Seeing Montana’s Restoration Economy

Projects big and small help return natural functions to our forests and watersheds and jobs to our communities

[Montana] It’s been called the biggest thing you’ve never seen, and a strangely silent revolution. This emerging economy has grown out of the shadow of Montana’s staple industries, such as timber, farming, ranching and mining and covers the entire state, from the forested west to the grasslands of the east. And its primary beneficiaries are things Montanans hold dear: fish, wildlife, soil, communities and our state’s most precious resource, water. Welcome, folks, to Montana’s restoration economy. It’s more important than ever for those of us involved in all aspects of restoration to give it a clearer face. We need to see the restoration economy. As Pat Williams has said, “restoration needs a brand.” It needs to conjure images of vital rural communities, highly skilled and well-paid workers, clean water, healthy fisheries and hunting grounds.

News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes
www.southernsustainableforests.org