Privatization of America's Public Lands

Perhaps nothing can introduce this subject quite as well as the following poem from Australian poet and cartoonist, Michael Leunig.

 

The People's Treasure by Michael Leunig They're privatising things we own together. They're flogging off the people's common ground. And though we're still connected by the weather They say that sharing things is now unsound. * They're lonelifying all the public spaces. They're rationalising swags and billabongs. They're awfulising nature's lovely places, Dismantling the dreaming and the songs. * Their macho fear of flabby soft sensations Makes them pine for all things hard and lean. They talk of foreign market penetrations And throbbing private sectors. It's obscene. * They're basically unloving types of creatures With demons lurking underneath their beds. You'll notice that a necktie always features To keep their hearts quite separate from their heads. * So if they steal away the people's treasure. And bring the jolly swagman to his knees. They can't remove the simple common pleasure Of loathing public bastards such as these.

 

Organizations Actively Opposing Privatization

• Privatization—Government for Sale
  (The Bush Administration is determined to hand over at least 850,000 federal jobs—roughly one-half of the federal workforce—to private, for-profit contractors. Here are just a few examples of federal services that could be given to private, for-profit contractors if Bush Administration officials have their way... "--From: American Federation of Government Employees.)

• Privatization Today
  (From city halls, county boards and state houses to our nation’s capital, the push for private take– over of public services is picking up steam. For many years, privatization was limited to contracting-out, the catch phrase of private companies vying to provide public services. Increasingly, there is a full-fledged shift from publicly to privately produced goods and services, including the use of vouchers, government– granted franchises, and the sale of assets... "--From: American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.)

• Your Anti-Privatization Toolbox
  (Successfully fighting privatization requires organization and hard work. The following list outlines some of the most vital techniques for you to use to gather information and prevent privatization from affecting you and the employees you represents... "--From: American Federation of Teachers.)

   

Links of Special Interest

(NOTE: Links that are now 'dead" at their original location
can generally still be viewed at The WayBack Machine.)

• Transferring Function to the Private Sector

("The Basic Techniques of Privatization The term “privatization” defines the process or act of transferring government assets to the private sector. How the transfer is accomplished is defined by the various techniques used to privatize those services, and the technique that is chosen is often determined by the nature of the government asset or activity as well as the environment in which it operates." --From: The Heritage Foundation.)
• Defining Privatization

("Defining Privatization: Editor’s Note: The following is a compilation of definitions that are frequently used when discussing privatization. The General Accounting Office has allowed MPR to adapt its brochure Terms Related to Privatization Activities and Processes for this feature." --From: Mackinac Center for Public Policy.)
• The National Council of Public-Private Partnerships

("The National Council for Public-Private Partnerships is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association whose primary purpose is to explore the ways in which the private and public sectors can work together in providing public services and developing, financing and implementing infrastructure and community facilities. " --From: NCPPP.)
• Privatize the parks

(The time has arrived for us to privatize our national parks. Some may consider such a proposal blasphemous; I contend that budgetary constraints make privatization essential ... it takes money - the kind of money that only corporate America can provide - to protect and preserve hallowed grounds such as the Redwoods, Acadia, White Sands and the Grand Canyon. I implore the Bush Administration to arrive at the same conclusion.)
• BLM Privatizes Public Land Management

("Public lands should be managed for all Americans, and with opportunities for involvement by all Americans. The Utah BLM should abandon its practice of privatizing public lands planning through private advisory groups. We suspect BLM favors private advisory groups as they allow the agency to avoid responsibility for difficult decisions. If BLM managers can't stand the heat, they should quit, rather than collect a paycheck while leaving the decision making to private interests." --From: Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.)
• Parks, Property Rights, And The Possibilities Of The Private Law

("With public expenditures for recreation reduced, park administrators have turned to the private sector for support and have relied more on the price system through the privatization of services and user fees. It is to such moderate reforms that we now turn our attention." --From: The Cato Institute.)
• Focus on Utah; Privatizing the Public Lands

