Still "The Last Best Place"?: Concentrated Ownership, Amenity Migration, and Community Change in Southwest Montana

Across the American West, amenity rich areas have been grappling with population growth, economic shifts, and associated community impacts. Amenity migration, the movement of wealthy suburban and urban individuals to rural areas for the natural amenities and slower paced life, has contributed to much of the change in amenity rich rural places. However, recently, a new process has begun occurring simultaneously with amenity migration. New high net worth (HNW) individuals have been purchasing large parcels of land, often through the acquisition of multiple ranches that are thousands of acres. Little is known about how these new HNW owners impact the places they purchase land in. This dissertation uses four empirical chapters to explore how residents of a rural county in Southwest Montana are perceiving, experiencing, and responding to increased HNW ownership in their county. Chapter 2 describes the modified drop-off/pick-up (DOPU) survey method used to collect data in Beaverhead County. The modified method included no contact drop offs, hand-written notes, and the option to complete the survey via Qualtrics. Results indicate that a modified DOPU maintains a relatively high response rate while lowering survey costs. Chapter 3 uses data from the modified DOPU survey to explore how residents of Beaverhead County are perceiving and experiencing increased HNW ownership and how that contributes to their view of the future of Beaverhead County. Results show that the HNW ownership has similar community level implications to amenity migration, but scaled up, and residents remain concerned and uncertain about how new owners will impact the landscape. Chapter 4 uses open-ended responses to the survey question “how do you define a Montanan?” to understand how place identity is changing due to amenity migration and increased HNW ownership. In Beaverhead County, the identity markers of a Montanan are shifting away from being based on time spent in Montana and towards the values that a person holds. Chapter 5 suggests that rural sociologists need to expand their view of rural places to account for hope by providing evidence of collective work towards a shared future in Beaverhead County.