Regional designations of Montana
The Regional designations of Montana vary widely within the
Unofficial designations
Various parts of Montana have been given a number of formal and informal names, including:
- Eastern Montana, with varying definitions placing the western boundary anywhere from the Continental Divide to areas east of Billings, Montana.
- Western Montana, with varying definitions placing the eastern boundary anywhere from the Continental Divide to the eastern edge of the Absaroka Range.
- Central Montana, with varying definitions.
- The U.S. Highway 2.[1]
- The "Golden Triangle," an area noted for grain growing, outlined by the cities of Havre, Conrad and Great Falls.[2]
- Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which includes all or parts of Gallatin and Custer National Forests in addition to Yellowstone National Park
- Many Glacier, is a region within Glacier National Park. The region is located north of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, on the east side of the park.
- Medicine Line, the name given the 49th parallel border between the U.S. and Canada between Lake of the Woods and the continental divide by Native Americans because of its seemingly magical ability to prevent U.S. soldiers from crossing it.[3]
- The Flathead, encompassing the area around Flathead Lakeand surrounding communities
- Two Medicine, is the collective name of a region located in the southeastern section of Glacier National Park.
- The Bitterroot, centered on Ravalli County and Hamilton, the county seat.
Official state regions
Tourism regions
The Montana Official Travel Site (visitmt
- Custer Country, comprising Big Horn, Carter, Custer, Dawson, Fallon, Golden Valley, Musselshell, Powder River, Prairie, Rosebud, Treasure, Wibaux, Yellowstone counties. Includes the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.[5]
- Glacier Country, comprising Flathead, Glacier, Granite, Lake, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula, Ravalli, and Sanders counties. Includes Glacier National Park.[6]
- Gold West Country, comprising Beaverhead, Broadwater, Deer Lodge, Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, Madison, Powell, and Silver Bow counties.[7]
- Missouri River Country, comprising Daniel, Garfield, McCone, Phillips, Richland, Roosevelt, Sheridan, Valley counties.[8] Includes major portions of the Montana Dinosaur Trail.
- Russell Country, comprising Blaine, Cascade, Chouteau, Fergus, Glacier, Hill, Liberty, Meagher, Petroleum, Pondera, Toole, and Teton counties.[9] The region is named for the influence on the area by cowboy artist Charles M. Russell.
- Yellowstone Country, comprising Carbon, Gallatin, Park, Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties. Includes northern and western gateways to Yellowstone National Park.[10]
Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks regions
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks has designated seven administrative regions for the purposes of fish, wildlife and parks management.[11]
- Region 1, Northwest Montana, (Kalispell, Montana), includes Flathead Lake[12]
- Region 2, West Central Montana, (
- Region 3, Southwest Montana, (Bozeman, Montana), includes the Madison, Gallatin, Jefferson, upper Missouri, upper Yellowstone, Beaverhead, and Big Hole rivers.[14]
- Region 4, North Central Montana, (Great Falls, Montana), includes the lower Missouri and Smith rivers.[15]
- Region 5, South Central Montana, (Billings, Montana), includes the Yellowstone, Stillwater, Bighorn, and Boulder rivers.[16]
- Region 6, North East Montana, (Glasgow, Montana), includes Fort Peck Reservoir on the Missouri River.[17]
- Region 7, South East Montana, (Miles City, Montana), includes the Missouri, Yellowstone and Tongue rivers.[18]
Federal government regions
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The
Bureau of Indian Affairs agencies
Montana east of the continental divide and Wyoming make up the Rocky Mountain Region of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) which includes the following Indian agencies in Montana.[20]
- Blackfeet Agency, services the
- Crow Agency, services the Crow Indian Reservation in Big Horn, Yellowstone, and Treasure counties.[22]
- Fort Belknap Agency, services the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Blaine and Phillips counties.[23]
- Fort Peck Agency, services the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Roosevelt, Valley, Daniels, and Sheridan counties.[24] The agency administers off-reservation trust lands in Montana for the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation.
- Northern Cheyenne Agency, services the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Rosebud and Big Horn counties.[25]
- Rocky Boy's Agency, services the
- The Flathead Agency is in the BIA Northwest Region and services the Flathead Indian Reservation in Lake, Sanders, Missoula, and Flathead counties.
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) includes Montana with North and South Dakota in its Montana-Dakotas region. The BLM administers Montana through nine regional field offices.[27]
- Billings office
- Butte office
- Dillon office
- Glasgow office
- Havre office
- Lewistown office
- Malta office
- Miles City office
- Missoula office
National Weather Service
Montana is part of the Western Region of the
- Billings
- Glasgow
- Great Falls
- Missoula
The NWS designates regional weather reports originating from these offices as Southeastern Montana, Northeastern Montana, Central Montana and Western Montana/Central Idaho.[29]
Social Security Administration
Montana is included in the Denver Region of the Social Security Administration along with Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah.[30]
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Montana is included in the Omaha District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Northwestern Division.[31]
Climate regions
In the
Notes
- ISBN 1-56037-021-1.
- ^ "Montana's Golden Triangle". American Profile. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-8032-1791-1.
- ^ "Montana Official Travel Site-Regions". Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "Custer Country, Montana". Retrieved 2011-06-13.
- ^ "Glacier Country, Montana". Retrieved 2011-06-11.
- ^ "Gold West Country Communities". Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "Montana's Missouri River Country". Retrieved 2011-06-11.
- ^ "Montana's Russell Country-Area Map". Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "Montana's Yellowstone Country-Map of Region". Archived from the original on 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "Fish and Wildlife Regions". Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
- ^ "FWP Region 1". Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
- ^ "FWP Region 2". Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "FWP Region 3". Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "FWP Region 4". Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "FWP Region 5". Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Retrieved 2011-06-10.
- ^ "FWP Region 6". Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Retrieved 2011-06-10.
- ^ "FWP Region 7". Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Retrieved 2011-06-10.
- ^ "Mountain-Prairie Region". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
- ^ "Indian Affairs-Rocky Mountain Region". U.S. Department of the Interior. Archived from the original on 2011-02-28. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
- ^ "Blackfeet Agency". Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "Crow Agency". Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "Fort Belknap Agency". Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "Fort Peck Agency". Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "Northern Cheyenne Agency". Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "Rocky Boy's Agency". Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "Montana-Dakotas". U.S. Department of Interior. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
- ^ "NOAA NWS Offices and Centers". Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "National Maps - NOAA's National Weather Service". Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ^ "Denver Region". Social Security Administration. Retrieved 2011-06-11.
- ^ "U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Northwestern Division". Archived from the original on 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2011-06-11.
- ^ "World Maps of Köppen-Geiger climate classification". koeppen-geiger.vu-wien.ac.at.
- ^ "USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map". planthardiness.ars.usda.gov.
- ^ "2009 IECC Climate Zone Map - Montana". energycode.pnl.gov.