page_52 < previous page page_52 next page > Page 52 resource preservationist (in the tradition of John Muir), but neither would he have thought of himself as a natural-resource exploiter. Jefferson favored responsible use of land as a means of economic production (in the tradition of Gifford Pinchot); thus, he was of the opinion that the rights of landowners can only be exercised to their fullest when coupled with landowner responsibilitiesto the life-sustaining earth and to fellow citizens of the land. Jefferson most assuredly would have objected to attempts by both environmental and land fights advocacy groups to gain popular support for their agendas with campaigns based on distortion or misinformation. He was committed to the use of reason and decisions based on verifiable facts. He would not have tolerated the exhortations of "sky is falling" environmental extremists. Neither would he have stomached the rhetoric of free enterprise fanatics who claim that the government, through regulating private property, is taking the bread from our children's mouths. References Beitzinger, A. J. 1986. "Political Theorist." In Thomas Jefferson: A Reference Biography, edited by Merrill D. Peterson, pp. 8199. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons. Bromley, Daniel W. 1993. "Regulatory Takings: Coherent Concept or Logical Contradiction?" Vermont Law Review 17 (3): 647682. Caldwell, Lynton K. 1973. "The Jurisprudence of Thomas Jefferson." Indiana Law Journal 18: 193213. Callies, David L. 1985. "Regulating Paradise: Is Land Use a Right or a Privilege?" University of Hawaii Law Review 7: 1328. Cunningham, Nobel E., Jr. 1987. In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press. Donovan, Frank. 1968. Mr. Jefferson's Declaration: The Story Behind the Declaration of Independence. New York, NY: Dodd, Mead. Ellis, Richard E. 1986. "Constitutionalism." In Thomas Jefferson: A Reference Biography, edited by Merrill D. Peterson, pp. 119133. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons. Glendon, Mary Ann. 1995. "'Absolute' Rights: Property and Privacy." In Let the People Judge: Wise Use and the Private Property Rights Movement, edited by John D. Echeverria and Raymond Booth Eby, pp. 182190. Washington, D.C.: Island Press. Jacobs, Harvey M. 1995. "The Anti-Environmental 'Wise Use' Movement in America." Land Use Law and Zoning Digest 47 (2): 38. Jacobs, Harvey M., and Brian W. Ohm. 1995. "Statutory Takings Legislation: The National Context, the Wisconsin and Minnesota Proposals." Wisconsin Environmental Law Journal 2 (2): 173223. Koch, Adrienne, and William Peden, eds. 1944. The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson. New York, NY: Random House. Â < previous page page_52 next page >