FREE’s work on Yellowstone, the world’s first national park, links ecology, liberty and prosperity. This summer we are engaged with MSU professor Jerry Johnson on a new project, Ecology and Prosperity in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. We are exploring how sustainable, largely natural ecosystems, have become engines of prosperity. This is mainly because amenity […]
Read MoreThe natural resource reforms surrounding the Progressive Era, 1890 through WWI, were surely positive experiments in resource management. They did a great deal to preserve today’s lands of romance. The creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872 is the best example. Their greatest reform contributions were protecting common pools and constraining the unlawful exploitation of […]
Read MoreVeronica Harrison of the Heartland Institute asked me to describe seasons living on our Montana ranch. It’s a great blessing to live with Ramona on productive land lying between Bozeman and Big Sky, Montana and an hour north of Yellowstone Park. Together, and we’ve been together over 40 years, we represent nine generations in American […]
Read MoreIt’s snowing hard at our Gallatin Valley ranch at noon on May 17, 2017. I’m writing to correct today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article listing FREE as skeptical about climate change. No, we aren’t. The data is clear: Average temperatures in Montana have warmed up by 2-3 degrees Fahrenheit since the early 1900’s. Here is the back-story. […]
Read MoreA retired minister whom I like and respect recently sent me comments from Black Panther founder Bobby Seale: “We have a spiritual and moral problem in America. Our problem is not economic or political, it is that we do not care about each other.” This sorry condition of not caring for others has political economy […]
Read MoreNearly every profession has a written code of ethics. These codes are crafted to guide work and relations with readers, customers, and the general public. The codes stress honesty and integrity. They tell the public what principles and standards to expect, and they influence the professionals’ behavior by stating their ideals. The Society of Professional […]
Read MoreI’ve known Charles Murray for some twenty years. A Senior Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Charles is one of America’s most productive and compassionate scholars. I’ve hosted him in Montana and reviewed four of his books. I greatly admire his courage and intellect and believe he deserves great respect, especially at colleges and universities. […]
Read MoreThe federal government owns over one quarter of America’s land, some 28%. West of the Mississippi the proportion increases to roughly one half. In Utah it’s 70%, Nevada 85%, and California over 45%. In marked contrast federal holdings in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa average one percent. That’s 1.0%. Why the difference? Mainly because the land […]
Read MoreThere are two overlapping fields of environmental policy, sludge and romance. Most Americans elect to live in large metro areas, places where controlling sludge is essential. They pay little heed to the management of our federal and state romance lands; wildlife habitat, parks, wilderness, and range. The majority prefers Manhattan, NY (population 1.6 million) to […]
Read MoreThanksgiving is America’s original and most traditional holiday. The one we just celebrated brought special blessings. I have renewed appreciation for living in a community where trust is the norm. Achieving trust is difficult, especially in a nation as culturally, religiously and ethnically complex as ours. Most opinion leaders celebrate diversity in everything but thinking: […]
Read More