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The Trump administration just undermined property rights — and ranchers should be worried.
For years, Republicans have urged environmentalists to put their money where their mouths are. Stop suing. Stop lobbying for new regulations. Respect property rights and buy the land you want to protect. Well, one conservation group took that advice — and the Trump administration just punished them for it.
This month, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) revoked conservation organization American Prairie’s permits to graze bison on federal lands in Montana, overturning 20 years of approved operations. The message to conservationists is clear: Voluntary conservation isn’t actually welcome. But ranchers should also be concerned, because the tactics used here could just as easily be turned against them.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the National Review Online (paywall)
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Shawn Regan is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. P. J. Hill is a professor of economics emeritus at Wheaton College and a senior fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center.
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