Since our founding in 1984, the Competitive Enterprise Institute has sought to reform and reduce environmental regulation of land, shrink the federal estate, and unlock federal lands for private ownership.
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Happy birthday, Smokey Bear! Let’s fight forest fires the right way
Smokey Bear, the famous US Forest Service (USFS) mascot, celebrated his 81st birthday this past Saturday, August 9. Smokey Bear was created in 1944…

News Release
EPA proposes rule to overturn regulatory finding justifying major restrictions on consumer choice: CEI analysis
Today, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency’s proposed rule that would overturn the 2009 endangerment finding. For 16 years, this finding has been…

Blog
Congress should support the Grizzly Bear State Management Act
Tomorrow, the House Natural Resources Committee will meet to consider 12 pieces of legislation that have been introduced in the 119th Congress. One of…
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News Release
Center For Private Conservation Celebrates Private Conservation Day
Third AnnualPrivate Conservation DaySaturday, April 13, 200211:00 a.m. – noonNatural Bridge of Virginia Please join the Center for Private Conservation to…
News Release
New York Times Attacks CEI On FDA’s Pediatric Rule
Copyright © 2002 The New York Times <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> The Bush administration senselessly…
Op-Eds
Unfocused Federal Wildfire Effort Draws Fire From States
Following the lead of New Mexico — which not long ago declared mismanaged federal lands in the state to be disaster areas and threatened intervention…
Op-Eds
Unfocused Federal Wildfire Effort Draws Fire From States
Following the lead of New Mexico — which not long ago declared mismanaged federal lands in the state to be disaster areas and threatened intervention…
Op-Eds
Fight Rages Over Fate of Deadwood And Timber Sales
How much wood should a woodcutter cut if a woodcutter could cut wood? That debate has been raging in the western United States for more…
Op-Eds
Uncle Sam’s Vaccines
Miller and Kazman Op-Ed in National Review Online The recent germ-warfare attacks are cause for concern, but so is one proposed government response:…
News Release
Recent Shark Attacks and Wildfires Show Mother Nature Doesn’t Always Know Best
Washington, DC, September 5, 2001—“The idea that Mother Nature always has our best interests in mind has suffered a bit lately. That viewpoint,…
Op-Eds
You Bastards: You Killed Bambi!
After recently watching Bambi, I worry that I may never again have an intelligent thought about man and nature. First we killed Bambi’s…
Op-Eds
Half a Cheer for the U.N.
Just when you thought you could count on a group to be consistent – they do something reasonable. The United Nations has rarely been a…
Op-Eds
Privatizing National Parks
Wonders never cease. China, once the poster child for socialist nonsense (remember the backyard steel furnaces?), seems determined to experiment with a wide…
Op-Eds
In Too Deep: Wetland Rules Move Toward Local Control
Freeman Op-Ed in National Review Online<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in hot water…
Op-Eds
Wildfire Witch Hunt Will Likely Miss The Real Culprits
A witch-hunt is under way in Washington state for the negligent weenie roasters believed responsible for sparking a modest forest fire that suddenly turned deadly…
Op-Eds
Dredging Politics: A Purely Political Decision
Klutz and Riggs Op-Ed in National Review Online<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> With a few highly visible environmental decisions under…
Op-Eds
Placing Private Property Rights at Risk
Freeman and Riggs Op-Ed in The Washington Times<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> If the presidential election were based on surface…
News Release
Land Grab Legislation Headed for Vote
Washington, DC, July 24, 2001 – The U.S. House Committee on Resources is expected to vote this week on a bill that would…
News Release
CEI Criticizes FDA Delay In Approving New Heart Valve
Washington, DC, July 27, 2001—The Food and Drug Administration acted far too slowly in approving the Omnicarbon heart valve, the Competitive Enterprise Institute…
News Release
Environmental Experts Criticize Legislation that Threatens Private Landownership
Washington, DC, June 20, 2001 – The House Natural Resources Committee is today hearing testimony on a bill that would massively increase government…
Op-Eds
Sustainable Development? How About Sustainable Growth?
