There is no radar, and the final approach course is surrounded by mountains,
so I would think circling would have been outside of the protected area of
the localizer. Also, circling in turbulence and icing is not a very
appealing option. I was told by center to intercept the DME arc, but was not
given final approach clearance until established on the localizer BC.

The DME and altitude call outs to the tower were required because again,
there was no radar. The step downs were all based on DME, and he wanted to
know where I was on the approach.