Public Lands and the U.S. Economy: Balancing Conservation and Development

ISBN-13: 9780367284718 / Angielski / Twarda / 2019 / 309 str.

George M Johnston;Peter Emerson

Opis

Current law requires the federal government to fulfill a broad spectrum of responsibilities in managing public lands; to protect and conserve the environment; to foster the appropriate development of marketable commodities; to preserve wilderness areas, wildlife habitats, and unique historical sites; and to encourage public participation in land-use and management decisions. There is no consensus, however, on the best ways to establish a balance among the? priorities when serious conflicts arise. This book presents a wide-ranging discussion of the means by which lands and resources administered by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management can better serve present and future needs for environmental preservation and resource development. The contributors consider public and private interests in the federal lands in light of political realities and uncertainties, giving particular: attention to efficiency-versus-equity issues, privatization fair market value, and the income-producing potential of publicly owned assets. Major sections of the book focus on timber, nonfuel minerals, rangelands, and energy resources. Based on a recent conference sponsored by The Wilderness Society, the book reflects the views of conservationists, scholars, industry representatives, and state and federal officials.

Spis treści

Westview Replica Editions -- Foreword -- Preface -- Three Perspectives on the Public Lands -- Public and Private Interests in the Federal Lands: Toward Conciliation -- The Public Interest in the Federal Lands and the Reagan Administration's Asset Management Program -- Access and Distributional Impacts of Public and Private Land Ownership -- A Property Rights Approach to Wilderness Management -- An Economist's Critique of Privatization -- The Wilderness System Isn't Broken and Doesn't Need Fixing -- Public Land Politics in the 1980s -- Federal-State Cooperation and Public Land Policy -- Timber Issues -- The Federal Preserve in the West: Environmental Champion or Economic Despoiler? -- Divestiture, Harvest Expansion and Economic Efficiency: The National Forests in the Early 1980s -- Community Stability and the Federal Lands -- Some Historical Trends in Timber Management -- Nonfuel Mineral Issues -- Better Management of Nonfuel Minerals on Federal Land: A Look at the Issues -- The Economic Significance of Mineral Resources -- Management of Non-fuel Minerals: A Mining Industry Perspective -- Mineral Facts and Fictions -- Rangeland Issues -- The Distribution of Benefits and Costs Associated with Public Rangelands -- Subsidization and Privatization of Federal Rangeland: A California Perspective -- Energy Resources Issues -- Energy Resources, Revenues and the Public Lands -- Explaining and Defending the Existing Federal Lands Energy Management System -- Oil Shale Problems and Issues -- Free Markets, States' Rights, and Federal Coal

O autorze

George M. Johnston is associate professor of natural resources at Eastern Oregon State College. Peter M. Emerson is director of the Economic Policy Department of The Wilderness Society.