("The reasons for the recent flap over ownership and control of the public lands are not hard to discern. Until the last three decades use control of the public lands resided largely in the regional commodity users: ranchers, miners, loggers, and irrigators. Favorable policies to these groups were assured by pressure brought on political representatives in Congress and the executive branch. Beginning in the 1960s, however, the politics began to change dramatically due to two main factors: 1) the demand for recreation and amenity goods increased sharply, and 2) the new and increasingly powerful environmental-conservation movement learned how to manipulate the political allocation process both directly and through judicial rulings." --From: The Sutherland Institute.)
• Recreation Master Plan

("General revenue funding for the subsidization of the operation of recreation facilities and programs will be lessened gradually over the remainder of the decade. As a means of providing service delivery at the same level for a lower cost than at present, Recreation Services will need to increase efficiencies in its operation and expand cooperative approaches with other agencies, organizations, or businesses. " --From: The Township of LaCombe, Alberta, Canada.)
• Should Congress Transfer Federal Lands To The States?

("The most interesting experiment with incentives is taking place in the Texas park system. There, park managers are given incentives to be "entrepreneurial" by written contracts that guarantee them budgetary rewards for both saving money and increasing user fee collections. Parks that increase user fees or reduce costs get to keep in their next year's budget 35 percent of the increased fees or savings. Moreover, they can spend the money any way they like..." --From: The Cato Institute.)
• The Public And Private Interest In Wilderness Protection

("The private ownership of wilderness would improve the moral consistency of the preservationist argument as well as demonstrate a true dedication to wilderness values." --From: The Cato Institute.)
• The Privatization Debate: An Insider's View

("The federal government's land holdings, which are six times larger than France, are a serious problem, symptomatic of a grave disease. The cure is privatization." --From: The Cato Institute.)
• How and Why to Privatize Federal Lands

("Accordingly, we offer a blueprint for auctioning off all public lands over 20 to 40 years. Both environmental quality and economic efficiency would be enhanced by private rather than public ownership. Land would be auctioned not for dollars but for public land share certificates (analogous to no par value stock certificates) distributed equally to all Americans. Those certificates could be freely transferred at any time during the divestiture period and would not expire until after the final auction. " --From: The Cato Institute.)
• Privatizing the Planet: An Alternative Vision of Environmental Protection

("Ecological central planning cannot protect the environment, but it can destroy civil and economic liberties. America need not go any farther down this road. The environment can be protected, and we can continue to reach new heights of prosperity. Modern societies have succeeded only when ordinary citizens have been free to solve their own problems. Ecological privatization is an unexplored means of achieving real benefits in the environmental field. " --From: Cato Institute)
• Privatising Parks: Why the Private Sector Can Enhance Nature Protection

("The main obstacle to the private ownership of National Parks is lack of a profit motive" --From: Jeff Bennett, Professor of Environmental Management, The Australian National University.)
• The Case For Higher National Park Fees

("While the demonstration is still a far cry from privatization, free-market analysts say, it is at least a sign that market principles are being introduced. " --From: Tim W. Ferguson, "Grin and Bear It," Forbes, June 16, 1997)
• Candidates for Privatization

(Web page provides a laundry list of services and institutions that would make good candidates for privatization. --From National Center for Policy Analysis. )
• TPL Toolbox

("Intertwined with any discussion of fees is the issue of outsourcing, also referred to as "privatization" and "concessions"--basically, who is it that gets to charge the fee? A relatively new concept in the urban park business, outsourcing is now a high-growth industry thanks to the realization that it is often cheaper and more satisfactory to have private concessionaires operate specialized entities such as stadiums, marinas, golf courses, restaurants and skating rinks. Generally speaking, revenue-generating operations are most amenable to outsourcing..." --From: The Trust for Public Land)
• Privatizing Parks and Campgrounds

("Turning over partial ownership or management of city parks to non-profit groups and neighborhood associations often is the best way to ensure they remain a public asset. " --From: RPPI Privativation Center.)
• Inside Our Outdoor Policy

