Date: Thu, 21 Dec 1995 09:56:36 -0500 (EST) From: Competitive Enterprise Institute To: Recipients of the CEI List Subject: CEI List: Press Release For Immediate Release: Contact Greg Smith (202) 331-1010 CEI LAUNCHES CENTER FOR PRIVATE CONSERVATION DECEMBER 15, 1995 -- Today the Competitive Enterprise Institute proudly announced the launch of Center for Private Conservation, a new project aimed at improving public understanding of private sector efforts to conserve environmental values. "For over two decades, environmental policy has proceeded under the assumption that only action by the federal government is capable of providing environmental protection," explained CEI president and founder Fred L. Smith, Jr. "There is a need to develop new approaches to environmental policy to complement, if not supplant, the current reliance upon the federal government for environmental protection. The aim of the Center for Private Conservation is to help fill that gap." The Center for Private Conservation will seek to expand the knowledge and information base surrounding the ability to advance environmental objectives privately, absent government control or influence. The Center will research and document case studies of successful private efforts to conserve resources and ecologically sensitive lands, and analyze how various legal and social institutions can assist or hinder the ability of private individuals and communities to advance environmental ends. The Center will then seek to publicize its findings, through publications, speeches, roundtables, and work with interested organizations. "Critics of command-and-control environmental regulation know what they oppose; We hope the Center for Private Conservation will give them something to support," said Jonathan Adler, CEI Director of Environmental Studies. Key to the Center's formation is the work of well-known conservationist R.J. Smith, senior environmental scholar at CEI and author of the "Special Report: The Public Benefits of Private Conservation," in the Fifteenth Annual Council on Environmental Quality Report. The Center for Private Conservation is republishing R.J. Smith's seminal essay, Resolving the Tragedy of the Commons by Creating Private Property Rights in Wildlife. Coordinating the Center's day-to-day activities will be Michael De Alessi, a CEI research associate and specialist in marine conservation. Mr. De Alessi is the author of the forthcoming Center for Private Conservation study, Emerging Technologies & the Private Stewardship of Marine Resources. CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to free markets and limited government. For more information, call Greg Smith at (202) 331-1010. _______ ________ __________ / | | | |_______ | | | | \ _______ |_______ __________ COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE 1001 Connecticut Ave. NW #1250 Washington, DC 20036 202-331-1010, fax 202-331-0640 Permission to reprint must be obtained from the publishing journal listed above. Permission to copy granted as long as these lines are left intact. To subscribe to the cei list, send a message to CEI@digex.com. "The Virtual Hand: CEI's free-market guide to the information superhighway" is available for $5. CEI's monthly newsletter, "CEI UpDate," is free to contributors of $25.