Western Charter Initiative

The Western Charter Initiative is a public engagement process designed to better equip citizens and public leaders in the Rocky Mountain West to address the critical policy issues facing this rapidly changing and growing region. The project is being undertaken as a partnership between CRM and the O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of Montana. The initiative has focused on gathering regional input to identify deeply held, uniquely western values. (A kick-off conference was held in Colorado Springs in late 1999.) These values are being translated into a set of principles, designed to guide policy makers at all levels, and to help resolve conflicts between competing regional interests.

By sharpening its identity, CRM believes that the Rocky Mountain region will increase its influence with decision-makers both inside and outside the region and cultivate a climate in which conflict is tempered by a more fundamental agreement about who we are and what we care most about. A project web site can be viewed at www.westerncharter.org. CRM and the O’Connor Center are currently gathering additional input on the draft principles, are looking for ways increase regional knowledge of and access to the principles, and are seeking real practical opportunities to use the principles.