MONTANA BUSINESS QUARTERLY

Volume 44, Number 2, Summer  2006

Natural Resource Boom

Old Issues, New Circumstances

by

Paul E. Polzin

For the past four years, Montana’s economy has grown at 4 percent per year or greater, partly due to the energy boom and ever-increasing prices for commodities such as copper and zinc. What does this boom mean for the state’s mining industry? How will energy availability and infrastructure be affected if prices continue to rise? Are Montana’s regulations appropriate given the changing world situation?

Oil and Gas Production from Montana's State Trust Lands

by

Tom Schultz

In the past two years, oil and gas revenues generated from the management of Montana's state trust lands have increased by more than 200 percent. Income from state trust lands is an important source of funding for K-12 education in Montana. How these increases in revenues influence education funding is a policy decision by the Legislature.

Off to the Right Start

A Look at Infant and Parent Trends

by

Daphne Herling and Christine Gordon

Montana has fewer pre-term or low birthweight babies than other states, but we have more babies born to teen mothers and more women who smoke during pregnancy than some of our neighbors. This article discusses how Montana fares in areas such as teen births, repeat teen births, births to unmarried mothers, births to mothers with low educational attainment, smoking during pregnancy, late or no prenatal care, and low birth weight babies.

Population Trends

by

Paul E. Polzin

Using the new Census data, this article examines population statistics and trends in Montana, providing an overall look at counties that have grown, as well as those that have declined. While the state?s population has increased from 2000 to 2005, it has not grown as much as the period from 1990 to 1995.