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Hey western Montana folks

You seeing the cost of building coming down at all in MT? Any update there?
Personally, I am seeing it to continue to go up.
People who took out "construction financing" (short term loan) with hopes of selling their old home are between a rock and a hard place. Construction loan is ending / called in and they are living in unfinished houses. No appliances, permanent power or things being trimmed out.
Companies that furnish the sewer vaults are setting about 3 systems a day. Sewer must be in and approved before site construction can start. Building departments are running a month behind.... Winter set in early and we have been up to our ass in snow and single digit temps at night.
Referring to some other comments here on the board.... 2023 will be a bad year financially.... But IDK
 
When a city undergoes "changes" and communist are elected to the City Council it does not take long for the agenda to come to light.
__________________________________________________
“I don't think it's the government's business or your neighbor's business what you want to do with your property,” said council member Sandra Vasecka. “If you want to rent it out for a couple nights for extra income, that's your property, you should be able to do that. A lot of people are not going to be in compliance with this. It's unconstitutional to dictate what you can and cannot do with your own property.”

 

What a retard:

wolf pup.jpg
 
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Thought provoking article.
The same articles were written when towns like Austin, Texas or Atlanta, Georgia or Wilsonville, Oregon went from "Boom Town" to "Bedroom Community".....
People don't like change.... The Native Americans did not like the White man taking over the West....
What is different now is how fast change is taking place. Too fast to think it is just an accident or a chain of coincidents.
Best to get back to basics.
 
This could turn into a "Big Deal" for this region. Could be a big deal for America. For sure the "Save the ____________" (fill in the blanks) will fight it tooth and nail.
Discriminates against the people of color, the non-binary and any other group needing a reason to be butt hurt.
America needs independence from China. One small step........
________________________________
Just as the Biden administration and Congress are making major investments to expand the domestic critical minerals supply chain in the hopes of breaking our country’s dependence on China, one company believes the Bitterroot valley might be the best place to start.
Critical minerals provide the building blocks for many modern technologies and are essential to our national security and economic prosperity. These minerals—such as rare earth elements, lithium, and cobalt—can be found in products from computers to household appliances. They are also key inputs in clean energy technologies like batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels. As the world transitions to a clean energy economy, global demand for these critical minerals is set to skyrocket by 400-600 percent over the next several decades, and, for minerals such as lithium and graphite used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries, demand will increase by even more—as much as 4,000 percent. The U.S. is increasingly dependent on foreign sources for many of the processed versions of these minerals. Globally, China controls most of the market for processing and refining for cobalt, lithium, rare earths and other critical minerals.

 
“The company states that the Sheep Creek deposit has nearly nine percent (9%) Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO) (89,932ppm), far ahead of any other domestic rare earth resource. The deposit also has readings of 2.4% (23,810ppm) combined neodymium and praseodymium, which are both essential for the green economy.”

How the fuck does mining the shit out of the West Fork of the Bitteroot = Green Economy.

How is it “green” when you gotta tear up 7miles of habitat to get minerals.
 
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@Hobo Hilton my big thing is call it what it is. Electric cars are not green. You gotta mine the crap out of places to get enough lithium to make a battery that we still haven’t figured out how to recycle. An EV doesn’t give off emissions when it runs. But most of the excavators and loaders are running on diesel to mine the materials. EVa have to run a hell of a long time to equal a gas car. Plus they need Diesel to transport. Energy to process.

We already have 16 superfund sites in montana.

Mining companies shed billions in obligations to workers and the environment. They transfer money through bankruptcy and asset transfers, then leave the waste to the feds and state. If they got it figured out that they won’t F up the Bitteroot. Go right ahead but from all the other crap that has been pulled in MT many companies rape it and leave it and then the taxpayers have to front the bill. Libby is still recovering from Asbestos and people are still dying every year.
 
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@Hobo Hilton my big thing is call it what it is. Electric cars are not green. You gotta mine the crap out of places to get enough lithium to make a battery that we still haven’t figured out how to recycle. An EV doesn’t give off emissions when it runs. But most of the excavators and loaders are running on diesel to mine the materials. EVa have to run a hell of a long time to equal a gas car. Plus they need Diesel to transport. Energy to process.

We already have 16 superfund sites in montana.

