Description
Jefferson River Chapter LCTA president Thomas J. Elpel initiated a "conservation trade-up challenge" with the goal of trading a book for land for a campsite for the public along the Jefferson River Canoe Trail.
"I heard about a guy who traded up a red paperclip for a house and a woman who traded up a bobby pin for a house, and I wondered if a trade-up challenge might be a good way to acquire land for a campsite," Elpel said.
Chapter members previously raised funds and purchased three properties for public campsites. "Fundraising for conservation work is a challenge in the best of times," Elpel said, "and we've seen riverfront property values double, triple, and quadruple over the last few years, nearly pricing us out of the market."
As an author, Elpel thought it seemed logical to initiate the trade-up challenge with a book, offering Five Months on the Missouri River, his Lewis and Clark-themed travelogue about paddling a dugout canoe from Montana to St. Louis with five men and a dog. Elpel won the Writer's Digest 2020 First Place Award for Nonfiction for the book.
Elpel launched the trade-up challenge in 2022, trading the $36 book for a $460 Women Rising Wild retreat with wolves in Colorado. He then traded that retreat for a $1,150 Coming Home retreat in Oregon and later traded that retreat for a $1,750 five-night AirBnB stay at Sage Mountain Center near Whitehall, Montana. The AirBnB stay was traded for a handcrafted cedar strip canoe valued at $2,500, which was traded for a whole processed Angus beef valued at $4,000.
“Each trade has given a significant jump in value,” Elpel said, “yet, it takes some effort to find each new trade partner.” In the most recent trade, Elpel swapped the whole beef for a wilderness pack trip with Ralph Johnson of Specimen Creek Outfitters in Jardine, Montana, valued at $5,000.
Elpel ultimately accepted a cash offer for the wilderness pack trip, officially bringing the Conservation Trade-Up Challenge to a close. The funds will help the Jefferson River Chapter build a nest egg towards the next campsite acquisition.
Learn more at: https://jeffersonriver.org/
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