The economic news out of Europe is bad — again. The euro is trending lower. German business confidence is down. Once-optimistic growth forecasts are being…
Study
Arsenic and Old Politics
View Full Document as PDF President George W. Bush has been taking a lot of heat for his decision to review the…
Products
Secretary Norton Highlights Private Conservation Day
Ffteen years ago Dr From the May 2001 CEI UpDate Fifteen years ago Dr. A. G. “Skeet”…
News Release
Bush Administration Backs Roadless Rule, Proposes Amendments
Washington, DC, May 4, 2001- The Competitive Enterprise Institute is urging the Bush administration to set a tight timetable for local forest review…
News Release
Bush, Court to Consider “Roadless Rule” for National Forests
Washington, DC, May 3, 2001- The Competitive Enterprise Institute is urging the Bush administration to revoke the controversial “roadless rule” for national forests,…
News Release
Bush Administration’s First 100 Days: A Report Card on Environmental Policy
Washington, DC, April 26, 2001— The Competitive Enterprise Institute today released grades for President Bush’s first 100 days of environmental policy. Many of…
News Release
CEI Commends Bush for Reviewing Drinking Water Rule
Washington, DC, April 23, 2001— The Competitive Enterprise Institute praised the Bush administration for its recent announcement that it will postpone the arsenic…
News Release
Media Advisory: Proponents of “Smart” Environmentalism Available for Earth Day
Washington, DC, April 17, 2001— As people around the world prepare to celebrate the 31st Earth Day, this Sunday, April 22nd, concerned individuals…
Study
Rescind Clinton’s 58.5 Million-Acre Roadless Designations
In one of his last acts as president, Bill Clinton set aside 58.5 million acres of “roadless” area in the national forests. This…
Op-Eds
Dead Wood
The sudden departure late last month of U.S. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck, a Clinton-era holdover, evoked a sigh of relief in parts of the…
Op-Eds
Entrepreneurs and the Environment: Michael De Alessi in The World and I
Encryption and Health Care Published in The World and I April 1, 2001 Despite much ecological pessimism in recent…
News Release
Environmental Policy Expert to Testify Before Government Reform Committee on Roadless Plan for National Forests
Washington, DC, March 26, 2001 – In testimony tomorrow before the House Committee on Government Reform, Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow…
Op-Eds
Congress Holds Private Conservation Hearings
We expect "firsts" to occur at the beginning of a new legislative session Freeman Op-Ed in Environment and Climate News We expect…
Op-Eds
Forest Service Tinderbox Policies: Robert Nelson WT Op-Ed
Published January 29, 2001 Published January 29, 2001 The Washington Times Forest fires in the United States devastated more…
Study
Salmon Conservation in Scotland: A History of Legislative Tradition and Private Action
Full Document Available in PDF Iain…
News Release
Norton Confirmation Good News for Western Lands
Washington, D.C., January 30, 2001 – “The confirmation of Gale Norton offers the nation an opportunity to rethink and reformulate environmental policy,” said…
News Release
Gale Norton May Return Western Lands to Western Hands Despite President Clinton’s Monument Designation
Washington, D.C., January 18, 2001 – While Congress considers the confirmation of Gale Norton as Secretary of the Interior, President Clinton announced the…
Op-Eds
Strong Bush Prescription Needed to Cure an Overactive FDA: Henry Miller Guest Op-Ed
Much of the real work of the new Bush administration will be done not by the high-profile members of the president’s cabinet w…
News Release
Gale Norton Under Assault by Pro-Regulation Greens
Washington, D.C., January 12, 2001 – Secretary of the Interior-Designate Gale Norton faces an uphill confirmation fight. Ms. Norton’s history of pursuing innovative…
Op-Eds
The Medicine Chest ‘Villain’: Roger Bate WT Op-Ed
Ever since I read “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” as a young boy, I have been a big fan of the mysteries penned by spy-master, John…
News Release
Current Federal Approach to Wetlands All Wet
January 9, 2001 — Two developments yesterday on the issue of wetlands regulations demonstrate that, as CEI has long argued, the current federal…
Op-Eds
The Monumental Hoax Behind the Starlink Scare: Miller Op-Ed in the National Post
Published December 31, 2000 Published in the National Post (Canada) January 06, 2001 Headline: The Monumental Hoax Behind the…
News Release
CEI Releases “Sprawl” Principles as Nation Awaits EPA Appointment
Washington, DC, December 21, 2000 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute, along with over one hundred other co-signers, announced ten principles for freedom…
News Release
Organic Food Standards May Violate First Amendment
WASHINGTON, DC December 20, 2000—New standards for organic foods may violate First Amendment free speech rights, the Competitive Enterprise…
Op-Eds
All the Hype that Can Be Put to Type: Sean Paige Op-Ed in Washinton Times
Published in the Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT) Published in the Washington Times October 08, 2000 …
Op-Eds
A Scorched-Earth Debate Hits West
Smoke still is rising from vast scorched acreage in the Rocky Mountain West, and fire continues ruthlessly to consume the tinderbox that much of the…
Op-Eds
Abolish The Forest Service: Bob Nelson in Forbes Magazine
Thin out small trees to protect forests from fire. Not a bad idea, as recently floated by the U.S. Forest Service, but too late when…
Study
Western Wildfires: Seeing the Forest Through Dense, Dead, and Diseased Trees
This year’s forest-fire season in the West may be the worst in 50 years. An area larger than Maryland-6.5 million acres-has burned, and…
Products
Let’s Go to the Videotape! Documentary Provides Balance to Save-the-Rainforest Celebs
From the August/September 2000 issue of CEI UpDate Two cute tamarinds, perched on a branch, appear to frown and furrow their brows with…
Op-Eds
Clearing the National Forests’ Underbrush: Freeman/Simmons Op-Ed in Raleigh N-O
Published in the News and Observer (Raleigh, NC) <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News…
Op-Eds
Fires By Design: Bob Nelson Op-Ed in Washington Post
Published in the Washington Post Published in the Washington Post August 9, 2000 This year's forest fire season in the West may…
Study
A Burning Issue
This book argues that the U.S. Forest Service has outlived its usefulness. It should be abolished. Founded in 1905,…
Op-Eds
Lessons From the Western Fires: Colorado Can Learn From Los Alamos — Nelson Op-Ed in Denver Post
Published in the Denver Post Published in the Denver Post June 25, 2000 You may have seen the…