Australia's national parks

I haven't talked much about national parks here but some blogs that have good discussion on national parks issues (particularly from an economic perspective) are the Environmental Economics blog (this recent post on park user fees is an interesting one), Neo Commons (written by a retired US Park ranger) and the Commons Blog. If you're interested in national parks and other conservation areas, check them out.

If you're concerned about Australia's national parks and reserves, you should also consider making a submission to the current Australian Senate Inquiry into Australia's national parks, conservation reserves and marine protected areas.

The Inquiry will examine the funding and resources available to meet the objectives of Australia's national parks, other conservation reserves and marine protected areas, with particular reference to:

• the values and objectives of Australia's national parks, other conservation reserves and marine protected areas;
• whether governments are providing sufficient resources to meet those objectives and their management requirements;
• any threats to the objectives and management of our national parks, other conservation reserves and marine protected areas;
• the responsibilities of governments with regard to the creation and management of national parks, other conservation reserves and marine protected areas, with particular reference to long-term plans; and
• the record of governments with regard to the creation and management of national parks, other conservation reserves and marine protected areas.

Submissions close on 1 March. There's already a few submissions up on the Inquiry website.