Year of Award
2025
Document Type
Professional Paper
Degree Type
Master of Arts (MA)
Degree Name
Environmental Science and Natural Resource Journalism
Department or School/College
Journalism
Committee Chair
Nadia White
Committee Co-chair
Jeremy Lurgio
Commitee Members
Margiana Petersen-Rockney, Sean O’Brien
Keywords
environmental justice, seed saving, critical mineral mining, immigration, Arizona, Montana
Subject Categories
Journalism Studies
Abstract
Environmental justice issues directly impact the health, cultural heritage and livelihoods of communities. This multimedia master’s project examines how federal policies, legal frameworks and the prioritization of corporate interests perpetuate environmental justice issues in the western United States. Three distinct stories provide a more nuanced understanding of the impact of systemic inequities on seed saving, mineral extraction and humanitarian aid on public lands.
With four companies controlling over 60 percent of the global seed market, declining genetic diversity in seeds limits the potential to cultivate and develop crops that meet the regional and cultural needs of diverse growers. In a 2016 survey of Montana vegetable producers conducted by the Organic Seed Alliance, more than half of the respondents stated that they no longer had access to desired vegetable varieties because they were unavailable in seed catalogs. Additionally, Montana farmers report a lack of access to organic varieties that are regionally adapted to Montana's short growing season, erratic frosts and dry summers. An eight-minute video documentary showcases how seed keepers and seed libraries in western Montana are working to counteract corporate seed control by cultivating, saving and sharing regionally adapted seeds.
Recent executive actions aimed at rapidly increasing domestic critical mineral production have re-ignited concerns about a controversial mining project located at the remote headwaters of the Bitterroot River in southwest Montana. An 18,000-word written piece examines the future of critical mineral mining in Montana and community concerns about the potential Sheep Creek rare earth mining project.
In the early days of the second Trump administration, humanitarian groups on the U.S.-Mexico border navigate remote desert landscapes, public land use protocols and rapidly changing immigration policies in order to provide aid to the living and the dead. A twelve-minute documentary film investigates the challenges of providing aid on public lands and explores the ethics and values of land-use policies in the context of a human rights crisis.
Recommended Citation
Motahari, Cassidy M., "AS ABOVE, SO BELOW: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE STORIES OF SEEDS, MINING AND MIGRATION" (2025). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12494.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12494
© Copyright 2025 Cassidy M. Motahari