Robert Nelson is a Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. At CEI, Dr. Nelson focuses on land-use and natural resource policy issues.
Dr. Nelson is currently a Professor at the University of Maryland's School of Public Affairs. He has over eighteen years of experience with the U.S. Department of Interior conducting economic and policy studies of department programs. He worked especially closely with the Bureau of Land Management's grazing, timber and coal leasing programs. He has served as the Staff economist for the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. He received the 1989 Meritorious Service Award from the Interior Department which is the second highest award given by the Department.
Dr. Nelson has written numerous books and articles on economic and public lands issues, including A Burning Issue: A Case for Abolishing the US Forest Service (Rowman & Littlefield, 2000); Public Lands and Private Rights: The Failure of Scientific Management; Reaching for Heaven on Earth: The Theological Meaning of Economics; and Zoning and Property Rights. His articles have appeared in publications such as Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Weekly Standard, Technology Review, and Regulation among others.
Dr. Nelson has a degree in Mathematics from Brandeis University and a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University.
recent op-eds & articles
Privatizing the Inner City
By Robert H. Nelson, November 30, 2005
Scorched-Earth Policies
By Robert H. Nelson, November 2, 2003
Forest Service Tinderbox Policies: Robert Nelson WT Op-Ed
By Robert H. Nelson, January 28, 2001
Abolish The Forest Service: Bob Nelson in Forbes Magazine
By Robert H. Nelson, September 5, 2000
Fires By Design: Bob Nelson Op-Ed in Washington Post
By Robert H. Nelson, August 9, 2000
recent studies
Economics As Religion
By Robert H. Nelson, June 1, 2001
Rescind Clinton’s 58.5 Million-Acre Roadless Designations
By Robert H. Nelson, April 12, 2001
From Waste to Wilderness: Maintaining Biodiversity on Nuclear-Bomb-Building Sites
By Robert H. Nelson, March 19, 2001
Western Wildfires: Seeing the Forest Through Dense, Dead, and Diseased Trees
By Robert H. Nelson, September 14, 2000
A Burning Issue
By Robert H. Nelson, August 6, 2000