("The alternative paradigm is free market environmentalism, which suggests that there is untapped potential in the private sector. Rising values of recreation and environmental amenities will provide the incentive for entrepreneurs to develop new technologies and institutions for producing and marketing them. We must ensure that the legal environment is not inimical to private ownership and provision of these goods. " --From: Political Economy Research Center.)
• Land Privatization Scheme Sets Off Alarms

("Terry Anderson's privatization proposal is alarmingly simple: Give each American a deed to a proportionate share of the 600 million acres of land now managed by the federal government over the next 20 to 40 years, and let deed holders keep or dispose of their shares as they see fit." --From: Environmental New Network.)
• Enviro-Capitalism Vs. Enviro-Socialism

("There are other, more direct actions to get public law out of the way. For example, short of privatizing public lands (which would make good sense in many cases), commodities and services from those lands could be sold at market prices. Recreation is nearly always underpriced if priced at all." --From: Terry L. Anderson.)
• Some say the concept of national public lands is obsolete

("Without public land, hunting and a lot of fishing would be reserved for those who can pay the highest price. Wildlife would be privatized along with the land, owned by whichever landowner could afford to fence it in. There would be vast private wildland preserves bordering virtual moonscapes where all the timber and minerals have been taken away by some international consortium. It could mean a busy economy of land trades and housing developments and pay-to-play recreation." --From: Field and Stream.)
• Types and Techniques of Privatization   [very enlightening!]

("A variety of alternative service delivery techniques can be employed to maximize efficiency and increase service quality. Some methods will be more appropriate than others depending on the service. In searching for ways of cutting costs and increasing delivery, consider using a combination of these techniques:..." --From: RPPI Privativation Center.)
• Privatization and the Future of Leisure Services  

("We cannot hold back privatization, but neither can we afford to be naive about the implications of policy decisions based solely on the bottom line.")
• List of Recreation Facility Sites shows locations to be affected by government parks privatization plans

("An August 1996 government draft entitled "Rationalizing Alberta’s Parks Program" that was released by Alberta Liberals in September, 1996, gave more details about the process for privatization. It stated: 1) The department will provide the first opportunity to the private sector and/or a municipal authority to operate a site under agreement.... " --From: Alberta Liberal Caucus.)
• Friends of BC Parks Coalition
  (The privatization of Canada's provincial parks began earlier and is has been occurring at a faster pace than the privatization of recreational opportunities on America's federally managed public lands. And because the Canadian privatization agenda is already further down this path, exploration of what is happening in Canada today provides a unique portal for anticipating what is likely to happen in the USA tomorrow.)

For an environmental perspective of some of the larger privatization issues see the following

 

• The Strategy To Privatize The Public Domain

("The coordinated and decades-long effort to privatize the public lands of the United States, nearly a third of the nation, is now bearing fruit. The Sagebrush Rebellion of the 1970s that sought to transfer power to states and local units, and that provided the Reagan Administration with James Watt as Interior Secretary, morphed into the Wise Use Movement that sprinkled antigovernment grassroots organizations across the nation. Wise Use, in turn, has given rise to so-called "free- market environmentalism" that consists largely of a network of corporations and conservative foundations and think tanks intent on gaining control of the public domain."
By Bill Willers)
• Privatized Hell

("The privatized replacement for the current government social services - the insurance companies, the HMOs, the private schools, etc. - will, of course, have as their prime objectives, the enrichment of their stockholders and corporate officers, rather than service to the public. And oversight and reform of these private institutions will be out of reach of political institutions: elections, legislatures, and the courts. This will be a very different country, virtually unimaginable to most American citizens today, but familiar to those who are acquainted with third world kleptocracies in Central America, Africa and Asia."
By Ernest Partridge)
• Trading away the Earth: The Myth of "Free Market Environmentalism

