"

The eastern Montana thing is going to be tricky; there was a boom just like now in the 70s-80s, and a subsequent crash, the pattern is significant, not necessarily a permanent thing. Will take proper research to do that bit justice  and if anyone does a ""shoutout"" to Sidney, but not Miles City, Glendive, Glasgow or maybe even Baker and Wibaux, (and, of course, Ekalaka!) we will be in all sorts of trouble! (grin)  Plus, at the moment, with that murder out in Sidney, the place is coming under a lot of scrutiny for the boomtown atmosphere, and so I suggest we tread delicately.  (talk) 

 Article Structure 

Okay, so there seems to be no basic consensus on how this article should be structured.  I can't find an outline in the wikiprojects sections, so I am going to attempt to make one based on the the only three states at FA-Class Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Virginia and the nearest GA-Class article, South Dakota.  Yes, we're being beaten by South Dakota.  Here is my suggestion: 

Etymology — (see OK's) — Short description of where the name Montana comes from
Geography — (see SD's) — General descriptions about size and location
Geology and terrain — Junk about east v west, mountains, rivers, etc.  Just not a bunch of lists
Flora and fauna — kind of obvious; may need to break state into regions  
Climate
Protected lands — State and national parks, I guess.
History — Summarize and send off to the History of Montana page
American Indian reservations — Brief overview and description of the Indian reservations in Montana.  Could be linked here until a separate page can be made.
Cities and Towns — (See OK's) — Briefly describe the make-up of Montana's cities and towns.  Not a giant list. There's already one here, just send people there.  Really, only those with more than 50,000 should be listed on this page, but given that doesn't even include the capital we may as well go down to Kalispell at around 20,000 (i.e. the largest seven).  No other town even has 10,000.  We're not exactly waiting up on election night for the Havre votes to come in.
Demographics — Basic census crap written in prose
Population
Ancestry
Religion
Economy
Culture — (see OK's and (VA's))
Arts and theatre — We have plenty of museums and theatres across the state.  You could list the most important ones first, but eventually they need to be put into prose.
Festivals and events — Ditto
Sports and recreation
Organized sports — Probably mostly college sports and minor league baseball.  Could add state games and skiing competitions I guess.
Outdoor recreation — hiking, fishing, mountain biking, skiing, etc.
Government and politics — (see OK's)
State government
Local government
Tribal government
National Politics
Education — School districts, administration, universities/colleges, etc.
Media — (see OK's and SD's) — Links to lists should be okay, but here only the largest and prominent should be mentioned as well as Nielsen zones, etc.
Health — (see VA's and OK's) — MT's healthcare system, stats, and perhaps main hospitals.
Transportation — (see OK's) — Basic info from the MDOT on our roads, train stations, and airports.  And, the basic health of our transportation system.
State symbols — (see VA's)
See also

Any Comments?
  

Thanks for the list, Dsetay  (you forgot to sign it above) No question the article is not of good quality and needs to be improved.  I don't have a lot of time to devote to this, but I'd support and offer minor assistance to an improvement drive. The Oklahoma or Minnesota articles would probably be the best guides, as both have notable Native American populations and are more or less in the west.  SD would be fine to fill in gaps, but GA being a less fussy standard than FA, I'd split any debates in favor of an FA structure.  [[User talk:Montanabw|