Field Notes Archive - Page 2 of 3 - Headwaters Economics

FloodWise in St. Regis, Montana

Last month Kris Smith and Bridget Mitchell from our FloodWise team traveled to St. Regis, Montana to meet with partners from the St. Regis Resort Tax District, Mineral County Economic Development, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC), and Great West Engineering. FloodWise helped the tax district win a $280,000 Montana Resiliency Fund grant to identify and prioritize flood mitigation strategies. The project aims to reduce widespread flood risk to the community and critical transportation infrastructure, including Interstate 90 and the railroad.

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1 week ago

Our Executive Director Patty Hernandez spoke at the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) annual meeting on a panel titled “The Uninsurable Economy: Climate Risk, Asset Repricing, and Fiscal Fallout,” discussing how rising wildfire and flood risk is reshaping insurance and local economies—and the solutions on the table. The audience included leaders from Nationwide, USAA, Ford, Visa, Caterpillar, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and more.

4 weeks ago

Kris Smith of our FloodWise program spoke at the Federal Reserve’s 2026 Investing in Rural America Conference on a panel titled “Place-Based Infrastructure Investments and Local Benefits,” sharing how rural communities are tackling flood risk. The Richmond branch of the Federal Reserve has made big investments to collect data and conduct research on rural economic issues. Learn more at their Center for Rural Economies.

1 month ago

Miles City site visit

Featuring:

Kris Smith, Ph.D.

Our FloodWise program staff were recently in Miles City, MT to present an Operations and Financial Snapshot to the City Council as they seek new funding strategies for projects that can reduce flood risks. Miles City is a historic Montana town where the Tongue River meets the Yellowstone River and well worth the visit!

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2 months ago

This week Megan Lawson facilitated a seminar on the Economics of Public Lands for the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon. The event highlighted the many economic roles public lands play for nearby communities, how these economic values reflect our society’s priorities, and how changing priorities inform the way these lands are managed.

2 months ago

Resilience at the Council of State Governments meeting

Featuring:

Patricia Hernandez

On July 10 our executive director Patty Hernandez presented to 80 state legislators at the Council of State Governments West annual meeting on a wildfire resilience panel. Her top points: smaller communities especially need resources, technical assistance, and flexibility to protect homes from wildfire; updated codes and ordinances must be prioritized to make homes wildfire-resistant; and on-the-ground risk reduction can help rebalance insurance markets in a future of more frequent, intense wildfires.

Panelists also included Tyson Bertone-Riggs from Alliance for Wildfire Resilience and Eric Horn from Megafire Action.

4 months ago

Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Cohort

Featuring:

Ryan Maye Handy

Brent Powell

CPAW helped 25 communities adopt Colorado’s Wildfire Resiliency Code. Headwaters Economics’ Ryan Handy shares the details on this program.

4 months ago

Headwaters Economics at the 2026 Montana Rural Summit

Featuring:

Kris Smith, Ph.D.

Kris Smith is just back from 2026 Montana Rural Summit in Townsend where about 150 funders, elected officials, and service providers gathered to discuss the state of rural Montana. Kris and Dr. Julia Haggerty of Montana State University presented a draft of their State of Rural Montana report that drew extensive feedback and participation from attendees. Thank you MSU Extension for hosting!

5 months ago

Measuring outdoor recreation in Vermont

Featuring:

Megan Lawson, Ph.D.

Headwaters Economics partnered with the State of Vermont to build an online dashboard that highlights the impacts of outdoor recreation across the state. The CORE Data Dashboard shows visitation patterns, spending profiles, and other research to help local leaders understand trends and direct investments.

5 months ago

An updated Rural Capacity Index

Featuring:

Bill Daigle

Tara Preston

Our Rural Capacity Index (RCI) just got a significant update. The tool measures how well communities are equipped to compete for funding and manage long-term infrastructure projects. New features include refined data, a search bar to find any community in the country, and state-level capacity ratings. The RCI is used by agencies, funders, and local leaders as they work to distribute resources and other assistance to places that need it most.

6 months ago