Michael Markels has an idea. Actually, he has two. He believes that his ideas can feed the world and solve global warming as well. Markels doesn’t think small. Markels is an environmental engineer, entrepreneur, and dreamer. He’s semi-retired now, at least in theory, as chairman emeritus of his firm Versar, Inc. But withContinue reading “Farming the Ocean”
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The Power of Land Covenants
“I had to get other people to pay for ninety percent of the acreage. To be sure they didn?t ruin my Walden with their suburbia, I wrote covenants.” “Like all of humankind, the people who welcomed my covenants often found that their ideals changed or their particular circumstance convinced them to break theContinue reading “The Power of Land Covenants”
Cleaning Up Mining Waste
RS-01-1: 2001 By Stuart Buck and David Gerard Executive Summary About the Authors About PERC Research Studies Since the California gold rush in the middle of the 19th century, hardrock mining has produced hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of gold, silver, copper, lead, and other minerals. One unfortunate legacy of this production is the presenceContinue reading “Cleaning Up Mining Waste”
Defending Illusions: Federal Protection of Ecosystems
How efforts to make federal protection of ecosystems the centerpiece of national environmental policy are driven by religious veneration of Mother Earth wrapped in a veil of weak science.
The Technology of Property Rights
The influence of technology and technological change on the definition and enforcement of property rights.
Hunting for Habitat
DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT In their handbook, Hunting for Habitat, Donald R. Leal and J. Bishop Grewell explore ranching for wildlife programs. Around the West, state agencies and landowners are improving both game and nongame habitat through these state-landowner partnerships. Not to be confused with game ranching, these programs help landowners manage free-roaming wild animalContinue reading “Hunting for Habitat”
Going to Seed
Last year, one Utah rancher sold off his cattle and spent the summer watching the grass grow. At summer’s end, he harvested the grass for seed and made more money selling the seed than he could have made selling his cattle. Throughout the West, farmers and ranchers who are struggling to stay afloat as theyContinue reading “Going to Seed”
Let It Shine
Ranching along the Musselshell River in central Montana has never been an easy way to make a living, but rising power prices, tougher environmental laws, and dropping surface water supplies have made a tough job even tougher. Fortunately, the sun has not stopped shining on this remote western valley, giving rise to hopes for aContinue reading “Let It Shine”
Lessons of the Springs
Much of human history reflects choices between whether to organize activities privately or through government. When I travel, I often come across the visible remnants of such choices. That happened recently at Thermopolis, Wyoming, a small resort community built around the “World’s Largest Hot Spring.” Water from the nearby Owl Creek Mountains filters throughContinue reading “Lessons of the Springs”
DDT: An Issue of Property Rights
Rachel Carson didn’t start it; the U.S. government did.