The Cultural and Economic Collapse of Southwestern Montana’s Wild Trout Fishery
Abstract
Southwestern Montana rose to prominence as the world’s premier wild trout fishery from precedent-setting science-based management and habitat conservation. This paper documents the ways deregulated extraction and population growth, coupled with human-caused climate change, threaten Montana’s trout and the state’s cultural and economic vitality. The discussion connects the Old West’s anti-regulatory ethos and extractive legacy with the New West’s rapid growth and resulting resource strain, showing how their incompatibility—intensified by accelerating climate change—creates a three-pronged threat to Montana’s premier wild trout fisheries and the economy and culture that depend on them.
Fields of Study & Subjects
American Environmental and Regional History
Fish Ecology and Management Studies
Rangeland and Wildlife Management
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Society & Natural Resources
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1042–1053
- Publication date
- 7 January 2026
- Language
- EN