I just learned that R.J. Smith has passed away.  RJ was a student of Ludwig von Mises at NYU and a friend of Murray Rothbard’s.  He coined the phrase “free market environmentalism” and spent decades writing and speaking about property rights and voluntary approaches to environmental issues and criticizing central planning approaches.  He was a famous birder, naturalist, and conservationist (which he distinguished from “environmentalist”).  I once toured the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska with him and a group of libertarians attending a conference on environmental issues held in Anchorage.  We flew into Prudhoe Bay and landed on the icepack in a 737.  R.J. immediately went on a hunt with his camera for the elusive Arctic White Fox but was dissuaded from it by being informed of how many polar bears there were in the vicinity.  Rest in peace old friend.

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