MSU is producing a five-year “Vision Statement.” The goal is to plan and develop three university-wide priorities: Recruitment, Retention, and Quality Enhancements. “All of these priorities are essential to providing access and success for our students.” My focus below is on recruitment of out-of-state students. Here is the context. Across America, states pay an ever-declining […]

Early in my career I had the immense good fortune to work with Garrett Hardin, a distinguished ecologist. He was an extraordinarily fine and brave gentleman and scholar. Garrett was also sufficiently honest to admit his occasional errors and modify his analysis accordingly. Together, we produced a book that remained in print for nearly 20 […]

Professor William Cronon is a University of Wisconsin philosopher and historian who explores environmental history and the West. He is in Bozeman this week to deliver the annual Wallace Stegner Lecture, tomorrow night at 7:30 at the Museum of the Rockies. I recommend it. Cronon’s mere presence illustrates the evolution of the American West and […]

Many of my friends express concern at the rapid economic growth of China and India (9.9 and 8.4 percent annually, respectively). They fear the environment will suffer greatly if all these people adopt an American lifestyle. Since the Earth’s natural resources (e.g., timber, fossil fuels, and minerals) are limited, aren’t there natural limits to growth? […]