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws,” “ppl-ai-fileupload.s3.amazonaws+1,” and others. The document includes what appears to be an attempt at a second case caption on page 12. It is not plausible on its face that any source other than generative AI would have created such language for a filed version of a brief….
There’s more in that filing, but here’s one passage:
While generative AI can be a useful tool for some purposes and may have greater application in the future, when used improperly, and without meaningful review, it can ultimately damage both the perception and the reality of the profession. One assumes that Mr. Stroup has had, or will at some point have, an opportunity to review the filing made on his behalf. What impression could a review of pgs. 12-19 leave upon a defendant who struggles with paranoia and delusional thinking? While AI could theoretically one day become a replacement for portions of staff of experienced attorneys, it is readily apparent that this day has not yet arrived.
The Missoulan article includes this response:
In a Wednesday interview, Office of Public Defender Division Administrator Brian Smith told the Missoulian the AI-generated language was inadvertently included in an unrelated filing. And he criticized the county attorney’s office for filing a “four-page diatribe about the dangers of AI” instead of working with the defense to correct her mistake.
“That’s not helping the client or the case,” Smith said, “and all you are doing is trying to throw a professional colleague under the bus.”
As I mentioned, the lawyer involved seems quite experienced, and ran for the Montana Public Service Commission in 2020 (getting nearly 48% of the vote) and for the House of Representatives in Montana’s first district in 2022 (getting over 46% of the vote) and in 2024 (getting over 44%). “Его пример другим наука,” Pushkin wrote in Eugene Onegin—”May his example profit others,” in the Falen translation.
Thanks to Matthew Monforton for the pointer.
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