18. Property Rights and Public Lands Management

Environmental Politics and Law (EVST 255)

The lecture centers on public lands management and the effect of property rights on sustainable resource management. Property rights create a complex set of relationships that complicate effective environmental management. Popular conceptions of wilderness also make it difficult to manage public lands sustainably, since people view wilderness as a place of freedom, without regulation. Managing property rights and people's concept of right to wilderness are the central issues facing natural resource managers and public lands managers. As a result, it is important to consider external forces, such as climate change, that influence one's ability to exercise property rights.

00:00 - Chapter 1. The Question of Authority
09:58 - Chapter 2. Adirondack Pie: Public and Private
19:12 - Chapter 3. Popular Conception and the Paradox of Wilderness
29:19 - Chapter 4. Conflicting Values: The Permit Process
38:18 - Chapter 5. Land Management: Conflicts over Access to Resources

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses

This course was recorded in Spring 2010.