Ch. 10 Florida: A Victim of Its Own Geography

Billings is located in the south central region of Montana. It is the largest and most populated city in Montana, and the major metropolitan area of the state with the population around 162,848 people.  It’s being run through by the Yellowstone River. Its topography is a mix of plains and mountains. The city is located in a very fertile valley with mountain ranges surrounding it. The valley’s soils are very deep, and it consists of silty clays and well-drained loams. There are many sandstone cliffs ranging from 300 to 500 feet high. In the southern area of the city, there are very steep hills and flat tablelands within the terrain.

The region in Billings is rather distinctive. Billings’ geologic history is that the city is located at the bottom of the large rimrock.  The Yellowstone River created a deep cut into the earth and created the Yellowstone Valley. This also created and showed the sandstone cliffs that later became the landmark of the city. And the Yellowstone River itself is also a landmark. The river is one of the last free-flowing rivers in the states. The rimrock is more than 460 feet tall, and there were also parks on the rimrocks that allow visitors to get a great view of the city and far away mountains including the Rockies and Pryor Mountains in the west side.

There are rarely any sinkholes in Billings or even in Montana. Typically, sinkholes appear often in old mining yards. Therefore, it is possible for them to have sinkholes. There are also occurrences of sinkhole appearing at the irrigation dam and when there is water pipe break. There is an occurrence in Helena, the capital of Montana, where there’s a sinkhole that appeared in the backyard of a household while turning on the sprinkler. According to the geologic expert, the southwest part of Montana is likely to face other geographical hazards than sinkholes, but the hazard wouldn’t be a major one. Billings is not likely to have earthquakes comparing to every other states. But the area is likely to be damage by tornados within Montana, it’s still less likely to have tornadoes comparing to other states.

http://www.montana.ms/Billings_Montana/index.html

http://www.billingschamber.com/relocate/billings/topographygeography/

http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/Sinkholes-Should-Butte-residents-be-concerned/-/14594602/19144214/-/2ipi1w/-/index.html

http://helenair.com/news/local/sinkhole-in-backyard-opens-up-questions/article_863b3d10-f7ed-11e1-8c79-001a4bcf887a.html

Ch. 11 Gulf Coastal Plains and Mississippi Valley: Juxtaposition Squared

Montana itself has always been the export state. Billings’ economic growths have a great relation to its geographic location. Its trade and distribution center started from building the railroad. Ever since the railroad was built, the city’s economy development grew faster than any other city in Montana. Soon, the city became a major trade and distribution center, and the trade center serves over half million people. The railroad in Montana can transfer up to two million carloads each year, and they would need to employ more than two thousand and two hundred people in the state every year. The state’s natural resource and agriculture industries help increase the rail investment.

Many headquarters and corporate headquarters were located in Billings. Some of the headquarters include Stillwater Mining Company and First Interstate Bank. It is also a major retail area of Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota, especially Montana that have no sales tax. In the city, most purchases were spent on retail, and most of them were wholesale businesses. At least 25 percent of the wholesale businesses within Montana were from Billings. The city was the most ideal place to start a business during 2009’s magazine survey. Their major service sectors are retail, health care, financial service, and entertainments.

Billings is located among the largest coal reserves region in the United States. The region also has large oil and natural gas fields. There are three oil refineries in the city’s metropolitan area, and a coal fire generation plant. Other things that support their economy include energy exploration and production and underground mining. There is also a sugar beet refining plant, since Billings’ primary crops are sugar beets. Other primary crops include oats and alfalfa. Their trade include many of these agriculture products, it also include wheat, soybeans, and cattle. There are around 15 million tons of the agriculture products transported to the other states in Montana including North Dakota and the others. Grains and coals are also being exported overseas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billings,_Montana#Economy

http://www.wnyc.org/story/booming-natural-resource-and-agriculture-industries-spur-rail-investment-montana/

Ch. 12 The Ozarks: Unexpected Economic Miracles

Billings is the largest city in Montana. It is the main city along freeway I-90. It’s also the center of the upper Yellowstone Valley in south-central Montana. Not just that it’s a trade center; it’s also a medical and entertainment center for the whole east side of Montana including the Bighorn Basin in Wyoming.

The great economy change occurs around 1882, when the Northern Pacific Railroad has been decided to be build there. At that time, there are no buildings build yet. It was ever since the railroad was built, the settlement in Billings increase to more than two thousand buildings not long after a few months. The place was once a trading point for wool throughout the United States. Soon after that, natural resources such as the oil fields, natural gas and coal reserves were discovered.  Other than the natural resources that support their economy, industries like agriculture, energy, healthcare, and mining also help the growth of Billings’ economy. The population growth in the city increase was so fast that it became the sixth fastest growing community in the United States. The region was also suitable for raising livestock, since it have plenty of large prairie lands. Many people that settle in the city during the 1900s were immigrant laborers that came for farming. Ethnic groups that came to start their own farmland include Japanese, Russo-Germans, and Mexicans.

Ch. 13 The Midwest: Corn, Cars, Conundrums, and Hope

A new law in Montana required food to be labeled whether it’s genetically modified or not. It’s called the Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act. It has been opposed by most of the farm groups in Montana for more than a decade. In Billings, the grocery story would always put on non-GMO labels. But at the border of the city, where the fields are irrigated, their corn, sugar beets and alfalfa are genetically modified. GMO kept changing in order to make plants resistant to disease. After the plants are being exposed to weed control, the GMO products are also not likely to suffer with days of growth-stifling chemical hangover. The genetically modified ingredients are rather common. It appears during food preparation and beverages. Since beverages contain a high amount of fructose corn syrup, the fructose corn syrup comes from genetically modified corn. Many beets in the U.S. are also genetically modified, and granulated sugars are from beets. Although the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have reviewed over and over and concluded that genetically modified foods have makes no difference with the non-genetically modified ones, many people are still concerned about its effect on human health. Some other places opposed the idea of labeling the product because it would mean there’s a difference between GMO and non-GMO product. Acres of wheat have decreased due to resilient genetically modified crops such as corn and soybeans. There are problems making GMO and non-GMO products separate, and it would make crops more competitive. Some people say no matter if it’s modified or not and whether it has negative effect on human or not, it should be labeled, and that is what Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act is for.

