Who Is Minding the Federal Estate? Political Management of America's Public Lands

Sewage seeping into creeks, crumbling cabins and disintegrating roads, dilapidated visitor centers, catastrophic wildfires: these are some of the sights awaiting visitors to federal lands today. Federal agencies in charge of the public domain call for more support in the form of taxpayer dollars while constantly seeking to add to their holdings; environmental groups call for increased restrictions on land use and resource development; private citizens call for a return to the good old days of crisply tended, crime-free, and unspoiled national parks. All, it seems, overlook the sad fact that the existing federal estate is in terrible shape, badly maintained and managed, with no immediate hope for improvement. Will more money, more restrictions, and more regulations address the problems that plague America's public domain? No: Rather, real improvement requires reform of the managing institutions.

Holly Lippke Fretwell is fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC). She is also adjunct instructor in the Department of Agriculture Economics and Economics at Montana State University.