Restoration and the Promise of a new Montana Economy
"In the 19th Century we devoted our best minds to exploring nature. In the 20th Century we devoted ourselves to controlling and harnessing it. In the 21st Century the best minds are working on how to restore nature."
--Stephen E. Ambrose, American historian
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The Governor’s Restoration Forum—Billings, Montana, June 8-9, 2006— established the emergence of a new Montana economy, one that’s providing new business opportunities based largely on work to restore landscapes and ecosystems.
With more and more Montana communities now considering their enormous restoration and reclamation needs, they, too, see the promise of new, high-paying jobs created by this emerging industry.
In Big Sky Country, we recognize that ecological integrity, healthy fish and wildlife populations, and abundant access to natural landscapes and public lands are significant contributors to our quality of life and economic growth.
Today, these unique Montana amenities are leading to an influx of people and new businesses.
Throughout Montana, active and potential watershed, forest, rangeland, and mine land reclamation projects abound along side hometown needs like water-system upgrades, Main Street revitalizations, greenway walking-trail developments, and natural-area improvements.
In its broadest sense, restoration activities in Montana seek to improve, enhance, conserve, mitigate, and heal natural environments, often by reestablishing structural characteristics, native species, and ecological processes.
