The 49th Parallel
Small newspapers with big ambitions deserve admiration, and the Helena Independent Record is worthy of special praise for its "Big Sky, Big Border" project. While the immigration debate has focused attention on the U.S. border with Mexico, the staff of the Independent Record has taken a penetrating look at the 545 miles that Montana shares with Canada. Martin Kidston's excellent opening story uses sharp details to describe the challenges faced by border patrol agents trying to cover such a vast area:
As far as the eye can see it’s open prairie, badlands and rolling hills with plenty of places to hide. The Sweetgrass Hills, with their pine forests and shaded gullies, provide good cover. The Milk River snakes lazily from Canada into Montana, cutting a deep chasm in the prairie. Many of the farms on the border have been abandoned, the houses shuttered and the barns sealed, the perfect setting for a horror film, or better yet, a hideout.
The project also includes stories by Angela Brandt and Eve Byron that examine drug trafficking across the border along with a slideshow by Brandt and George Lane that explains the hierarchy of agencies responsible for patrolling these entry points. www.helenair.com/series/bigskyborder/