All Research:
Public Lands and Outdoor Recreation
Mining the Waste
By some estimates, mining waste has polluted the headwaters of 40 percent of the West’s watersheds. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth says that cleaning up as many as 38,000 abandoned mines on national forests is a high priority, but certainly not one that his agency can tackle on its own. Ironically, the Superfund law hasContinue reading “Mining the Waste”
Give governors, residents more say in land designation
Billings Gazette September 11, 2004 By Holly L. Fretwell BEAVERHEAD-DEERLODGE NATIONAL FOREST – As I sit on a knoll on South Willow Creek, the family still snug in the tent, I have a rare moment to reflect on this beautiful spot. Surely this is wilderness. The creek water runs wild and swift, swollen from lastContinue reading “Give governors, residents more say in land designation”
Why our politicized parks suffer
Detroit NewsJuly 18, 2004 By Thomas Bray It’s summertime, and while the political elites are tuning up their fog machines in anticipation of the major party conventions, most Americans are trying to get away from it all. For millions, that means a trip to a national park for a glimpse of the fabled American wilderness.Continue reading “Why our politicized parks suffer”
Decamping Politics From Public Lands
Tacoma News TribuneJuly 4, 2004 By J. Bishop Grewell When a Western Republican senator and the head of the Sierra Club share sound bites, alarms should ring. Currently, just such a duo is undermining one of the most successful initiatives we have seen on our public lands. The two men oppose the congressionally initiated FeeContinue reading “Decamping Politics From Public Lands”
Recreation Fees: Four Philosophical Questions
Beginning in 1996, the federal government started raising (and in some cases newly instituting) recreation fees on public lands and using them at the sites where they were collected. This Fee Demonstration Program, which is scheduled to end in 2004, has sparked a debate over ethical and practical issues.
2004 Index of Leading Environmental Indicators, Ninth Edition
From the Pacific Research Institute and the American Enterprise Institute Full Text PDF PUBLIC LAND MANAGEMENT By Holly Lippke Fretwell Four federal land management agencies oversee an estate of 614 million acres, an area more than six times the size of California with an estimated value exceeding $150 billion. Despite this wealth of resources, thereContinue reading “2004 Index of Leading Environmental Indicators, Ninth Edition”
Slamming the Door on Low-Income People?
Are entrance charges keeping low-income people from enjoying the outdoors?
Forest Fires
A new series of books for young people offers objective and balanced discussions of controversial issues.
A Grazing Buy-Out?
Rocky Mountain NewsFall 2003 By Holly Lippke Fretwell Although little noticed by most Americans, grazing on federal land is a big business. Ranchers across the West lease permits to graze their cattle on about 250 million acres of federal land, an area more than twice the size of California. Some environmental groups, concerned that cattleContinue reading “A Grazing Buy-Out?”