Work, Jobs & Trout in the Intermountain Economy

I have never lived in a state with fewer than seven million people. Nine million people live in Michigan, where my love for the outdoors really took hold. Although you can get out in the woods and water there, you are never too far from a lot of other people enjoying the same thing. The East Coast is even more densely populated. Then, there is California where Heidi is from. 37 million people live in the Golden State.

I-90, near Buffalo WY

It’s so very different here in the intermountain region. Although Montana has about the same land area as Michigan, it has just one million residents…one-tenth of the population, more or less. Wyoming, Idaho and Utah are equally sparsely populated. Anything with a population of 50,000 is a big city out here. Lots of space, very few people.
It’s deceptive when you come here during the summer tourist season. You see people everywhere, especially around the big destinations like Yellowstone. Towns and highways are full of tourists in July and August. Restaurants and shops have lots of customers. But, it’s a seasonal illusion. Summer’s bubble of population shrinks dramatically after Labor Day.


Fence line along US 287, Cameron MT

So does the employment base that supports the summer tourist economy. It is a real eye opener to be a part of this seasonal economy.

Xanterra, my employer, hires over 2,000 seasonal employees to operate the lodges in Yellowstone National Park. They are virtually all seasonal, part-time jobs; only a few hundred are full-time, year-round positions. Even the jobs with the National Park Service are mostly seasonal. By mid-October, most operations in the Park close. When the operations end, so do the jobs.

I come to Yellowstone on a lark, for the fishing. It’s great having my housing and meals provided, and a small paycheck that covers gas, trout flies, beer and occasional entertainment/fine dining in the outside world. Heidi and I have already raised our family, and we are blessed with retirement income and good health insurance. Our financial needs are modest.

Jefferson River Valley, Three Forks MT

It is not a lark for some of the employees here. For them, seasonal, part-time work is the best job they can find in this sparse regional economy. When this job ends, it’s a scramble for them to find the next job. For many, the hospitality/food & beverage job market is a treadmill they are caught on.

Gaps in employment are a norm. The winter tourist season (in the snow sports, or at a travel destination in the Sunbelt) doesn’t start until early December. There is a similar employment gap of another month or two in the spring. The uncertainty of where the next job is going to come from is stressful. Some are lucky enough to have a sympathetic family member to take them in during their time off. I suspect that more than a few wind up homeless for a while.

Open Range near Browning MT

For sure, a lot of people do this by choice. They are willing to make the tradeoff in order to live away from the big city; up in the mountains; near their outdoor hobbies. Some of them are clever, or fortunate, enough to find year-round, full-time employment. I know a skilled tradesman who works here at Old Faithful as one of the few year-round, full-time Xanterra employees. He lives here in Montana by choice, for the outdoors and rural life. Down in Salt Lake City, he was making $30 an hour. Here, his pay is $18 an hour.

Cowboy statue, Thermopolis WY

For a lot of the twenty-somethings, it is a job choice. But, there is a lot of forty- and fifty-somethings working here too. Observation tells me many of them are on the part-time, seasonal treadmill. I have a new-found appreciation and empathy for the housekeeping, food & beverage, and other workers in the travel/hospitality industry. I am much more mindful of the tips I leave whenever I am traveling.