Challenges and Solutions to Improve Federal Lands Management

The Federal government owns 640 million acres of land and hundreds of thousands more in mineral rights below it. These lands are full of potential – natural resources, recreation, and wildlife habitat among them – and routinely involve tough management decisions.

How these lands are managed and maintained is controversial, reaching even basic, fundamental questions of ownership and goals. For many Americans west of the Mississippi, such questions have a direct impact on livelihoods and quality of life. For all Americans, they have implications for where and how to use tax dollars, whether in collecting revenues or dealing with maintenance backlogs. Please join The Heritage Foundation and the Property and Environment Research Center for a robust conversation on where federal land management policy is going and creative policy ideas for the future. Reception to follow.

WHEN:

Wednesday, November 14, 2018
3:30 – 7:00 pm

WHERE:

The Heritage Foundation

Allison Auditorium
214 Massachusetts Ave NE
Washington, DC
20002

AGENDA

3:30 p.m. – Welcome and Opening Remarks
Nick Loris, Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow, The Heritage Foundation

Panel I – Priorities, Challenges and Opportunities for Improved Federal Land Management: Finding a Path Forward for Economic and Environmental Success

Dan Smith – National Park Service Deputy Director, Exercising the Authority of Director
Casey Hammond – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land & Mineral Management
Chris French – Acting Deputy Chief, U.S. Forest Service
Marshall Critchfield – Advisor, Fish and Wildlife Service
Brian Yablonski – Executive Director, Property and Environment Research Center – Moderator

4:30 p.m. – Presentation – How We Pay to Play on Public Lands
Tate Watkins– Research Fellow, Property and Environment Research Center

4:45 p.m. – Panel II – How We Pay for Federal Lands and Innovative Funding Solutions

Holly Fretwell –Research Fellow, Property and Environment Research Center
R.J. Smith – Distinguished Fellow, Center for Energy and Environment, Competitive Enterprise Institute and Senior Fellow, National Center for Public Policy Research 
Katie Tubb – Policy Analyst, The Heritage Foundation
Tate Watkins – Research Fellow, Property and Environment Research Center
Hannah Downey – Policy and Partnerships Coordinator, Property and Environment Research Center – Moderator

5:45 p.m. – Closing Remarks and Reception