Bittersweet Bitterroot

  1. All though the Bitterroot valley is known for being one of the best places to experience nature in the whole world, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a host of environmental problems. Some of these problems are historical in nature like the fact that Montana has very little rainfall which limits the variety of plants that can grow in the area. And the fact that we live so far north we have very short growing seasons. But the majority of the issues the valley is facing are the direct impact of human action such as over mining which causes toxins to be released into the water and the soil. Over population has also become an issues as tourism in the Montana booms and many visitors decide to make Montana their permanent home. Wildfires are also an increasing issue as deforestation has created a great fuel source for fire with the all debris and scrap lumber left behind. This also creates a lower quality of air due to a massive amount of smoke fires create. Montana is a great place but that doesn’t mean its free of problems. But if we learn to understand these problems we can earn to stop and prevent them.

 

2. I believe the Montana is a great place to get an understanding of the worlds environmental issues. Unlike places like China, Los Angeles and New York who have been having these issues for decades, Montana is not nearly as far along. This allows us to study the issues with a hard baseline and with technology that didn’t exist when larger cities where booming.  This is important because it allows us the pinpoint exactly which issues are man-made and which issues have historically been around forever. This information is highly valuable when it comes to stopping environmental and preventing future ones.