For years, dikes have held back the salty waters at Long Beach, Washington, to create pastureland for horses and cattle. Now the tide has turned, and the dikes are coming down to create high quality intertidal wetlands. John McHugh is tearing down a 60-year-old dike on his property and restoring eight acres of wetlands forContinue reading “Down With Dikes”
Author Archives: admin
Muck Farm To Eco-Resort
The transition from muck farm to nature-based resort has been a rocky road for Florida’s St. Johns River Water Management District. Despite the rough patches, the resort is in full swing today offering visitors a glimpse of a Florida marsh and its wildlife, while returning profits to the agency. The road to nature tourism beganContinue reading “Muck Farm To Eco-Resort”
Saving The Sisserou
A small group of scientists and philanthropists have personally contributed enough money to finalize the creation of a bioreserve on the Caribbean island of Dominica. The reserve is home to the Sisserou, the world’s rarest Amazon parrot and the national bird of Dominica. Only 200 of these parrots are believed to exist. Led by Dr.Continue reading “Saving The Sisserou”
Soybeans In The Trunk
Tractor parts made from soybeans and picnic tables made from the kenaf plant are just a few of the products that use natural fibers to replace more conventional materials. They are proving to be more durable, lighter in weight, and priced right. For example, both Ford Cougars and Mustangs are being outfitted with door panelsContinue reading “Soybeans In The Trunk”
Suburban Legends
By Ronald D. Utt Growth-control advocates claim that many federal programs and laws have contributed to sprawl. Their short list includes mortgage insurance programs of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Veterans Administration (VA), the deductibility of mortgage interest payments from taxable income, the federal highway program, HUD’s low-income housing programs, federal grants forContinue reading “Suburban Legends”
Urban Renewal
Breaking the suburban mold.
Reforming Zoning Laws
A portfolio of ideas for forward-looking regulators.
Federal Land Exchanges: Let’s End the Barter
It's time to let federal agencies buy and sell land, says Tim Fitzgerald in a new PERC Policy Series paper. Federal Land Exchanges: Let's End the Barter offers a practical way to reform the costly and time-wasting federal land exchange process.
Political Environmentalism
Terry L. Anderson, Editor Political Environmentalism documents a range of examples of how politics and environmentalism mix to produce strange bedfellows and equally strange results. The books details how environmental special interests have provided the high moral ground for economic special interests who stand to gain from legislation that hampers competition. Terry Anderson and hisContinue reading “Political Environmentalism”
Is Bigger Better?
“If we are to protect America’s most valued lands, federal land management policies must be reformed and private conservation efforts encouraged,” says PERC researcher Holly Lippke Fretwell.