Alternatives to Dying Out

A New Publication for Eastern Montana’s Wide Open Spaces

By Kate Downen, 6-08-06

There's about to be a new magazine in town-- or should I say, in 'the country.' Alternatives, an online publication based out of Plentywood, Montana, will explore topics like alternative energy development, eco-tourism, aging population, health and fitness, obesity and other issues facing communities in the vast, open spaces on the east side of the Great Divide.

Montana is a big state. 56 counties make up 147,046 square miles. An estimated 935,670 people live here. Montana is to the road tripper of the West what Ohio is to the road-tripper of the East, which is to say, if you’re just driving through, it will dominate your day, your life and your entire conscience until you cross out of its borders.

In the case of Ohio's I-80/90, that’s a bad thing. Driving that route through Ohio hurts. It's a look-alike racetrack of fast food rest stops, semi-trucks and constant road construction (it's been a couple of years since I've driven that 80/90 Ohio route, but each crossing in college was a test of patience and lucidity, especially in mid-summer, without air conditioning. Tired and overheated a few years ago on that drive, I pulled over, sat on a rest stop lawn, cried in self-pity for five minutes and then walked to the gift shop where I bought a t-shirt with a silk-screened Ohio state map on the front. Then I got back in the car, cranked up Kid A on my crappy stereo and frowned my way to Indiana).

The trek across Montana is different. It's long, but it's more of a semi-sweet masochism. You encounter a strange and gorgeous universe of plains for miles and miles as you drive through the East. It goes on forever, but it's empty and it's beautiful and it's yours. There's pride in recognition of that beauty. It's easy to love the mountains, but the plains, flat and gold and windblown, are less comfortable, like the boy in high school you loved for being different and difficult. Then suddenly, jagged towers shoot up from the fields when you hit the Rockies in the West. Montana driving is a commitment. Baker in southeast Montana to Eureka in northwest Montana is 750 miles. That’s about 15 hours.

Western Montana and Eastern Montana could easily be different countries-- geographically, yes-- but economically they're also awkward stepsisters. Governor Brian Schweitzer points to what he calls Montana's 'Cowboy Boot' of prosperity as differentiation. The Cowboy Boot starts in the northwest, here in the Flathead Valley, and goes down through Missoula, Great Falls and Bozeman. It ends in the 'big city' of Billings. The Cowboy Boot economies are doing all right. Real estate within the Boot is on the up (in some areas, it's sky-high), and growth within the Boot is happening. But in Eastern Montana it's a different story. It's out of the Boot and down on its luck. And it's looking for its second coming.

About a month ago I called Dennis Ketterman, editor and publisher of Alternatives, to find out what his new magazine was all about. I figured we’d talk for about five minutes, I’d get a couple of vanilla quotes about Eastern Montana coal development and that would be that. What ensued instead was a pretty hilarious, enlightening, 45-minute conversation.

Dennis had a lot to say. We talked about the governor's plan to turn Eastern Montana into a coal gasification grounds ('Eastern Montanans are skeptical'). We talked about man-made diseases like obesity and diabetes. We talked about kids moving to cities instead of working their family farms. He told me a story about a school bus that guzzles gas to pick up Frito-filled kids who could easily walk the few blocks to school. He told me about farms with acres upon acres that are being subsidized but not farmed, and that I could buy a nice, four-bedroom house in Plentywood for something like $100,000 (the average cost of a small house in the Flathead Valley is near $300,000). And he talked with optimism about the possibilities for Eastern Montana, with its great people, deep roots and tough spirit. That's what Alternatives will be about when it debuts in July. It'll explore the concepts of energy, health and future for a place that, in contrast to its jagged stepsister, seems to be dying.

My talk with Dennis made me feel good. I'm excited about Alternatives and I think it's a small but exciting step for Eastern Montana.

I hung up the phone with Dennis and thought about the woes of Eastern Montana and the things we whine about in our growing, thriving Flathead. I felt like a loser for crying at the rest stop, buying the t-shirt and moving on.



Stay tuned for more information on Alternatives' debut, or contact Dennis Ketterman at for more information on reading, writing for or advertising on Alternatives.

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