Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Coalbed methane reclamation activities in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming: social and policy dimensions of environmental legacy management(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2020) Walsh, Kathryn Bills; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Julia Hobson Haggerty; Julia H. Haggerty was a co-author of the article, 'Governing unconventional legacies: lessons from the coalbed methane boom in Wyoming' in 'Governing Shale Gas: Development, Citizen Participation and Decision Making in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe' which is contained within this dissertation.; Julia H. Haggerty was a co-author of the article, 'Social license to operate during Wyoming's coalbed methane boom: implications of private participation' in the journal 'Energy policy' which is contained within this dissertation.; Julia H. Haggerty was a co-author of the article, 'The 'learn as you go' approach: a cautionary tale of environmental legacy management in Wyoming's coalbed methane fields' which is contained within this dissertation.The United States is producing more oil and natural gas than ever before. Sites of production are contributing to the known land-use phenomenon of energy sprawl, though little is known about how these sites will be reclaimed and how legacy effects will be governed and managed. Reclamation returns degraded energy landscapes to some productive capacity in order to avoid permanent environmental harm. Thus far, the technical aspects of reclamation have been the topic of most research while the human dimensions are under-studied. This research draws attention to the social and political dimensions of environmental legacy management. A period of coalbed methane development in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming (1999-2009) provides an instructive case study to investigate the legacy effects of energy resource development. After a decade of coalbed methane production, about 5,700 orphaned wells remained without viable industry operators to fund and manage well-plugging and reclamation. This dissertation uses a qualitative case study approach including document analysis, policy analysis, and forty semi-structured interviews with local surface owners, attorneys, state and federal regulators, local government officials, and industry personnel. Contextual research revealed that management of post-production oil and gas is a highly complex governance challenge made more complicated by the split estate property regime that characterizes the American West. Empirical research found that environmental legacy issues are exacerbated by 'private participation'. Applying a framework tied to the concept of social license to operate, investigation of surface owner-industry relations revealed that individuals played a critical role in decision-making processes. Surface owner's private participation resulted in decisions to forgo reclamation and integrate CBM-related infrastructure into ranching operations, therefore contributing to the scale and extent of environmental legacies. This dissertation also found that an adaptive, or 'learn as you go', policy approach in Wyoming enabled cost-shifting mechanisms to gain foothold, creating serious long-term environmental costs. Three specific cost-shifting mechanisms for CBM were identified: regulatory misalignment, overadaptation to the oil and gas industry, and industry bankruptcy. Together this dissertation highlights the importance of studying the social and political dimensions of post-production oil and gas activities for more effective environmental legacy management.Item Sheep country in three western American localities: place identity, landscape, community, and family(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2018) Sando, Linnea Christiana; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: William WyckoffSheep ranching in the American West is a vanishing way of life, but one that has for generations shaped many of the region's communities and their cultural landscapes. This research explores how powerful and enduring place identities associated with sheep ranching and the wool industry have transformed communities in Sweet Grass County, Montana, Elko County, Nevada and Umatilla County, Oregon. To assess the evolving roles sheep ranching and the wool industry have played in cultivating place identity, I used interviews and conversations, 'stories,' landscape observation and analysis, an analysis of past and contemporary creative endeavors, and archival works, such as government documents, local histories, newspaper articles, and promotional literature and imagery. I also explored the concept of place identity from varied perspectives, including from a community standpoint and a more in-depth family perspective. The sheep and wool industries did not unfold and impact the places and people in identical ways. Factors including the physical environment, local economies, key players and image makers, cultural backgrounds, and defining institutions of communities all played a role in shaping place identities. This research also shows the myriad ways communities and their residents incorporate the heritage of raising sheep into their daily lives, such as through festivals, community events, the sharing of social memories, and through creative works. The urban and rural landscapes in each case study also reflect the wool and sheep legacies, but this legacy is displayed differently based on distinctive environmental settings and unique settlement histories. By assessing the concept of place identity from varied perspectives and varied sources in three different localities, this dissertation provides a meaningful methodology for examining the ways place identities are created, nurtured, and reflected at multiple scales and in a diversity of communities.Item Creating the Old and New Wests : landscape and identity in Anaconda and Hamilton, Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2006) Bryson, Jeremy Glen; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: William WyckoffThis research employs case studies of Anaconda and Hamilton, Montana to explore the creation of the Old and New Wests. For nearly a century, Anaconda functioned as a copper smelting city. However, since the smelter closed the community has witnessed withering population losses, economic contraction, and investment withdrawal. Alternatively, Hamilton has a long history of recreational and leisure amenity investment. Recently, Hamilton's rapid population growth, economic expansion and considerable investment have transformed the community. This research seeks to understand and interpret the changes occurring in the contemporary Old and New Wests as well as to understand and interpret their historical geographic roots. By using the tools of cultural landscape analysis combined with the concept of place identity, this research argues that the shifting imprint of capital and the industrial and middle landscape ideals have been central forces in the creation of these distinctive modern regions.