Some of the laws the movement
seeks to reverse or eliminate include the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, and the Endangered Species
Act. Many wise-use movement organizations have adopted names that camouflage
the organization's pro-development, anti-environmentalist stance, such as the
National Wetlands Coalition, the Public Lands Council, Citizens for the
Environment, Environmental Conservation Organization, and Defenders of Property
Rights. Some aspects of movement positions also reflect the
policies of other organizations. For example, the American Enterprise Institute
and Political Economy Research Center advocate the privatization of natural
resources through "free market environmentalismÓ policies that overlap with some of those
of the wise-use movement. On the other end of the spectrum, the movement has ties to more extreme organizations,
such as militia groups. Its writings range from
constitutional interpretations supporting its viewpoint to vitriolic attacks on
"pagan" and "communist"
environmentalists whose alleged goal is a "totalitarian one-world
government.Ó
Bibliography:
arnold, ron,
and gottlieb, alan m. (1998). trashing the economy: how runaway
environmentalism is wrecking america. bellevue, wa: free enterprise press.
helvarg,
david. (1994). the war against the greens: the wise use movement, the new
right, and anti-environmental violence. san francisco: sierra club books.
pendley,
perry. (1995). war on the west: government tyranny on america's great frontier.
washington, d.c.:
regnery.internet
resources arnold, ron. "overcoming ideology." available from
center for the defense of free enterprise web site,
http://www.cdfe.org/wiseuse.htm.environmental working group clearinghouse on
environmental advocacy and research (clear). "the wise use movement:
strategic analysis and fifty-state review." available from http://www.ewg.org/pub.
Pamela Baldwin