The Fire This Time

Firefighting Needs Major Overhaul, Study Shows

Wildfire prevention efforts should focus far more on homeowners and key ecosystems -- and far less on random fires deep in the wilderness, according to a new study by the University of Montana, University of Colorado and Colorado State University.

The study -- which calls for an overhaul of the National Fire Plan --takes a hard look at federal efforts to prevent wildfires that are increasingly scorching the West and threatening homes near forests and wilderness. Only 11 percent of National Fire Plan wildfire-mitigation efforts in the last five years have occurred near people’s homes or offices, where it's critically needed, the researchers conclude.

Housing Market News

Montana Realty Board: Number of Agents Is Falling Fast

It seems not many people want to be real estate agents anymore, and established agents are getting out of the business like never before.

About 40 percent fewer new real estate agents received a license from the Montana Board of Realty Regulation in 2008, and about 15 percent of old members didn't renew last year, said Grace Berger, head of the state's regulatory agency.

Here are the numbers: Last year about 500 new applicants passed the requirements to become a real estate agent in Montana, down from about 800 in 2007. That year capped about a decade of growth in the number of licensed agents in Montana.

Hard Times in the Trades

Downturn Has Builders in Bankruptcy, or Just Getting Out

Small construction companies are seeking bankruptcy protection in Montana like never before, say Montana bankruptcy lawyers.

"They're just getting out. Selling everything and going," said James Screnar of Screnar Law Firm in Bozeman whose clients include North American Pipe and Welding of Three Forks.

Many of the contractors have filed for Chapter 7s -- which amount to a liquidation -- because they don't see a future, Screnar said.

He described scenarios in which developers commissioned work but didn't pay, while contractors and subs ordered materials -- wood or drywall or pipe -- on credit. When the developed couldn't sell the homes, the contractors didn't get paid, either. Many are stuck with the debts to suppliers.

Credit Suisse Prepares to Continue Legal Fight for Yellowstone Club

Edra Blixseth will be deposed by Credit Suisse lawyers this Saturday in California as part of the ongoing legal battle over control of the debt-riddled and bankrupt Yellowstone Club near Bozeman.

In notices filed late Wednesday, Credit Suisse said it plans to depose Sam Byrne of CrossHarbor Capital Partners, the Boston-based hedge fund that won a struggle to fund the penniless club until the end of April, as well as the club's professional managers and a representative of the leading member group.

Edra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the Yellowstone Club on Nov. 10, citing debts of more than $360 million. The club had no money and was on the brink of closure. The largest creditor is a collection of investors led by Credit Suisse, who are owed more than $307 million. Chapter 11 allows a business to remain open while reorganizing its debt.

Edra won control of the club in August after a bitter divorce with Tim Blixseth, the club's founder, and the architect of its monumental debt. So far in the proceeding, Tim has been notably absent, although a lawyer representing him recently signed onto the case. When Edra took over the club, its finances were in shambles, its accounts virtually empty. More than $88 million in member deposits had disappeared. Some news outlets have described the Yellowstone Club as the victim of the worldwide financial crunch, but at the bankruptcy hearings it seems the club was a financial train-wreck-in-progress years ago. Member deposits of more than $88 million, for instance, are gone, and one allegation in a previous lawsuit says Tim and Edra Blixseth funneled more than $200 million of the Credit Suisse loan to themselves as profit, spending it on private jets and California mansions.

How's-It-Going? Category

At An Old Millsite, Big Plans Get Put on Ice

A prominent brownfield clean-and-build project in downtown Missoula has been put on hold until the economy picks up.

The weed-infested former Champion Mill site just west of Ogren Field, the home of Missoula's minor league baseball team, has long been an example of urban blight and a symbol of the lost glory days of Montana's logging industry.

More than two years ago, local developer Kevin Mytty and finance partner Ed Wetherbee teamed with the Missoula Redevelopment Agency and others to clean the land of its minor environmental contaminants -- basically a lot of sawdust -- and transform it into a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood with houses, apartments, townhouses and space for commercial and retail tenants.

The Yellowstone Club Debacle

CrossHarbor Wins Inside Track In Yellowstone Club Bankruptcy

A hard-fought struggle for control of the bankrupt Yellowstone Club ended mid-afternoon on Wednesday when a federal bankruptcy judge gave CrossHarbor Capital Partners, a Boston-based hedge fund, the right to loan the club $20 million while it reorganizes its debt - a process that will likely last until the end of April.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ralph B. Kirscher issued his order after weeks of negotiations and three days of court testimony.

The Yellowstone Club filed for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 10, citing debts of more than $360 million, with about $311 million owed to investors assembled by international bank Credit Suisse.

Saga of the Super-Rich

Yellowstone Club Returns to Bankruptcy Court, to Sink Further Into Debt

As Edra Blixseth and the Yellowstone Club return to a U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Tuesday, the central questions will not revolve around paying the club's debts -- but rather miring the club deeper in red ink.

The club's lawyers filed a motion on Monday to ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ralph B. Kirscher to OK a second emergency loan to keep the club operating while in bankruptcy.

Two weeks ago, the club where only the best would do didn't have enough money for propane for heat, or the shuttle to move employees to and from nearby towns, much less enough cash to actually pay those employees, even for one more day.

That's when the club filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Montana court. Chapter 11 allows a business to remain open while it makes a plan to pay its debts. The filing came in the wake of an ugly divorce between Edra Blixseth and ex-husband Tim, allegations of large-scale financial impropriety and the collapse of the high-end real estate market as well as the credit markets that funded it.

Montana Economy

Montana Loses Jobs as Construction and Support Services Decline

Montana's unemployment rate has inched upward to a still-healthy 4.8 percent, according to the most recent figures from the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, as every sector but healthcare and hospitality services contracted.

"Overall, Montana has been weathering the economic situation pretty well," said state economist Aaron McNay. "I see Montana following a path similar to the rest of the nation."

Montana's economy, it seems, is slightly better -- or its downturn is delayed -- compared to the national economy. The national unemployment rate in October hit 6.5 percent, up 0.4 percent from the previous month. Montana's rate increased at half that rate, at 0.2 percent. Montana actually added 900 jobs, according to one set of statistics, from September to October.

In Hard Times, Art Becomes A Hard Sell

"We're closing at the end of the month, so that's how it's effecting us," said Carol Hoffnagle, who opened Studio 12 Art Gallery on Broadway and Pattee Street with her husband in downtown Missoula a little over a year ago.

"In September we felt we were just getting going," Hoffnagle added.

Over the past decade art galleries flourished and multiplied in the Mountain West, as flush tourists and new and moneyed residents in the region snatched up artwork to hang on the region's new wall space. Estimates by longtime gallery owners is that the number of galleries selling original artwork in towns like Missoula and Bozeman has roughly doubled or tripled since the late 1990s.

The abrupt collapse of the real estate industry and the national recession has brought hard times to the art galleries.