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