Zinke Rides In
Shawn ReganBut will the new interior secretary take on the federal-lands bureaucracy?
The Magazine of Free Market Environmentalism
For all their wonder and beauty, public lands are as polarizing as the rest of our political landscape. That should come as no surprise. After all, the federal government owns nearly one-third of the United States, including almost half of the American West. Decisions about how to manage public lands are fundamentally political, and they affect the lives of millions of people. Yet the laws and regulations governing these lands tend to encourage conflict rather than cooperation, and disputes are more likely to be resolved by litigation than by collaboration.
It’s clear that innovation is possible—and sorely needed. Thanks to the support of the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, this issue of PERC Reports explores the future of America’s public lands. It reflects the spirit of what economist and public land expert Marion Clawson wrote in 1984: “I reject any idea that we today are less imaginative and resourceful than the men and women who pressed for the establishment of the national forests, national parks, and grazing districts. We too can innovate; let us try.” That’s still true today—so let’s try.
But will the new interior secretary take on the federal-lands bureaucracy?
Lessons learned from one of the largest public land experiments in the United States.
How to rein in the costs of the federal government’s wild horse program.
As locals clash with elk reintroduced to the Smokies, can strategies from the West serve as a blueprint to mitigate conflicts?
As public land battles simmer, a new private model emerges to pay ranchers to conserve wildlife.
A PERC forum explores the issue.
By walking away from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, President Donald Trump ended the United States’ commitment to reduce carbon emissions and made good on…
For some environmental groups, oil and wildlife never mix—except when it comes to their own property.