It is redundant to say that Montana can provide a small(er) scale representation of the United States, each state represents the whole in some way or another, however, it is fair to say that the remoteness of Bitterroot serves almost like a control group for the rest of the country. As Diamond puts it, “Bitterroot valley presents a microcosm of the environmental problems plaguing the rest of the United States: Increasing population… increasing scarcity and decreasing quality of water… poor air quality… deforestation…”, to name a few. Some problems facing Bitterroot, and the US, are indeed historically natural, wildfires and climate change have been affecting global ecosystems since the amalgamation of space rock became Earth and grew life.
