Public Lands and Private Rights [Paperback]

Robert H. Nelson; Sally K. Fairfax (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0847680096 | ISBN-13: 978-0847680092

One of the leading experts on public lands and land rights issues, Robert H. Nelson here brings together a collection of his finest essays. Nelson demonstrates that the 'progressive' goal of achieving scientific management of public lands has not been realized; instead, public land management has been dominated by interest group politics and ideology.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Nelson's book offers more new ideas and challenges to our thinking than any other recent work on the public lands. Anyone interested in the growing debate about public lands needs to read it, and read it soon. I can't think of anyone who has challenged public lands policy in such a thoughtful and intelligent way. (William E. Riebsame )

Professor Nelson provides a powerful yet easy-to-read view of how the dark side of the Progressive Movement--centralization, professionalization, bureaucratization--evolves into the pretensions of 'scientific management' and the hubris of 'ecosystem management' to the detriment of one-third of the nation's land. Here's a useful guide for those who would reform the way we use public lands. (Philip M. Burgess )

Addresses some of the most relevant resource policy debates in the late 1990's. . . . As historical perspective and interpretation, this volume deserves a place on the bookshelves of those interested in western public lands and national forest management. (American Journal Of Agricultural Economics )

Anyone who has struggled to make sense of the history of public lands management in the American West will want to read Robert Nelson's Public Lands and Private Rights. (Snow, Donald )

Provides an intellectual springboard for anyone looking to rethink, retool, or even dismantle the federal land management system. The proposals outlined in the book could provide ammunition for conservative reformers as they turn to public lands. (The Yale Law Journal )

An informative, interesting, and stimulating analysis of the federal lands of the United States. Whether one accepts or rejects his analysis and his conclusions, no one interested in public land management can afford to ignore this book. (Marion Clawson )

Nelson takes a bold approach in analyzing public lands policy and the failure of scientific management . . . he presents a solid list of policy issues and questions that must be put on the table to ensure that the public lands of this nation are protected and used wisely for future generations. (Journal Of Policy Analysis And Management )

Professor Nelson develops policy reforms that should make Public Lands and Private Rights must-reading for the entire Congress. (Journal Of Economic Literature )

About the Author

Robert H. Nelson is professor of environmental policy in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847680096
• ISBN-13: 978-0847680092
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,274,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Nelson is the author of many book chapters and journal articles and of eight books: The New Holy Wars: Economic Religion versus Environmental Religion in Contemporary America (Penn State University Press, 2010); Private Neighborhoods and the Transformation of Local Government (Urban Institute Press, 2005); Economics as Religion: From Samuelson to Chicago and Beyond (Penn State University Press, 2001); ); A Burning Issue: A Case for Abolishing the U.S. Forest Service (Rowman & Littlefield, 2000); Public Lands and Private Rights: The Failure of Scientific Management (Rowman & Littlefield, 1995); Reaching for Heaven on Earth: The Theological Meaning of Economics (Rowman & Littlefield, 1991); The Making of Federal Coal Policy (Duke University Press, 1983); and Zoning and Property Rights (MIT Press, 1977). The New Holy Wars was the 2010 Winner of the Grand Prize of the Eric Hoffer Book Award for the best book of the year by an independent publisher; and also silver medal winner for "Finance, Investment, Economics" of the 2010 Independent Publisher Book Awards (the "IPPYs"). Dr. Nelson has written widely in publications for broader audiences, including Forbes, The Weekly Standard, Reason, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Denver Post. He worked in the Office of Policy Analysis of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior from 1975 to 1993. He has served as the senior economist of the Congressionally chartered Commission on Fair Market Value Policy for Federal Coal Leasing (Linowes Commission) and as senior research manager of the President's Commission on Privatization. He has been a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution, visiting senior fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, research associate at the Center for Applied Social Sciences of The University of Zimbabwe; visiting professor at Keio University in Tokyo; visiting professor at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires; and visiting professor at the School of Economics of the University of the Philippines in Manila. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University (1971).

Areas of Writing and Research:

Dr. Nelson is a nationally recognized authority in the areas of (1) local zoning and property rights to housing in the United States; (2) the use and management of the public lands owned by the federal government in the American West; and (3) the normative foundations of economics and environmentalism and their often clashing ways of thinking about the world. He is a member of the environmental policy specialization of the School of Public Policy.