The Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE), based in Bozeman, Montana, is an American think tank that promotes

free-market environmentalism Free-market environmentalism argues that the free market, property rights, and tort law provide the best means of preserving the environment, internalizing pollution costs, and conserving resources. Free-market environmentalists therefore arg ...

. FREE emphasizes reliance on

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

mechanisms and private

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

rights, rather than on

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

, for protection of the environment. Its chairperson, John Baden, stresses

decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

: a shift of control from what he calls "green platonic despots" in the federal government to "local interests," including environmental groups. Citing

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

efforts such as those involving the Rocky Mountain Elk,

Pheasants Forever Pheasants Forever, Inc. (PF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit conservation organization, is dedicated to conserving wildlife habitat suitable for pheasants. Formed in 1982 as a response to the continuing decline of upland wildlife and habitat throughout t ...

, and

Trout Unlimited Trout Unlimited (TU) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of freshwater streams, rivers, and associated upland habitats for trout, salmon, other aquatic species, and people. It is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. T ...

, Baden asserts that the ideas FREE promotes have become "the norm among progressive, intellectually honest and successful environmentalists." FREE's mission is to attract and work with conservationists, conservatives, and classical liberals who treasure responsible liberty, sustainable ecology, and modest prosperity. John Baden has been a pioneer in free market environmentalism and its academic forerunner, the New Resource Economics. That work began with a 1973 article co-written with Richard Stroup, "Externality, Property Rights, and the Management of Our National Forests," in the ''Journal of Law and Economics.'' This article identified problems with federal management of the national forests and explored the possible impacts of shifting those forests to private ownership. One of FREE's past projects was the "Charter Forest" project, in which control of national forests were to be devolved to local trusts. The plan was endorsed by the

Bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

administration, but has yet to be put into effect. Since 1992, FREE has offered expense-paid seminars in its philosophy to federal

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

s. These seminars have included such topics as "Environmental Protection: The Role of Community-Based Solutions to Environmental Problems", "The Environment: A CEO's Perspective",''The Environment: A CEO's perspective''
, FREE website, 1996 and "Liberty and the Environment: A Case for Judicial Activism". FREE says that nearly a third of the federal

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

had either attended or were seeking to attend its seminars in the late 1990s. The group also offers expense-paid courses for university faculty and students, these reportedly taught on the campus of

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

. Between August 14 and 19, 2004, FREE hosted the 2004 general meeting of the

Mont Pèlerin Society The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) is an international organization composed of economists, philosophers, historians, intellectuals and business leaders.Michael Novak, 'The Moral Imperative of a Free Economy', in '' The 4% Solution: Unleashing the E ...

at the Grand America Hotel in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Board

* John A. Baden, PhD * Ramona Marotz-Baden *

Alice M. Batchelder Alice M. Moore Batchelder (born August 15, 1944) is an American attorney and jurist. She is currently a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She served as chief judge from 2009 until 20 ...

Edith Brown Clement Edith "Joy" Brown Clement (born April 29, 1948) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Background Clement was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the daug ...

Jim Huffman James L. Huffman (born March 25, 1945) is a former professor of law and the former dean of Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. He was the Republican nominee in the 2010 U.S. Senate election in Oregon, losing to incumbent Democrat Ron ...

* John McCormack * John Von Kannon *

Todd Zywicki Todd Joseph Zywicki (born January 18, 1966) is an American lawyer, legal scholar and educator. He is a George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law, teaching in the areas of bankruptcy and contracts. ...

Jonathan H. Adler Jonathan H. Adler is an American legal commentator and law professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He has been recognized as one of the most cited professors in the field of environmental law. His research is also credite ...

* Danny J. Boggs * Steven J. Eagle

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.free-eco.org
Organizational profile
–

National Center for Charitable Statistics The National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) is a clearing house for information about the nonprofit sector of the U.S. economy. The National Center for Charitable Statistics builds national, state, and regional databases and develops sta ...

(

Urban Institute The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that carries out economic and social policy research to "open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions". The institute receives funding from government contracts, foundations and pr ...

) Environmental economics Environmental organizations based in Montana Non-profit organizations based in Montana Conservative organizations in the United States