Mining companies shed billions in obligations to workers and the environment. They transfer money through bankruptcy and asset transfers, then leave the waste to the feds and state. If they got it figured out that they won’t F up the Bitteroot. Go right ahead but from all the other crap that has been pulled in MT many companies rape it and leave it and then the taxpayers have to front the bill. Libby is still recovering from Asbestos and people are still dying every year.
I will leave "Politics" out of this discussion.

"COMMERCE"... This is what built America. Lewis and Clark explored rivers that would bring American goods to world markets. This is the "corner stone" of having a strong, independent Nation. Commerce has, somehow, slipped away. I watched the Oregon Spotted Owl close mills, forced people to lose their homes and retirement. Once the logging (Forest Management) ceased, the forest got over grown and wild land fires destroyed millions of square miles of prime timber. Funny thing, no one was out trying to save the Northern Spotted Owl's from the fires. Mills closed and the Spotted Owl is still around.

America has abundant natural resources. However we are becoming dependent on our enemies for those resources.

There are proven methods to clean up an area after the natural resources are harvested. There are proven methods to "clean as we go" so minimal cleanup is needed at the end of a project.

New jobs are not being created in commerce. Latest numbers show "Leisure and Hospitality" as the category creating the most new jobs.

America has changed.... Not for the best.
 
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@Hobo Hilton my big thing is call it what it is. Electric cars are not green. You gotta mine the crap out of places to get enough lithium to make a battery that we still haven’t figured out how to recycle. An EV doesn’t give off emissions when it runs. But most of the excavators and loaders are running on diesel to mine the materials. EVa have to run a hell of a long time to equal a gas car. Plus they need Diesel to transport. Energy to process.

We already have 16 superfund sites in montana.

Mining companies shed billions in obligations to workers and the environment. They transfer money through bankruptcy and asset transfers, then leave the waste to the feds and state. If they got it figured out that they won’t F up the Bitteroot. Go right ahead but from all the other crap that has been pulled in MT many companies rape it and leave it and then the taxpayers have to front the bill. Libby is still recovering from Asbestos and people are still dying every year.
South Fork, The EVs do give off emissions when operating the tires wear out faster, the small particles given off will be like fog and will be inhaled as people breathe and more lung problems will just appear out of nowhere and none of the DC SWAMP, CDC, NIH or any other gov. organization will know where it came from, MARK IT DOWN, my friend.
 
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MISSOULA - U.S. Critical Materials Corporation has staked a claim to rare earth minerals in the Bitterroot National Forest, that they say may be worth billions of dollars.
The claims are in the Sheep Creek area, located in the headwaters of the West Fork of the Bitterroot River, about 38 miles south of Darby.
The Utah-based mining company — which has been focused on the area for almost 20 years — says this may be the highest-quality vein of rare earth minerals in the United States.

 
MISSOULA - U.S. Critical Materials Corporation has staked a claim to rare earth minerals in the Bitterroot National Forest, that they say may be worth billions of dollars.
The claims are in the Sheep Creek area, located in the headwaters of the West Fork of the Bitterroot River, about 38 miles south of Darby.
The Utah-based mining company — which has been focused on the area for almost 20 years — says this may be the highest-quality vein of rare earth minerals in the United States.

Nothing could possibly go wrong there.
 
Nothing could possibly go wrong there.
Interesting to follow. The town of Darby has been on the radar of many of the "Money People" for 40+ years. Craig Barrett, retired CEO of Intel bought a large amount of land in that area, long ago. He developed the CB Ranch. Charles Schwab bought and developed another exclusive area as well, long ago. Darby will become one more "Boom Town" and a money maker for those visionaries.

U.S. Critical Materials Corporation now has a "staked claim". If they do nothing but keep the claim active, it will be worth a fortune down the road. Between Washington career politicians and big money investors, the Chinese may be the one's actually doing the actual mining.


 
I have watched Montana become an expensive place. Hundred's of "pro's and con's"... We have heard some mentioned here. It has become so expensive an average person can not afford to locate here. As we have seen in other places, the void is being filled. Here is a good example. Charles Schwab was a visionary along with Craig Barrett and a few other's.

 
MISSOULA - Tourism is continuing to grow in Montana.
The Montana Society of American Foresters met in Missoula on Thursday for their annual meeting where the Institute of Tourism and Recreation Research shared the data they've collected.
Approximately 12.5 million people visit Montana each year and when they are here, they spend about $5 billion. Additionally, there are almost 50,000 jobs supported by out-of-state tourism. The numbers also show that 47% of visitors come to Montana during the summertime and spend an average of five nights in the state.

