In my mind, life is valued by the quality experiences I have. May it be with friends, family, or the natural world; it is the quality ones that I desire. *Fly-fishing with my father on the upper Missouri River near Craig, MT    This reach of the Missouri River is divine, containing sizable mountains with overhanging cliffs that cut through this blue ribbon trout stream. It’s the Missouri-the Mighty Mo-the Big Muddy-the Mnisose-the river that made the U.S. a bicoastal nation; quite a different river than the channelized section that flows to the south, but the same river only identifiable by name.    With my father rowing the boat while I cast with a caddis fly, I pondered over the experiences that this great river provides. The pondering quickly shifted to intense concentration when my fly-line straightened and my reel chanted FA-ZZZZZ! With a generous sized rainbow trout attached to my fly, I was totally consumed in the moment to say the least.    After roughly 10 seconds of an intense tug-o-war game between the trout and I, it was over. Still, the trout was hooked rather well; the game had shifted to between an Osprey and I. An Osprey had swooped down and clamped its talons around my fish! After climbing nearly 40 feet into the air with the fish and line attached, the Osprey could climb no more with the tension of my line hooked to the fish. To make a long story short, the trout was landed and my father and I had our healthy dose of trout that evening. I marked it down as a quality experience!         The 20th century was a tug-o-war between nature and man. The six-mainstem dams on the Missouri River were built in the middle of the 20th century, a century completely different than the current. Nothing in the 20th century was seen as valid unless it produced profit or provided security. Significant social and environmental changes have happened in the past 50 years and change is needed, a natural spring rise will be the start. The 21st century is where we will move to protect and restore, the taut rope between the war will become slack.    Submerge yourself with quality experiences while making decisions that will provide them for tomorrow.