Property rights are essential conditions of freedom and prosperity. Contrary to propaganda from environmental advocacy groups, environmental stewardship by private landowners has proven to be far superior to that of public land managers. However, federal regulations—primarily the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Clean Water Act wetlands regulation—increasingly undermine private conservation by threatening property rights. Private land ownership provides the right incentives to protect the value of land, including its wildlife and environmental resources. 

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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Study

Earth Report 2000

Earth Report 2000: Revisiting the True State of the Planet Date: 1999 Edited by: Ronald Bailey Published by: McGraw-Hill Earth Report 2000 is a…

Climate

News Release

Media Advisory: Earth Day Experts

Most Americans want a clean environment. That is no surprise. What surprises traditional environmental activists is that most people don’t support extensive federal regulation.

Climate

Products

Urban Sustainability

The grand cliché of environmental policy, "sustainable development," has migrated into urban affairs, where the native politicians and bureaucrats have made it their own.

Lands and Wildlife

Daren Bakst

Director of the Center for Energy and Environment and Senior Fellow

  • Energy and Environment
  • Lands and Wildlife
  • Property Rights

Angela Logomasini

Adjunct Fellow

  • Chemical Risk
  • Consumer Freedom
  • Energy and Environment

Patricia Patnode

Research Fellow

  • Consumer Freedom
  • Energy
  • Energy and Environment

Fred L. Smith, Jr.

Founder; Chairman Emeritus

  • Automobiles and Roads
  • Aviation
  • Business and Government