The Mountain States Legal Foundation has joined a growing number of organizations filing amicus briefs supporting a Supreme Court petition on a takings issue. David McDonald, writing for Mountain States, says: “George Sheetz . . . . wants to build a single-family residence on his property in Placerville, California. The County of El Dorado, however,…
Search Results for: property rights
Are Conservation Leases the Key to Resolving Competing Demands on Public Lands?
This guest post by Shawn Regan is a substantive analysis of the recent proposal by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management to allow leasing of public land for conservation purposes. Regan is vice president of research at the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) in Bozeman, Mont.
Most conservation issues involve balancing competing uses of natural resources. Should a parcel of land be developed for energy production, harvested for timber, grazed by livestock, managed as wildlife habitat, or set aside as open space? In a world of scarce resources, the main question is: How do people best resolve these competing demands?
The Water Problem in the West Is Not Just Drought, It’s Policy
Western water policies going back to 1922 are making it difficult or impossible to deal with drought in California, Arizona, and Nevada, says Shawn Regan, writing in National Review (behind a paywall). Regan is vice president of research at PERC (the Property and Environment Research Center). To begin with, says Regan, the Colorado River Compact…
No More “Use It or Lose It” in Utah?
The Utah state legislature has passed a law that would bring a bit of free market environmentalism to the state by expanding the right to trade water to protect the Great Salt Lake. Writes Saige Miller for the Salt Lake Tribune: “If the governor signs HB33, the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands…
What Can We Learn from the “Yellowstone” TV Series?
PERC (the Property and Environment Research Center) has put together a package of articles that elucidate lessons from the TV show “Yellowstone.” Writes PERC: “’Yellowstone,’ starring Kevin Costner, is one of the most popular shows on television. The action-packed drama follows the travails of a prominent Montana ranching family as they confront an onslaught of…
Why Can’t Conservation Groups Buy or Lease Federal Land?
By and large,, conservation groups in the United States cannot buy or lease federal land or water rights and apply them to conservation goals. That is, they cannot obtain cattle grazing rights to let bison roam; “mining rights” to leave the minerals in the ground; timber leases to stop cutting trees; or federally supplied water…