Stealing this post from our
work wiki.
Mountain Sky Guest Ranch, Emigrant, Montana
Co-sponsored by
PERC (Property and Environment Research Center) and
Liberty Fund9/18 – 9/21/2008
Jessica L. Dorr
Thursday, 9/18
Arrived Bozeman, MT in the afternoon and met first conference attendee while waiting for our ride.
Jeff Masten, Triangle Land Conservancy, Durham, NC, jeff@tlc-nc.org – Recently acquired a farm that they are considering implementing many similar initiatives as we are on the Catawba Farm. Education, leasing farm space, community gardens, community supported agriculture, financially self supported, low overhead, etc. Jeff was on his way to a community farm in Missoula after the conference to look at how they operate:
http://www.gardencityharvest.org/programs/farm.htmlThroughout the afternoon and evening I caught up with past faculty and coordinators from my month stint with PERC in 2003. I met several new conservation/environmental professionals that work in many different areas, all across the country and abroad. I talked with most everyone at the conference, but I will highlight important interactions in this document.
Friday, 9/19
We discussed “Entrepreneurs and Economic Growth”, “Theories of Entrepreneurship”, and “Institutions and Entrepreneurship”. These sessions were based on the Socratic method of discussion and we examined some big questions without having a pure goal or ending point. Several questions were tackled, including:
Why do we have the expectation that all can be rich?
How did the gradual growth of western society help with its accumulation of wealth?
What is the recipe for creating entrepreneurs?
What are the differences between an institutional entrepreneur and a market entrepreneur?
Institutions were said to be anything that defines the rules of how we operate. As an example, we have to work within the rules of Virginia Tech and the CMI mission. It is however possible to be an institutional entrepreneur and not just a market entrepreneur.
I will attempt to write a more concise and easy to read article for the CMI Bulletin or other pub to more closely examine the role of Free Market Environmentalism and Entrepreneurship within the context of our projects and the Virginia Tech and CMI mission.
In the evening we had an excellent presentation by John Tomlin of Conservation Forestry LLC:
http://www.conservationforestry.net/Saturday, 9/20{BR}
Discussions on this day included “The Myth of the Robber Barons” and “The State and Enviropreneurs”. One of the main themes of this day was, is it possible and how can we “do good (for the environment) while doing well (for ourselves, making money, paying bills, etc.)” Conservation easements, limiting development, capitalizing on the desire for natural and well managed properties, property rights, carbon trading, and mutual benefit, were some of the examples given and discussed.
In addition, there was a panel session of Enviropreneurs in action that we were able to ask questions of. The PERC board was involved with this discussion and I spoke with several of the board members on this day. I met one of the owners of TFO (Temple Fork Outfitters) fly rods, Frank-Paul King:
http://templeforkflyrods.com/He and other board members are very excited about the prospect of “doing good while doing well”. They seem to all have had positive outdoor, natural experiences that have shaped their conservation ethic.
Sunday, 9/21
After breakfast and last conversations and goodbyes, left the ranch at 10am and arrived back in Bburg at 1215am (after midnight).
Conference director and PERC Senior Fellow, Bobby McCormick, recommended contacting Steve Bick, VT Forestry Grad, who was a PERC Fellow and recently left Bozeman to continue his work in the NE.
http://www.northeastforests.com/Vita of Steven Bick.htmhttp://www.perc.org/articles/article1053.phpHe may be a good contact as CMI moves in the direction of assisting private landowners manage their property for conservation benefit and profitability.
On a side note, all my stuff smells like smoke because the Forest Service was performing controlled burns on their property adjacent to the ranch:
http://www.mtnsky.com/Google mapOh, and did I mention I went on a horse-back ride and learned some fly-fishing skills. Thanks PERC, Liberty Fund, and CMI:
Brian and I made a trip up to Maryland to visit the parents this past weekend. We had a great trip, touristing around Annapolis, and a nice breakfast out with Nana, Mom, Dad, Aunt Jan, Uncle Warren, Aunt Elke, Uncle Joe, and cousin Mark (Jackie was working).
