These are Montana's top natural resources

Is Montana rich in natural resources?

Montana is abundant in natural resources, including petroleum, agricultural land, rangeland, coal, timber, gold, copper, silver, sapphires, and other minerals. Each of Montana’s natural resource sectors plays a fundamental role in the state economy.

Read on for a list of the main natural resources produced in Montana, which ones are Montana’s biggest industries, how big they actually are, and their impact on the local economy.

What are Montana’s biggest natural resources?

Montana’s biggest natural resources are agricultural land, minerals, and natural gas & oil.

Montana’s agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting activity generated $1.96 billion of the state’s 2024 GDP, while mineral, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction generated $1.64 billion. Together, they generated $3.6 billion, or 6.1% of the state’s total $58.5 billion GDP in 2024¹².

Montana is also one of the top five talc producers in the nation¹⁴.

Montana’s main natural resources – A closer look

Each of Montana’s natural resources plays a fundamental role in the state’s economy. They comprise annual exports, create jobs, generate state revenue, and impact annual GDP.

Below we discuss each of Montana’s natural resources in detail.

Petroleum

Montana contains 0.8% of the nation’s total proven crude oil reserves, most of which is located in the Bakken Formation in the northeast.

Montana is the 12th-largest oil producer³ in the United States and the 20th-largest producer of natural gas.

I list several quick facts about Montana’s oil production below:

45,000+ oil wells
5,000+ active oil wells
65,000 barrels of oil per day
1.9 million barrels oil per month
23 million barrels oil per year

Source: Montana Petroleum

Agricultural land

Of Montana’s roughly 94 million acres of land¹⁵, about 58 million acres¹⁵ (or 2/3 of the entire state) is used for agricultural production. Montana is home to roughly 27,000 farms⁶ and ranks second in the nation after Texas for agricultural production.

Montana’s top agricultural products are wheat and livestock. Roughly 9,000 of Montana’s 27,000 farms are wheat farms, generating roughly $1.3 billion in annual production value. Livestock, such as cattle, sheep, and dairy, comprise 48% of Montana’s agricultural income.

Rangeland

Montana’s rangeland is a critical natural resource across the state. Of its 94 million acres of land, roughly 68 million acres⁷ (70% of the state) are rangeland.

Livestock uses a significant portion of Montana’s rangelands. However, these open lands also serve as wildlife habitats and provide abundant clean air, water, and scenic open spaces.

Its vast rangelands have helped Montana earn one of its many nicknames – “The Big Sky State”.

Timber

Timber was Montana’s top manufacturing sector about 60 years ago. Today, timber production in Montana has dropped significantly due to rising conservation efforts across the state.

In the year 2000, timber jobs comprised 28% of Montana’s manufacturing employment and 31% of labor income. Sixteen years later, those figures had fallen to 13% and 11%, respectively. Timber harvests fell from 1.3 billion to 300 million board feet over the same period⁸.

State regulators have since introduced new forest management and burn reduction strategies, creating a growing amount of wood byproducts and spurring new, sustainable timber industry growth.

Timber production hasn’t caught up to the U.S. Forest Service’s projected estimates, but the industry remains fundamental to Montana’s economy. Timber production provides 45% of western Montana’s economic base and 15% of the statewide economic base⁹.

Gold, copper, silver, sapphires, and other minerals

is montana rich in natural resources minerals — Macro photograph of native copper (1.5 in/4 cm). Jonathan Zander, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Montana gold rush kicked off in 1864. By the late 1800s, Butte had become the largest copper supplier in the world. Since then, mining has been fundamental to the state’s economy.

Today, Montana mines gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, platinum, palladium, talc, lime, garnets, sapphires, and agates. Montana’s Stillwater mine is the only palladium mine in the country¹⁶. Montana is one of the top five talc producers, a mineral commonly used in cosmetics, and copper oxides are one of the state’s top exports.

Conservation efforts and market fluctuations have shrunk Montana’s mining industry over the past 100+ years, but this sector remains a primary employer and a key revenue source for the state.

Montana’s mining industry employs 18,000 people statewide¹⁰, directly and indirectly. In 2021, total minerals extracted from Montana mines had a market value of $1.6 billion¹¹.

Where are Montana’s natural resources found?

is montana rich in natural resources map — Detailed map of Montana’s vegetation

Montana’s natural resources are located statewide, from the western Rocky Mountains to the eastern agricultural lands.

Much of west and southwest Montana contains gold, copper, sapphire, and other minerals. Central and eastern Montana contain fertile soil for growing wheat, hay, barley, and other crops. Montana’s vast rangelands stretch statewide, supporting wildlife habitats, clean air, clean water, and livestock grazing.

How much of its natural resources does Montana export?

Montana exported $2.7 billion in 2024. The state’s top exports included the following natural resources: inorganic salts ($12.1M), coal briquettes ($11.9M), refined petroleum ($10.7M), and dried legumes ($7.81M)¹³.

Copper oxides, copper ores, coal, and cattle have historically been the state’s top exports as well.

How much of Montana’s natural resources make up its GDP?

Natural resource production generates more than 25% of Montana’s GDP. The following sectors were significant contributors to Montana’s GDP in 2022:

Agriculture: 3.7%¹
Mining: 3.4%¹
Natural gas and oil: 21%²

Discover more about Montana industries

sources:

Is Montana rich in natural resources?

Is Montana rich in natural resources?

What are Montana’s biggest natural resources?