Today we celebrate the 85th birthday of one of PERC's most cherished Board Members, Leigh Perkins. Leigh combined his love of sport with a sharp mind for business when in 1965 he purchased The Orvis Company, creating one of the largest and most respected outdoor stores in the nation. After turning the business over to his sons in 1992, Leigh has been able to spend more time with the things he loves--birds, dogs, and grandchildren. Plus he has had a lot more time for the kind of charitable philanthropic work in which he has always been involved.
Leigh has supported private solutions to land and water conservation for many years. He has been a national board member of: The Nature Conservancy; The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy; and past President of the Ruffed Grouse Society. He has also served on the Boards of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and The Cleveland Scholarship Foundation; and continues to serve on the Board of The American Museum of Fly Fishing, which he founded.
Leigh's contributions to PERC over the years have been immeasurable. Not only a leader in promoting environmental solutions with business acumen, Leigh has been a friend and longtime PERC supporter. The entire PERC staff and family would like to thank Leigh for helping PERC achieve so many success stories and to wish him a very happy birthday!
Founded 30 years ago in Bozeman, Montana, PERC—the Property and Environment Research Center—is the nation’s oldest and largest institute dedicated to improving environmental quality through property rights and markets.
PERC’s publications, each designed to resonate with specific groups, move ideas generated at PERC to broader audiences.
Research is at the heart of PERC's work, with a focus on the question: What is the link between economic growth and environmental quality?
The goal of PERC’s programs is to fully realize the vision of establishing “PERC University,” where scholars, students, policy makers, and others convene to expand the applications of free market environmentalism.
PERC's fellowships share a common goal of exposing new scholars, students, journalists, and policy makers to free market environmentalism, as well as enable scholars already familiar with FME to explore new applications.
PERC continues to publish and present a broad range of research and discussion through podcasts, videos, and other multimedia channels.