Rick Montague applauded for environmental leadership

Rick Montague, one of SELC’s most devoted friends, has received our 2014 James S. Dockery Jr. Environmental Leadership Award. Rick has played a pivotal role in making the Southern Environmental Law Center the regional powerhouse it is today. An SELC trustee for the past 25 years, he chaired SELC’s Board of Trustees from 1994 to 2004, working side-by-side with founder Rick Middleton to guide our organization through two transformative strategic planning processes—and the subsequent expansion and implementation of these action plans. All of us on SELC’s staff and board cherish and respect Rick Montague for his environmental passion, integrity, strategic vision, and ability to think boldly—and convince others to do likewise.

Rick Montague is also renowned for his profound impact on his hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee—once known as the dirtiest city in America, but now a model of civic engagement, sustainability, and intentional linkage between urban design and the natural environment. As president of the Lyndhurst Foundation, Rick helped to envision and realize a dramatic reinvention of Chattanooga’s downtown in the mid 1970s and ’80s.