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FREE's social entrepreneurship program is designed to explore the creation of new institutions and innovative public policies that promote environmental progress and social well-being. Only financially motivated entrepreneurship has received wide media and academic attention. But other, newer forms of entrepreneurship are evident in the rapidly changing West, and indeed the world. Not-for-profit entrepreneurs, in particular, offer some of the best thinking and best practices in the Western U.S. This region has been torn apart by political polarization, rampant mistrust and enmity between urban and rural residents, and widespread disgust with government agencies. Cooperative solutions like the Valles Caldera Trust, which manages the former Baca Ranch in New Mexico, provide constructive alternatives.
This fundamental shift toward entrepreneurial environmentalism is a challenge for many green groups traditionally focused on battling federal land-management agencies. It has created a niche for a new breed of environmental activists. They recognize solutions will be more acceptable and successful if locals are the beneficiaries and custodians of conservation efforts. As demonstrated by the success of the Nature Conservancy, the Boone and Crockett Club, and hundreds of local organizations, such as the Gallatin Valley Land Trust, these efforts are a vital piece of the conservation challenge.
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