 
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This could turn into a "Big Deal" for this region. Could be a big deal for America. For sure the "Save the ____________" (fill in the blanks) will fight it tooth and nail.
Discriminates against the people of color, the non-binary and any other group needing a reason to be butt hurt.
America needs independence from China. One small step........
________________________________
Just as the Biden administration and Congress are making major investments to expand the domestic critical minerals supply chain in the hopes of breaking our country’s dependence on China, one company believes the Bitterroot valley might be the best place to start.
Critical minerals provide the building blocks for many modern technologies and are essential to our national security and economic prosperity. These minerals—such as rare earth elements, lithium, and cobalt—can be found in products from computers to household appliances. They are also key inputs in clean energy technologies like batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels. As the world transitions to a clean energy economy, global demand for these critical minerals is set to skyrocket by 400-600 percent over the next several decades, and, for minerals such as lithium and graphite used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries, demand will increase by even more—as much as 4,000 percent. The U.S. is increasingly dependent on foreign sources for many of the processed versions of these minerals. Globally, China controls most of the market for processing and refining for cobalt, lithium, rare earths and other critical minerals.

I havent looked into it but from what I remember from living up there most of that land is on the Flathead Kootenai Reservation. Tribal Territory.

Whelp, there goes the neighborhood.
 
A question for y'all who are around St. Ignatius. I camped up just past the Mission Reservoir circa 75 while logging. Beautiful place, some great memories. I was just looking at a sat photo and it looks like the reservoir is half empty. Has it been that dry or something else"
 
Missoula, Montana has done away with the homeless. The easy solution was to change the definition.
Homeless is now Houseless.
:mad:



MISSOULA — The City of Missoula is taking another emergency action to help solve houselessness.
Mayor Jordan Hess announced a State of Emergency for houselessness and sheltering in Missoula. It's a decision that will allow the city to allocate emergency funds towards re-opening the Johnson Street Shelter.
The emergency winter shelter on 1919 North Avenue West closed on April 10, 2023. This past winter the shelter served almost 800 individuals, and at the time of its closing, 80 houseless people were still using the facility.



 
Prices are dropping but not enough compared to what interest rates rising.

Better for cash buyers, not do great for folks needing a mortgage.

National outlook calls for prices to continue to drop for the next 3-6 months.

Notable things on interest that will impact things.

1. Russia is about to stomp the shit completely out of Ukraine. There will be no brokered peace. Escalation to include Europe may be possible but I’m doubting it.

2. Serbia is at it again. It could be a second war beginning to outbreak in Europe.

3. China may move on Taiwan in the next month. Give or take.

Any or all could have major economic impact.

That’s all my crystal ball says.
I dream of NW Montana, but I want some land, and after looking and looking and looking I have come to the conclusion that I am not wealthy enough.
 
I dream of NW Montana, but I want some land, and after looking and looking and looking I have come to the conclusion that I am not wealthy enough.
Welcome to the "Great Reset". The larger cities in Montana are building condominium's that are starting in the $400k range. Difficult to find experienced employees who want to move here for a job because wages here have not kept up with housing cost. The show Yellowstone painted a much different picture of Montana than it really is. I'm not too far from the "Dutton Ranch" (Darby, MT) so I'm watching a steady stream of tourist pass through this area on their way to Glacier National park. The big money people saw the diamond in the rough and bought vast acreage long ago. Charles Schwab developed the Stock Farm Club and Craig Barrett (Retired CEO of Intel) developed the "CB Ranch" and other things near Darby, MT. I watch the private jets from all over America drop into the Bitterroot Valley on Friday afternoon and leave out Sunday evening. When one takes off, stays low and does a slow roll so the passengers can view the valley I say out loud "Big Money".... LOL

Here are the afternoon arrivals:

 
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I grew up in western Oregon surrounded by national forest and miss all that living in the hot, humid, overcrowded south not too far from Atlanta. I was hoping NW MT would be accessible, but not if I want 40 acres or more with electricity and internet access (can't pay the mortgage without internet, lol).
 
I grew up in western Oregon surrounded by national forest and miss all that living in the hot, humid, overcrowded south not too far from Atlanta. I was hoping NW MT would be accessible, but not if I want 40 acres or more with electricity and internet access (can't pay the mortgage without internet, lol).