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PERC Research Fellow Offers Solutions on the Future of Grizzly Bears

[…] – Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee to oppose the bill and highlight the role of state management and incentives for conservation in protecting the grizzly bear. “The Yellowstone grizzly’s recovery, which the president of the National Wildlife Federation described as ‘a true American conservation success story,’ is a story of successful collaboration between federal […]

Published on: May 15, 2019

This Earth Day, Try Conservation Optimism

EMIGRANT, Mont.— It is another Earth Day, and as I write this I am looking out across the vast Yellowstone River Valley at mountains so brilliantly beautiful you’d swear God deserves a raise. At night, it can be hard to decipher the major constellations through the veil of a billion other stars. Life here […]

Published on: April 22, 2019

During National Park Week, Remember that Our Parks Need Our Help

Visitors hiking in Yellowstone National Park. This article was originally published in The Hill.  Saturday marks the start of National Park Week, the perfect opportunity to celebrate America’s most magnificent places. From snowy mountain peaks in Denali to desert slot canyons in Zion to the monuments along the National Mall, our parks represent the vast […]

Published on: April 20, 2019

Where the Buffalo Roam

[…] when it’s all said and done, would encompass 3.5 million acres of private and public lands along the Missouri River in northeastern Montana, an area larger than Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks combined. The group seeks to remove the livestock that roam much of the landscape today and replace them with bison, elk, […]

Published on: February 11, 2019

Get Politics Out of Our Parks

Yellowstone National Park This article originally appeared in Outside Magazine. As both political parties trade shots amid the government shutdown, America’s national parks are caught in the crossfire. Under a new policy adopted by the Trump administration, parks have been allowed to remain open with limited staffing during the lapse in appropriations, while some Democratic […]

Published on: January 22, 2019

Stop Playing Shutdown Politics with Our Parks

[…] was the case during the 2013 government shutdown presided over by President Obama. That means many important visitor activities and park operations — from snow-coach rides in Yellowstone run by private concessionaires to guided battlefield tours of Gettysburg — can continue yielding economic benefits for the surrounding communities. This week, the National Park Service […]

Published on: January 11, 2019

What Fees Can (and Cannot) Do for Our National Parks

[…] the nation. The underlying problem with the fee program is heavy-handed internal controls that agency administrators have imposed on local park staff. In 1996, the superintendent of Yellowstone National Park closed the popular Norris Campground to reduce costs. Visitor fees generated more than enough to operate the site, but the park wasn’t allowed to keep the […]

Published on: January 11, 2019

The Role of Fees in Funding Parks

[…] reflects the core idea behind the Park Service’s current fee program. In fact, the agency’s modern fee authority originated in mid-1990s in response to the closure of Yellowstone’s popular Norris campground due to fiscal constraints—despite the fact that the campground generated more revenue than it cost to operate it. Under the Fee Demonstration Program, […]

Published on: January 7, 2019

The Return of the King

[…] prides of lions to Mozambique’s Marromeu Ecosystem. If successful, they will increase the range of the African lion by more than 2.4 million acres—an area larger than Yellowstone National Park—improving the health of not only the species but of a landscape long battered by civil war. The project has its roots in the work […]

Published on: December 14, 2018