Links to Thoreavian Websites

Like Henry David Thoreau, we at the Thoreau Institute are both environmentalists and fiscal conservatives. This straddles us across two movements that tend to be suspicious of one another but who--we firmly believe--have much in common.

While we don't always agree with everyone in the following environmental and fiscally conservative links, all of them say something useful and thought-provoking.

Urban Growth and Transportation Links

• You can look up U. S. Census data for 1990 (and earlier years for some data). More recent population estimates and preliminary 2000 census data are at the regular Census Bureau web site.
• The Federal Highway Administration presents important information about traffic in major U.S. cities.
• The Federal Transit Administration has ridership data for U.S. cities as well as good information about transportation costs.
• The Oregon land use planning page is presented by planning advocates at the University of Oregon.
• A positive view of the New Urbanism can be found on the City Comforts page.
• Alternate views of New Urbanism are available from the Reason Foundation.
• Wendell Cox's Public Purpose web site is an excellent source of transit data and his Demographia site has lots of demographic data.
• Richard Carson, currently a planner working for Clark County, Washington, has an iconoclatic view of Portland's planning.
• Portland's Metro has a website, but it has little data.
• Portland's transit agency, Tri-Met, also has a site.
• Many Oregon state agencies, including the departments of Land Conservation and Development and Transportation, have useful sites.
• The Cascade Policy Institute has a lively debate about light rail and other Oregon policies.
• The Oregon Transportation Institute also has a dissenting view of light rail.
• The No Centerline web site opposes one of the many light-rail boondoggles found around the country.

Fiscally Conservative Links

• Links to a large number of libertarian organizations can be found at the libertarian home page.
• The Cascade Policy Institute is a Portland think tank that concentrates on Oregon issues.
• Two of the nation's leading free-market environmental organizations are located in Bozeman, Montana: The Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment and the Political Economy Research Center.
• The Cato Institute presents a libertarian view on a full range of issues in Washington, DC.
• The Center for Private Conservation publishes case studies of successful private efforts to conserve wildlife, scenery, and other natural resources.
• The Heartland Institute is a Midwestern libertarian group that works on environment, education, and other issues.
• The Atlas Economic Foundation assists other libertarian groups in organizing and fundraising.

Environmental Links

• Econet is the largest internet network of environmental sources and links.
• AFSEEE (Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics) works on national forest issues and has a good web site with many useful links.
• The Northwest Ecosystem Alliance is working to protect forests and other ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest.
• High Country News is the biweekly journal of the New West, covering environmental and social issues in all western states but California. All of its issues from 1993 to two months ago are on line--an extremely valuable resource.

Other Useful Links

• All of the Government Accounting Office's recent reports are available on the Web. Two important ones are RCED-95-238 (on the national parks) and RCED-95-237FS (on the national forests).
• All bills introduced in the 103rd and 104th Congresses, including amendments and status, are available through Thomas at the Library of Congress.
• The Fish and Wildlife Service has a useful site that includes a complete list of threatened and endangered species and a list of national wildlife refuges.
• The Forest Service has an excellent directory to every national forest in the country.
• The Park Service has a description of many, if not all, of the national parks.
• The entire draft Forest Service 1995 RPA Program is available on line. Although it is in many files that make it a pain to download, you will probably be most interested in chapter 3 and appendices D and E.
• I wish I had had access to on-line Federal Budgetary Data when I wrote Pork Barrel and the Environment.
• People interested in Henry David Thoreau should look at the Thoreau Reader, which is maintained by the University of Washington.
• Dilbert shows that bureaucracy can be found in private as well as government organizations.