Please click the link below for video:

http://www.kulr8.com/story/22631056/mt-wheat-farmers-seek-change

http://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/food-fight-brewing-over-genetically-modified-ingredients/article_bdc04c3a-b7f0-11e2-a975-0019bb2963f4.html 

Ch. 14 The Great Plains and Canadian Prairie: Land of Opportunity, or Where the Buffalo Roam?

Not just that Billings is the largest city, it’s also the most important center of Montana’s economy. Billings is one of the cities with the lowest unemployment rates. Its unemployment rate is about 3.9 percent during 2013. On the other hand, their employment rate is 86 percent during 2013. The national unemployment rate during 2013 is 7.3 percent, and Montana’s unemployment rate is 5.3 percent.

People in Billings work for trade and transportation, professional and business services, education, health services, and hospitality and leisure. The city’s percentage of civilian labor force is 89.5 during 2013. Many civilians work for farmlands in Billings. Trade and transportation comprised around 20.9 percent. Due to the abundance of natural resources and agriculture, Billings’ economy depends a lot on transportation and trade using railroad. Professional and business services comprised around 11.4 percent. Education and health services comprised around 14.4 percent. Their leisure and hospitality comprised around 10.3 percent. The other 9.5 percent works in the government.

Unemployment Rate: Billings, Montana, National

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Number of Unemployed Persons

http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.mt_billings_msa.htm
http://www.deptofnumbers.com/unemployment/montana/billings/

Ch. 15 The Rocky Mountains: High in Elevations, Aspirations, and Appreciation

Billings is surrounded by six mountain ranges. Since it has the largest coal reserves within the U.S., they use the mountains for mining and raising livestock. There are twelve coal mines in Montana. Some coal mining is located in Billings’ mountains, such as the Bull Mountain. Mining in the Bull Mountain started during 1800s. An underground coal mining also takes place in Billings, called the Signal Peak Mine. It was closed during 2011 due to over limit of carbon monoxide found within the mine. Later, nitrogen was added to the mine to reduce the toxic gas within the safety standard, and it was reopened again. Often times, mining is being opposed by the local residents. Some people supported environmental care, and some supported job opportunities. Surely, underground mining can have many negative effects on the environment. It can affect the alpine lakes under the mineral deposit, because the faults that run through the deposit could create new rifts after the mining blasts. Mining can pollute the water with heavy metals, and affect the wildlife around it, such as decrease in amount of trout. The mining company can access to the mining land with the minimal price, which is allowed by the federal leasing arrangements. Often ignoring the environmental care due to the economic benefit, the mine operations have to be approved by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the Water Quality Act.

The Yellowstone National Park is located close to Billings, and it’s the world’s first national park. Over two millions of years, the North American plate has moved right above the continuous heat source from the mantel that came from the lava fields in Oregon’s east side’s Columbia Plateau called the hot spots. The hot spots in the park make hot springs. It is located over the Snake River Plain and the Yellowstone Plateau from the northern Rockies at the Wyoming and Montana border. The pressure within the magma has been building up over time, and there was an eruption about six thousand years ago. There were often times poor management on environment protections, such as suppressing fire to prevent further destruction of animals and their habitat and preventing the cattle from exposing to disease.

http://meic.org/2013/05/signal-peak-energy-violates-safety-standards-disputes-fines/

Ch. 16 Intermontane: Baked, Beguiling, and Booming

The pollution in the Yellowstone River was the oil spill during 2011. The pollution of the river is around 10 miles from Laurel to Hysham in Montana. The pipe that was leaking was buried as deep as eight feet below the river. Around 42,000 gallons of oil were leaked into the Yellowstone River. Local people were worried of the long-term effects on the property and the wildlife. The spilled area is a more narrow part of the river, around 30 miles wide. Therefore, it’s not a major problem comparing to other leaks. There are several oil remains on the tree as the river recedes, but there are possibly no effect on wildlife or fishes. The farmers also can’t irrigate their plants like alfalfas using the river. Some parts of the river might be contaminated, which they might not be able to see it. The water from the river is also used as drinking supplies for the animals. 

Other than the oil leaking from the pipeline is a concern, during 2013, they also face another environmental problem. It is the coal-burning power plants that discharge water wastes such as oil or grease and other solid particles. One of the power plants is located near the banks of the Yellowstone. If there are ever any wastes that contain metals from the power plant, there are no restrictions on any toxic metals that could leak into the water, such as arsenic, mercury, and lead. They also never inspect whether the pond in the area contain metals, but they do detect the high level of arsenic at the downstream of Yellowstone River. They also have restriction on the power plant for excessive air pollution. It’s decided that from the federal Environmental Protection Agency that they will be stricter on the water quality from the coal plants and make sure that they comply to the new standards. Since more than half of the toxic waste comes from the power plants. Most of all, it’s important to make sure the water is not too polluted because the Yellowstone River is a main drinking-water and irrigation supply for Billings. But extra spending is necessary for water-treatments. 

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43657766/#.Up5r89JDu0w 

http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/33635-1 

http://www.city-data.com/city/Billings-Montana.html