This document consists of papers that received recognition in a competition sponsored by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and the National Rural Institute on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. The competition sought to focus attention on problems in providing treatment and prevention services for drug and alcohol problems in rural areas. The papers address a wide array of issues and populations, from schoolchildren to alcohol-dependent adults to criminal offenders. The introductory paper entitled, "Bringing Excellence to Rural and Frontier America: Advocacy for Substance Abuse Services in the 1990s" (Susan L. Becker) suggests what local and state programs can do to help overcome the barriers that interfere with gaining support from policymakers. The first- and second-place award papers are respectively entitled "Adult and Adolescent Community Correctional Services Program" (William S. Tanner) and "The Upper Peninsula Teen Leadership Program: Marquette-Alger Intermediate School District" (Dee Lindenberger). Third-place award papers include: (1) "You Can't Get There from Here: The Choice/Skyward Experience" (Rachel Cyr Henderson, Susan F. Long); (2) "School Teacher's Role in a School-Community Alcohol Intervention Program" (Ian M. Newman and others); (3) "Challenges in Rurally Based Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Services" (James A. Armstrong); (4) "Issues in Providing Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services in Rural/Frontier Counties of California" (Kenneth R. Fleming); (5) "Building Community-Based Abuse Prevention Coalitions" (Jim Meek); (6) "Cultural Diversity As a Positive Force in the Treatment of Native American Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse" (Anne Muldoon); (7) "Transitional Recovery" (Larry R. Seybold); and (8) "Project TEA: Iowa State Penitentiary Substance Abuse Program" (Robert E. Schneider and others). (LP)