I have never opposed reasonable and limited regulations. Note that not all regulations and rules need to be government-based, but that's another story.

Private interest is driven by the interests of the property holder in maintaining his revenues, and, by and large, an owner will tend to take care of the property.

This is not a perfect system, of course, and I've never said it was. Note the local lesson of Pacific Lumber Company, which had a great record in caring for and profiting from its forest property. Then it was taken over by a corporation that ripped out the forested property in the same way they might have torn down buildings for scrap value instead of sell them or use them.

On the other hand, the public interest tends to be driven by politics, which isn't usually an improvement.

It needs to be remembered that some of the worst environmental degradation and resource destruction in the world has taken place where the industries involved are completely owned or controlled by their governments. This includes industrial fishing, which usually involves heavy government subsidies.