Odd Ducks

So far, there isn't a war chest. The alliance has set a preliminary price tag of $150 million for land acquisition and another $45 million for habitat restoration, with $25 million coming from private sources. "That's a lot of capital, but compared to one flood, it's nothing," says Freeman. As far as he's concerned, taxpayers will save in the long run because they won't have to pay to rebuild homes and businesses that would otherwise spring up in the area.

Musick says the real cost isn't known. "I can't even begin to guess [what it will cost] at this stage of the game," he says. "I would expect it's going to be a multimillion-dollar effort under any circumstances." Ever the developer, he wants to move quickly. "I'd like to organize this thing and do it like any other development project, frankly," he says. "This isn't anything we're going to allow to drag on for ten years. It may take us a couple years to do it."

Establishing a national wildlife refuge requires an act of Congress, a presidential declaration or approval by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Some environmental groups are taking a wait-and-see approach.

"From a personal standpoint, I like the idea," says Len Meier, president of the Greenway Network, which promotes open-space and clean-water projects in St. Charles County, "but without the organization having actually seen the proposal, we can't say anything yet."

The alliance briefed the Greenway Network on its plans in October, but it was a broad-brush description. Now ten years old, the network has learned to compromise. Unlike alliance board members, Meier praises the Corps of Engineers for what he sees as a serious commitment to the environment. Although the Greenway Network doesn't like development in floodplains, it has worked with municipalities to ensure that business parks such as Fountain Lakes include open space and trails. "We're not absolutist, I guess you'd say," Meier says. "I doubt if we would be pushed into that position. Any time you take an absolutist position on anything, you alienate people that maybe you don't want to alienate."

The American Land Conservancy is interested but wants to know more. The conservancy is working with landowners and governments along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers to promote floodplain restoration and preserve habitat, but Jenny Frazier, the conservancy's Midwest-region project manager, says she's not sure that a national wildlife refuge is the answer in St. Charles County.

"We want to know more about costs," she says. "There's a lot of attractive things to the idea. There are obvious benefits to limiting development in areas that flood consistently and are costly in terms of disaster assistance."

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The wildlife refuge will remain a dream unless someone comes up with a lot of cash. And Adolphus Busch certainly knows how to raise money.

Three years ago, he and Blair organized a fundraiser for Ducks Unlimited at Belleau Farms, where Busch lives, near St. Peters. The $1,000-per-plate dinner party and auction marked what would have been the 100th birthday of the late Gussie Busch. "They got with Ducks Unlimited and said, 'We would like to put on the largest fundraiser ever held by Ducks Unlimited,'" recalls Ollie Torgeson, special assistant to the director of the Missouri Department of Conservation.

They succeeded, raising $4.5 million in a single night (the previous record was held by cable-television mogul Ted Turner, who once raised $1.2 million). The brewery was instrumental. "I think August III [the brewery chairman] sent a note out to all his distributors around the country and suggested they send some money in," recalls Torgeson with a chuckle.

Johnny Rivers provided musical entertainment to 400 guests. The menu included grilled breast of duck braised in port wine with shiitake mushrooms, smoked boneless breast of pheasant finished with Michelob Honey Lager and portobello mushrooms and flame-broiled pork tenderloin accompanied by a light green-peppercorn demiglace. Auction items, many donated by alliance board members, included a vintage Shelby Mustang, a ten-day African hunting safari and a Chevy Tahoe that came with a boat and trailer. Jack Nicklaus threw in a golf outing at Augusta National. At $4,000, a ball and bat autographed by Mark McGwire was one of the least expensive items.

Most of the $4.5 million was shipped outside Missouri, although the state conservation department received enough to close a deal for a wetland near Kansas City that was named for Gussie. "Now, it sure looks like it would have been better spent over here," Busch says wistfully, "but you'd end up getting too much criticism for that."

The shindig did pay some dividends for the alliance, which formed the year after the fundraiser.