The tourist's observation: "Montana would be heaven if it only had an ocean" is a slight exaggeration. However, we live in an increasingly competitive and congested world and our treasures are at risk. Specifically, our natural vistas and resources and our rural cultures are under siege.

We can do little to arrest the persistent and growing forces which pose the threats but it would be ethically and intellectually irresponsible to ignore them. Many people are wealthy and the real costs of distance are declining. Hence, we are inundated by people seeking heaven on earth. Given the resultant pressures, what can we do?

Below is one creative effort to preserve our cultural and natural treasures, FREE's and Gallatin Writers' "Upper Missouri River Contest". Here is an overview.

On January 19, 2001, President Bill Clinton designated the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument. This proclamation expanded and altered the Wild and Scenic River designation of 1976. This change did not acknowledge the presence of residents whose lands are scattered among state and federal holdings in a checkerboard manner. Neither did it enlist local help in protecting the resource.

The area at issue extends from Fort Benton to the Fort Peck Reservoir, roughly 150 river miles. There is widespread agreement that the natural, historic, and cultural values merit preservation.

Thus, a year ago FREE and Gallatin Writers solicited proposals for new ways to manage and protect the Missouri River Corridor. We contacted over two thousand conservationists, academics, think tanks, and interested citizens and we offered prizes for the best entries. The first place winner would receive $20,000, the second $10,000, and the third $5,000. (See FREE's web site, "FREE-eco.org" for more information.)

An outside panel judged the proposals. The judges included: a former BLM director (under Clinton), a former Department of Justice head of environmental matters, the dean of a law school noted for its environmental program, and the executive director of a national and of a regional environmental group. The contest was conducted in cooperation with the BLM office in Lewistown, MT, the federal agency responsible for the management of the Corridor. The awards were announced in Great Falls on August 14.

The panel awarded first place to John Thorson of Oakland, California, a river management professional. A team of two, Professor Sally Fairfax from the College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley and Randal O'Toole, Senior Economist at the Thoreau Institute of Oregon received second place, and Hank Fisher, Defenders of Wildlife's Northern Rockies Representative, won the third prize.

Each of the winners emphasized the importance of enlisting locals in management of the Corridor's 377,346 acres. One winner proposed that Congress create the Upper Missouri River Trust. This would be a public, non-governmental body resembling the trust managing Mount Vernon.

To achieve its multiple goals it would:

Conduct research,

Create public educational programs,

Restore ecosystems,

Purchase conservation easements on private lands,

Accept donations of private lands, and

Permit, monitor, and charge for recreation, grazing, and mineral

exploration.

The Trust would have a board of trustees which would include locals. Trustees would hold a fiduciary responsibility for "undivided loyalty to the Trust" and members would not represent any specific interest.

The board members would act as "social entrepreneurs". The Trust would create the Friends of the Upper Missouri River", a membership organization open to the public. The "Friends" would help the Trust, for example by raising funds and educating the public. To guard the Trust's mission, Friends of the Upper Missouri could challenge the trustees' decisions.

Management responsibility for the Upper Missouri would rest with the Trust, not the federal government. It would plan for the long-term restoration and use of the federally owned lands within the monument. It could not terminate existing permits, contracts, or leases without just compensation. It would, importantly, respect existing traditional rights. Critical to its success, it would build an endowment to protect values we cherish.

This contest fostered creative thinking about new institutional arrangements to protect our treasures, cultural and natural. All authors were modest in their claims and each recognized the experimental nature of this effort. Most importantly, all stressed the importance of local communities to conservation goals. Perhaps, we've identified a way to foster constructive social change. Please check out the proposals on our web site and contemplate their extension to other areas.