Saga of the Super-Rich-
Yellowstone Club Returns to Bankruptcy Court, to Sink Further Into Debt. By Robert Struckman. New West.
Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He has been a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and also its President. For many years he produced Ralph Maughan's Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of "Hiking Idaho." He also wrote "Beyond the Tetons" and "Backpacking Wyoming's Teton and Washakie Wilderness." He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
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Boo Hoo, like who cares if it goes under, they can now go buy a lift ticket and wait in the lift lines like the rest of us commoners do…..why loan more money to folks that are millionaires? let them bail it out with some IRA money, or sell some of the BMW, Jags they own or private jets…..
Maybe a conservation organization can use a room of a house as an office; or they can be cut for firewood. 😉
Yet one more (most likely) example of excess and greed. I do feel sorry for all of the local workers who haven’t been paid however….
My first thought is what happens to the land? Hopefully, nothing detrimental to the environment!
jstones,
You have made a very good point, and I didn’t think of it.
I think Montanans can have increased respect, however, by not being the servants of the ulta-rich.
Well, the only sad part, is that it looks like I won’t get the opportunity to work on any more homes up there anytime soon!
3-years ago, when the club was still bustling, there would be a steady stream of construction workers snaking through the canyon. The local papers were filled with want-ads for workers who were willing to make the trek from Bozeman to the club.
I traveled from New York to Montana with no job prospects and no money – just based upon the want-ads.
I arrived in Bozeman and interviewed with 4 companies my first full day in town. I accepted a project with a major local contractor and was working the next day.
I stayed at a hotel for a few nights until my money ran out and slept in my truck until I received my first check. Qualified contractors were in high demand, and within 2-weeks of accepting a project, I was making upwards of $75.00 per hour and working 65-70 hours a week.
I stayed in Montana for 3 months and left with nearly $30,000 dollars in my bank account. Sigh. I miss those days.
The ultra rich may be extravagant to the extreme, but they sure pay well.
I am in Ohio now, and just for fun I looked up the Bozeman Daily Chronicle want-ads. Narry a construction job to be found.
So, am I sad that the Yellow Stone Club went under? A little bit, because now, times are tight and I wouldn’t mind hanging out in Big Sky for awhile 😉