("For some activists, this is a time to renew the grassroots focus of environmental activism, even to adopt a more aggressively anti-corporate approach that exposes the political and ideological agendas underlying the current backlash. But for many, the current impasse suggests that the movement must adapt to the dominant ideological currents of the time. Some environmentalists have thus shifted their focus toward voluntary programs, economic incentives and the mechanisms of the "free market" as means to advance the cause of environmental protection."
By Brian Tokar)
• Charter forests: privatizing the public domain
  ("The Bush administration proposes establishing "charter forests" by transferring authority of some national forests from the U.S. Forest Service to local "trusts" consisting largely of "user groups." This, according to Mark Rey, would reduce management costs. Rey, a former timber industry lobbyist, is undersecretary of agriculture in charge of the national forests."
  By Bill Willers)

• Prospecting for Profits
  ("These are our commons, the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone are the only two areas in the whole United States that people see as our common areas," she said. "If you don't have that as a common public area free from commercialization, what do you have left?"
  By Kari Lydersen)

Privatization Information From Privatization Supporters

Privatization Organizations The Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships International Finance Corporation. Privatization Advisory Services National Center for Public-Private Partnerships Outsourcing Bulletin Board Privatization Research and Analysis Alliance for Redesigning Government Competition Strategies, Malcom Pirnie's Privatization Page. Some good essays and discussion. Government Spending and Privatization, Wendell Cox Consultancy. Data, Articles, and Links. Mackinac Center for Public Policy Privatization Page. Studies, manuals, and reports. National Center for Policy Analysis Privatization Page. Essays, articles, and studies on many privatization projects and topics. Policy Fax - Privatization. Annotated list of privatization studies and documents available by fax. Privatization Research Center at Temple University. US Senate Joint Economic Committee. Reports and Hearing on privatization. International Privatization Competitive Contracting and Tendering Research. University of Sydney. Privatization International Authoritative international magazine. Privatization News. International magazine on privatization. World Bank Private Sector Notes. Articles on privatization overseas, mainly in developing nations. World Bank Privatization and Restructuring Group. Describes mission and ongoing projects. A Privatization Email Discussion List Public dialogue on government privatization issues and postings of notices, papers, proceedings, etc. Sponsored by the NSF Consortium for Public/Private Partnerships. List owner, Preston Rich brich@nsf.gov. To join, email listproc@financenet.gov. In body of message put: subscribe privatization your-name. Public Policy Organizations The Adam Smith Institute American Enterprise Institute American Legislative Exchange Council Atlas Economic Research Foundation Bionomics The Brookings Institution Cascade Policy Institute The Cato Institute Center for Budget and Policy Priorities Center for Market Processes Center for National Policy Center for the New West Citizens for a Sound Economy The Claremont Institute Competitive Enterprise Institute Council of State Governments Economic Policy Institute Foundation for Economic Education The Fraser Institute The Heartland Institute The Heritage Institute Hudson Institute. Independence Institute The Independent Institute The Institute for Justice Institute for Policy Innovation Institute for Women's Policy Research Institute of Economic Affairs (UK) Institute of Public Policy (George Mason University) International Society for Individual Liberty James Madison Institute Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Levy Institute The Local Government Council The Locke Institute Mackinac Center for Public Policy National Academy of Social Insurance. National Center for Policy Analysis National Center on Education and the Economy National Conference of State Legislators NRDC National Regulatory Research Institute Pacific Research Institute Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research Political Economy Research Center Progress and Freedom Foundation Progressive Policy Institute Public Policy Institute of California RAND Tax Freedom Foundation 20th Century Fund The Urban Institute The Urban Land Institute Washington Institute for Policy Studies

This document was prepared by Wild Wilderness. To learn more about ongoing industry-backed congressional efforts to motorize, commercialize, and privatize America's public lands, contact:

Scott Silver, Executive Director,
Wild Wilderness
248 NW Wilmington Avenue,  Bend  OR 97701
Phone (541) 385-5261    E-mail: ssilver@wildwilderness.org