“CONTINUED cold and wet” was the summer forecast in Montana. Twice in August we had snow at 6,500 feet. Our ranch is between Bozeman and Big Sky, Mont. Normal rainfall is just under 20 inches per year. This year we had 14.5 inches in July. Hay wouldn’t cure and the barley is still in the […]

EACH June, at the end of the academic year, I head back to FREE’s office in Bozeman, Mont., and spend the summer on a nearby ranch. I cannot imagine a better “commute” than between Seattle and the northern reaches of the Yellowstone ecosystem. On these drives I always recall John Steinbeck’s suggestion that Montana would […]

THE debate over old-growth forests pits preservationists against those depending on this timber for their livelihood. With each side committed to different uses of nature, conflict seems inevitable, for not all good things go together. This conflict is heightened by public ownership and political control. Special-interest groups are special precisely because they focus on their […]

IT is clear from the argument of protectionists in Congress that many are pessimistic about the future of U.S. manufacturing. But recent events suggest prudent optimism, if not unconstrained joy. While not all good things go together, some do. Economic understanding can help us find such unions. Environmental leaders show this improved understanding of economics. […]

THE president and Hillary Rodham Clinton are selling the outlines of their health-care program to the nation. We have been told to expect many good things from it. Universal access, coverage of pre-existing conditions and expanded basic care would benefit many people. But it is likely that fully implementing a nationalized health-care plan will cost […]

THE RECENT forest conference in Portland was, as expected, both well-attended and highly publicized. The scene, however, was more impressive than was the substance. Virtually nothing was resolved. Unfortunately, this is a predictable consequence of political decision-making. And the conference’s politicking and posturing overshadowed that week’s true environmental milestone: the inaugural sale of pollution rights […]

WHEN considering the proposed “Ancient Forest Summit” or “Timber Summit” (word choice is significant), we should carefully segregate our hopes from our expectations. Yet I’m hopeful that the summit will increase understanding and improve policy. Here’s why. Twenty years ago my colleagues and I at Montana State University advocated market incentives and property rights as […]

AS only Nixon could go to China, perhaps only a Democratic administration can join a fight against one of the worst health laws on the books, the Delaney Clause. This provision of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act was passed in 1958. It bans any additive in any detectable levels in processed food if […]

IN every language the term “bureaucracy” bears a crust of derision. This is no accident, for bureaucratic incentives invariably produce problems. Bureaucracies tend to replace the goals that justified their creation with actions that protect their budgets. The good news is that we can harness this fatal propensity in a way that will improve government […]

THE Shoshone National Forest near Dubois, Wyo., is an important part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. But the forest has maintained a money-losing logging program. In any rational system, the ecological, recreation, watershed and wildlife values would easily trump logging in the Shoshone. Even the purely economic cost of logging the Shoshone exceed the benefits. […]