I’ve just had the pleasure of spending part of the morning with Richard Lessner, PhD, the Executive Director of The Madision River Foundation headquartered in Ennis.  Ennis was all abuzz today as Kevin Bacon is in town filming a scene for an upcoming movie (I wonder if Kevin is a fly fisherman? My guess - no.)

Of course the Madison River has its origins at the confluence of the Gibbon and Firehole Rivers at Madison Junction in the Park, and this almost mythical river runs through the northwestern part of the Park as it begins its long journey to later become part of the mighty Missouri.  Those of who love and fish the Park most often spend time on the Madison outside the Park too, hence our inclusion of this Madison River topic today. 

My wife and I had the pleasure of first meeting Richard’s wife Pamela and later Richard at the Madison Valley Arts Festival in Ennis a couple of weeks ago.  I asked Richard right then if he would consent to an interview - which we were able to complete today - and I am tremendously pleased he agreed to chat. 

My goal was two fold - first to find out the details on the upcoming 5th Annual Ennis on the Madison Fly Fishing Festival to be held on Labor Day weekend (August 31st and September 1rst).  Secondly I wanted to dig into the nuts and bolts of the Madison River Foundation and learn more details about their vision, activities, and objectives from Richard. 

As he was when we first met, Richard was delightful, articulate, forthcoming, and informative as we visited in the office of the Madison River Foundation this morning, which was crowded with donated and logo items for the upcoming Festival.

The Mission of the Madison River Foundation is direct, succinct, and descriptive -

We will endeaver to preserve, protect and enhance the Madison River Ecosystem for the mutual benefit of wildlife and all the people who use it by employing professional expertise and advocating worthy public policy to ensure the future well-being of this valuable resource.

We were deeply impressed today by the both the words (the mission statement and our broad ranging discussion) as well as the actions of the Foundation - this group isn’t a buch of suits sitting around the marble conference table - these guys and gals get mud on their boots doing things for the Madison and the valley.

The Foundation is the benefactor of the proceeds from the upcoming Festival, and from our interview today it is clear the Foundation has put the funds to very appropriate uses in years past.

Tomorrow we’ll outline the key aspects of this year’s Festival program, and again encourage you to attend this worthwhile and fun event.  The gala event dinner (Mike Lawson speaking) is sold out, but there are stil tickets available for the BBQ event on Saturday evening, and the exhibits and lectures are otherwise free. 

Whether you routinely fish the Madison or just love the Madison valley - don’t miss this event. 

There is a great deal of information about the Foundation that we’ll share in our Best Fly Fishing Montana newsletter to be out later this week - if you haven’t signed up for this free resource, just click here and it will take right to our sign up page on Best Fly Fishing Montana. 

Our Best Fly Fishing Yellowstone newsletter will also be released in just a few days - if haven’t signed up yet click this link and you’ll be taken right to the signup page. 

The newsletters may share a comment or two, but will otherwise have very different content as they cover vastly different territories!

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Tags: Roundup: Food & Fun - Ennis