This essay originally appeared as a blog post on TheAtlantic.com on May 22, 2012. Thanks to Megan (McArdle) for inviting me to spend some time over here. As she mentioned, much of my work focuses on environmental law and policy. I also do a fair amount on “administrative law” more generally (aka the law governing administrative […]
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Romanticism and nostalgia; everyone who lives in the Gallatin Valley seems to develop one or both. In the face of dramatic growth, residents lament that the area can’t be frozen at some point in time. For some, that point would recall a farming and ranching population to a place where the cultural center was a […]
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I recently spent a week in Santa Rosa, California, and Portland, Oregon. It reminds me once again of the cultural, political, and legal differences within our country. I returned with a renewed appreciation for the mores of Virginia and Montana, where I live and work. Santa Rosa is the seat of Sonoma County, the heart […]
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The beginning of a new year is an excellent time to make a personally important announcement. It’s time for FREE to find a new president, and our board has begun the search. Fortunately, my good friend and colleague Pete Geddes will continue his excellent work as Executive Vice President. I’ll remain at FREE as Founding […]
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“We do not need to despoil the pristine wilderness of the Arctic Refuge,” said John Flicker, President, National Audubon Society. I strongly agree. The Audubon Society long accepted carefully controlled exploration on its Rainey Sanctuary, a 26,800-acre wildlife preserve in southern Louisiana. Audubon was a pioneer when it permitted carefully regulated gas and oil drilling […]
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I live in the Sourdough Creek watershed, just south of Bozeman. This mix of federal, state, and private lands is highly valued — as a recreation spot for city residents, for its wildlife habitat, and as one of Bozeman’s primary sources of drinking water. The watershed’s forests and soils are a natural filter for the […]
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I applaud the Bozeman Bicycle Network Plan of August 22. It was prepared by Mack Durham, a research assistant at MSU’s Western Transportation Institute. It was designed to “alleviate the issues facing the cyclists of the Bozeman area.” It aims to “provide a tool to help improve the quality of bicycle transportation in the city […]
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Three years ago Ramona and I were returning from Santiago, Chile, on a new Delta flight. It was less than a quarter full. I asked a flight attendant if we would go faster since the plane seemed empty. He responded that we were maxed out on weight. “Why?” I asked. “We’re nearly empty.” No, he […]
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Bozeman’s farmers’ market is a charming way to purchase locally grown produce and handicrafts. The ideal of self-sufficiency such markets imply is often advocated by environmentalists and community food co-ops, e.g., “Be a yokel, buy local.” But while it may appeal to the well-off and socially conscious, if taken to its logical conclusion it has […]
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In 1985 we founded Gallatin Writers to explore pressing Western issues. Gallatin is sponsoring a writing contest for college students. The three prizes are modest, $1500, $1000, and $500; the challenge huge. The Stegner contest solicits essays to help our decision makers and opinion leaders understand and wrestle with the implications of demographic, cultural, and […]
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