[…] for one person, it is available to all at no cost. Views of mountains is another. The enjoyment you get from knowing that wolves now roam in Yellowstone does not preclude others from the same enjoyment. Environmentalists and economists refer to this public good as an “existence value,” and everyone can enjoy that existence […]
[…] a new concept. In 1872, proponents of a bill to create the first national park strategically placed in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol photographs of Yellowstone’s wonders taken by William Henry Jackson. The vintage photographs left a marked impression on the public and their congressmen, and helped seal the fate of Yellowstone. […]
Twenty years ago, fires broke out in Yellowstone National Park that started a public debate about firefighting and public land management that continues today. I covered those fires as a newspaper reporter and, like all else involved, I couldn’t know that the Yellowstone fires were the first in a series of huge fires that […]
Many view the 1995 reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park as a landmark conservation achievement—one that historians may refer to as the point when Americans changed their attitudes toward large predators. But as a conservation leader who was involved with this issue for more than 15 years, I view it as a poor […]
[…] contributions to buy a herd for the newly created National Bison Range in Montana. While many bison were preserved as part of public herds in places like Yellowstone, bison restoration on public land has been limited by geography and capacity. In 1914, the federal government owned just 10 percent of the captive bison in […]
[…] polluting one of Cajas’ 235 lakes. It was promptly shut down. In contrast, enemies of snowmobiles have been working for ten years to control their use in Yellowstone and the battle is still not over. The merits of snowmobile regulations aside, the alacrity with which local authorities can act, compared to national bureaucracies, is […]
The Yellowstone River running through Paradise Valley, Montana. Can beliefs about fundamental social institutions such as the market system, change? If so, what can cause such changes? Even if one replies “yes” to the first question discerning an answer to the second has been an elusive goal for social scientists. Recent research by Rafael […]
[…] conservation projects on Earth, a grassland reserve replete with as many native species as can be sustained … it eventually could be half again as big as Yellowstone National Park.” The big difference, though, is that the Prairie Project intends to implement their vision with private, rather than government money. Herring quotes Gerrity as […]
[…] they’ve got some crazy ideas, they are worth listening to.’’ He was right. I went to a PERC journalists’ conference, right in the middle of the infamous Yellowstone fire, which proved to be a big distraction. Still, I recall Terry Anderson bugling to elk, Aaron Wildavsky making no sartorial concessions to the West, and […]
[…] a job well done, if not extremely well done. She has remained my contact with PERC since I was fortunate enough to attend a PERC meeting near Yellowstone National Park. I have always wanted to return but various other commitments have prevented even thinking about it. But she has graciously handled my correspondence and […]