As Americans flock to national parks this summer, we can learn a lot from national parks around the world. Field biologists the world over uniformly confirm the woeful conditions of national parks. The Nature Conservancy found many national parks in Latin America are at great risk. Even closer to home, Canada’s experiments with national parks […]
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Americans are increasingly concerned about our wildlands. Historically we looked toward federal custodians. But, if you believe that Congress will respond with large appropriations, read no further. The federal government has made promises it cannot afford to keep. The implications preclude an expanded federal wildlands system. What will happen when actual spending cuts become unavoidable? […]
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If you aren’t a good boy, you’ll find a lump of coal in your stocking Christmas morning. This is an unhappy prospect for most American children. However, we can imagine situations in which a large lump of coal would be a blessing, for example in a city under siege. Coal would be a wonderful gift […]
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Each fall my thoughts return to a boyhood of hunting. Opening day trumped Thanksgiving and even rivaled Christmas. Our rituals and gear provided anthropological fodder. In fifth grade I created the Concord Conservation Club. Like most rural people of my generation (I’m in my mid-50s), the green path ran through Field and Stream, the leading […]
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Whether we’re trying to save species or specie, decisions are based on information and incentives. Reform that generates poor incentives simply won’t work. Good intentions are not enough. Congress tried to protect endangered species via the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973. Prior to 1973, landowners could operate even if their activities harmed the habitat […]
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MANY environmentalists oppose hunting. They find the idea of killing animals for sport repulsive and incomprehensible. For these people, sport hunting is an obsolete remnant of our barbaric past, one excised by civilized cultures This position is empathically understandable, but logically paradoxical because hunters are important supporters of wildlife habitat protection. Hunters save habitat as […]
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THE idea of national parks is one of America’s best. Approval ratings exceed 90 percent. But political federal management of the parks is a terrible idea. Politics promotes ecological destruction and ethical corruption Two recent books, “Playing God in Yellowstone” and “Rocky Times in Rocky Mountain National Park,” publicize what experts have known for years: […]
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DEFENDERS of Wildlife is a national environmental group devoted to the protection of wildlife and the restoration of habitat. For years, Defenders strongly advocated the regulatory approach to species protection. But they now realize the limitations of regulations, particularly when dealing with private landowners. This October, they published a collection of essays titled “Building Economic […]
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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 […]
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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. […]
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