In 1989 I went to the University of Washington to found the Environmental Management MBA curriculum. It was the first such program in America and students found it an attractive option. One of my programs featured nationally prominent business leaders who met in Seattle to attend seminars on environmental economics and policy. All were impressive […]
Read MoreAmong locals, “Got your elk yet?” is a common November greeting. The presumptions are clear: You know which friends hunt and that elk are the big prize. “With a shrill cry, half-ton frame, and massive rack—we’re talking about bull elk here, …nothing else approaches the intensity of the elk-hunting experience. ” Outside Bozeman, Fall, 2016. I […]
Read MoreA FREE Policy Salon* FREE supports three values: sustainable ecology, responsible liberty, and modest prosperity. Policy salons are one tool we use to explore and promote these values. The salons involve readings, brief presentations by knowledgeable individuals, and occasional recordings. The key element is discussion before, during and after a lengthy meal. Our most […]
Read MoreJim Posewitz is a conservation hero and not just in Montana. He received the National Wildlife Federation “Conservationist of the Year” award in 2015. Jim came to MSU to play football and graduated with a degree in wildlife management. After nearly 40 years of good service, he retired as Director of Montana Fish Wildlife and […]
Read MoreFREE’s latest Yellowstone Park project is a course, “Yellowstone and the Second Century of Our National Parks”. It is offered in MSU’s Wonderlust program, a part of its Extended University. The University created the Wonderlust program for adults interested in exploring intriguing topics ranging from art to zoology. While open to all, the majority of […]
Read MoreBozeman’s Montana State University created the Wonderlust program for adults interested in exploring intriguing topics. While open to all, the majority of “students” are accomplished retirees with intellectual and historical interests. Retired professor John Baden is offering a Wonderlust course, “Yellowstone and the Second Century of Our National Parks,” beginning September 12th. It will meet […]
Read More
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 More