Each summer the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE) organizes and hosts a series of seminars. This year MSU has joined us as cosponsor. These programs attract some of the nation’s most respected and influential opinion leaders and decision makers. Lecturers include professors from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Berkeley. MSU speakers have […]

Happy birthday, Uncle Milty! Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman turns 90 at the end of the month. Since he¹s done so much for me, I¹m proposing a special birthday present for him: canonization as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. Here¹s a great opportunity. The Catholic Church is in a huge crisis for its […]

Eight of the ten fastest-growing US states are in the West. Much new residential development is occurring in fire-prone areas close to federal public lands. This is known as the “wildland-urban interface.” These new residential areas are popular due to their proximity to the environmental quality and natural amenities offered by national forests, parks, and […]

Here’s a book describing 20,000+ hippies, New Agers, and camp followers descending on an isolated rural community. Imagine a conservative federal district judge conducting a “jury view” of the site to settle conflicts between state public health rules and First Amendment constitutional rights to peacefully assemble in a national forest. “Judge Dave and the Rainbow […]

Social movements, like ecosystems, evolve. Although many challenges remain, there is little doubt that Americans have changed the way they think about the environment. In some cases, the results are dramatic. For example, in the 1960s the U.S. Navy occasionally used whales for target practice. A quarter century later, the Navy spent over a million […]