The tourist’s observation: “Montana would be heaven if it only had an ocean” is a slight exaggeration. However, we live in an increasingly competitive and congested world and our treasures are at risk. Specifically, our natural vistas and resources and our rural cultures are under siege. We can do little to arrest the persistent and […]
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For a generation Republican Party leaders have been alienating a constituency they long took for granted. Characterized as “Range Rover Republicans”, they are well educated, well-off folks who care about wilderness and wildlife habitat. These people are deserting the Republican Party in droves. Since neither of the Bush presidents seem to understand the causes of […]
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One of the first lessons responsible parents teach their children is both simple and valid: if you make a mess, clean it up. Many mining companies used their political influence to escape this admonition. This is true through out the West, even on the borders of Yellowstone National Park. Their economic calculus is simple. Benefits […]
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I wish President Bush well, but environmentally, his administration remains astonishingly shortsighted. They inexplicably ignore an increasingly important political fact: as individuals’ wealth and education increase, so does their sensitivity to environmental quality. Economist Don Coursey of the University of Chicago recently demonstrated that the demand for environmental quality resembles that for BMWs and foreign […]
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Environmental think tanks exist to foster constructive reforms. That’s why FREE and Gallatin Writers launched a $35,000 contest. The goal is to generate innovative ways to help preserve the Upper Missouri River, its culture, and its economy. The bicentennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (2003-2005) will focus world attention upon the Upper Missouri, […]
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I’m writing this column in support of environmental quality prior to the election. I hope voters purge two types of politicians; troglodytes who confuse conservative with exploitative, and watermelons, those green on the outside and pink within. Remember Jim Watt? When appointed Secretary of Interior in 1981, he led the “Sagebrush Rebellion”. He promised to […]
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Recently, my wife and I were dinner guests in a beautiful home. Like hundreds of others, it’s built in on a forested hill on the edge of the Gallatin National Forest. It is enclosed by trees which nearly brush the house. When a forest fire makes a run up their slope, their house is likely […]
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Recently, my wife and I were dinner guests in a beautiful home. Like hundreds of others, it’s built in on a forested hill on the edge of the Gallatin National Forest. It is enclosed by trees which nearly brush the house. When a forest fire makes a run up their slope, their house is likely […]
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National politicians, like other mega-predators, continually seek niches to exploit. With gasoline prices nearing $2.00 per gallon, Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) offers a prime example of an exploitable political opportunity. Environmentalists have a rare opportunity to take advantage of this situation. Here’s how. On March 9th, US senators Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and Ted […]
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Those of us working to preserve wildlife habitat and open space will be more successful when we grasp a key principle; all resources, including land, gravitate toward highest valued uses. With agricultural prices nearing historical lows, the pressures forcing farmers and ranchers out of agriculture are increasing. Although some people may object to this claim, […]
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