The Contrast of Eastern and Western Montana

I saw the two sides of Montana last week, one still green and lush, bustling with commerce and traffic, the other already dry, the landscape turning to khaki, with sparse traffic and few people.

The influx of folks moving to Montana is hardly noticeable where I live in Malta, a small town with a declining population. But what Malta has to offer isn’t what newcomers to the state are looking for. There are no trout streams up here, and no snow-capped peaks.

The muddy, slow-moving Milk River skirts the edge of town, and the nearest mountains -- the Little Rockies – sit on the horizon 40 miles awa...