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.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Montana State squares off with Illinois State Monday night in the FCS national championship game at FirstBank Stadium on the campus of Vanderbilt University. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.
The Bobcats are making their third trip to the title game in the past five seasons under coach Brent Vigen. The program is seeking its first championship since 1984.
MTN Sports has been on the ground in Nashville for the past five days covering the lead-up to the game, including the pregame show “Bobcat Built: Montana State’s Championship Quest” hosted by Scott Breen and Kyle Hansen.
In it the MTN staff provides game previews, features, facts and figures and sights and sounds from the past several days in Music City in the run-up to the game. To watch, see the video reel below.
Watch: Bobcat Built – Montana State’s Championship Quest
Bobcat Built: Montana State’s Championship Quest
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Past Montana State football players meet with current Bobcats during a team walk-through at the indoor practice facility at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.Kyle Hansen / MTN Sports
Montana
Miley Cyrus Debuts Hannah Montana-Inspired Hair Transformation to Tease 20th Anniversary Plans
Though she hasn’t revealed what a celebration of the show’s legacy would look like, she did share why it’s so important for there to be one at all.
“For me, I love looking back at the growth for both of us because it’s very rare that someone grows up with their fanbase,” she explained. “When I was 15 years old, I’d look out and see 15-year-olds and now I’m a grown woman, I look out and see other grown people. So, what I want to do is honor the longevity of the relationship that we built.”
Having earned a Disney Legend award last year for her iconic role, the LOL star emphasized how the double-life pop star was so much more than a TV show character.
“Hannah Montana, it outgrew the fantasy,” she continued. “It became the reality of my life. Something that was about a regular girl getting to have this extraordinary life by being someone that she’s not and then turning my life and having this life because of being who I really am and authenticity. So getting to celebrate that—20 years is a long time.”
For a look back at Miley’s life from ordinary girl to rock star, read on…
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