PRIVATE CONSERVATION in the PUBLIC INTEREST
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Vol. 34, Issue 2 Winter 2015 FOR FREE MARKET ENVIRONMENTALISM PRIVATE CONSERVATION in the PUBLIC INTEREST Banking on Endangered Species Page 14 Hatching a Better Plan for the Sage Grouse Page 18 The New West Page 22 Sailing the Sagebrush Sea Page 30 FROM THE DIRECTOR Reed Watson The Property and Environment Research Center is a nonprofit institute dedicated to improving environmental quality through property rights and markets. PERC REPORTS Back issues For Free Market Available in PDF format Environmentalism www.percreports.org Why Private Land? Vol. 34, Issue 2 Winter 2015 Copyright © 2015, PERC. All rights A fundamental principle of free market environmentalism is reserved. Reproduction without Editor permission is strictly prohibited. that property rights can turn environmental resources from liabilities into assets Shawn Regan PERC REPORTS by giving resource owners the right incentives for stewardship. Specifically, when Art Director (ISSN 1095-3779) property rights are clearly defined, secure from theft, and tradable, the competitive Rachael Hundhausen 2048 Analysis Drive, Suite A Bozeman, MT 59718-6829 marketplace tends to enhance rather than diminish environmental quality. This intuitive yet profound principle guides the research, publications, and Executive Director Board of Directors Reed Watson Loren D. Bough programs at PERC. From forests to fisheries, from the urban environment to the Private Investor Senior Director of developing world, the first questions we ask are: who owns the resource, how are Program Management Thomas J. Bray those rights defined, and how easily can they be traded. Monica Lane Guenther The Detroit News (retired) Typically, ownership by all leads to stewardship by none. Consider public Director of Outreach Henry N. Butler Wendy Purnell George Mason University lands in this country. The four federal land agencies—the National Park Service, School of Law Director of Publications Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Forest Service— Shawn Regan Robert Clement Accenture (retired) have a total of $19 billion in deferred maintenance. That is $19 billion in crum- William A. Dunn Distinguished Senior Tyler Dann bling roads, leaking water pipes, and dilapidated trails that the agencies themselves Fellow Harlem Valley Investing Co., Inc. admit should be repaired, but go unrepaired because there is insufficient funding Terry L. Anderson Kimberly O. Dennis (or, more accurately, insufficient incentive) for stewardship. Senior Fellows Searle Freedom Trust Jonathan H. Adler As you read in the last issue of PERC Reports, PERC’s message on public H. Spencer Banzhaf Deborah Donner Daniel K. Benjamin Business Consultant lands was simple: We can do better. Through user fees, innovative management David D. Haddock P. J. Hill Carlos Fernández structures like franchise parks, privatization of services, and public-private partner- Gary D. Libecap The Nature Conservancy ships, we can increase the environmental and economic returns from public lands. Robert E. McCormick Roger E. Meiners Martin Hostettler We also made the point that the federal government should not acquire more Andrew P. Morriss Cycad AG Sheila M. Olmstead lands—it should not take private lands and make them public—when it cannot Randal R. Rucker Fred E. Karlinsky Randy T. Simmons Greenberg Traurig manage the lands it already owns. As Congress considers several proposals that Walter N. Thurman Matthew A. Turner Kristina Kendall would increase federal landholdings, PERC has argued that conservation, at its New Balloon Investments core, means first taking care of what you already have. Senior Fellows Emeritus Donald R. Leal Dwight E. Lee As important and controversial as public lands are, private land ownership Jane S. Shaw Gagnon Securities, LLC Richard L. Stroup remains the bedrock not only of free market environmentalism, but also a free soci- Bruce Yandle Gary Rieschel Qiming Venture Partners ety. It is for that reason that private lands have been and will remain at the top of Senior Research Fellows Dominic P. Parker Rankin Smith, Jr. PERC’s research agenda. Kurt Schnier Seminole Plantation This issue of PERC Reports features stories of “private conservation in the Research Fellows John F. Tomlin public interest.” Environmental entrepreneurs around the globe are harnessing Holly L. Fretwell Conservation Forestry Partners, LLC Laura E. Huggins market forces to enhance wildlife habitat, clean water, and provide recreational Shawn Regan Brian Yablonski Brandon Scarborough Gulf Power opportunities on private lands. And, importantly, the benefits of their efforts spill Michael 't Sas-Rolfes over property boundaries, often to the benefit of the non-paying public. Development Manager Are there market mechanisms that would allow beneficiaries to pay? How Suzi Berget White would payment influence the provision of these goods and services on private Office Manager Dianna L. Rienhart lands? And how would functional markets for so-called “ecosystem services” affect Accountant land use patterns, such as the development of working lands in this country at the KayCee Pulasky rate of one acre per hour? Admin & Outreach Coordinator PERC is partnering with the Samuel R. Noble Foundation, Texas A&M’s Jennifer M. Keney Institute of Renewable Natural Resources, and the East Wildlife Foundation Administrative Assistant Sharie Rucker to answer these important questions. Together as part of the Center for Private Outreach & Research Assistant Land Stewardship, we will conduct research on the conservation benefits of secure Scott Wilson property rights, connect that research to policy reforms that bolster property Research Assistant right protections, and stand up for the private landowner who conserves the Hannah Downey Conference Coordinators public interest. Colleen Lane Renee Storm TELL US WHAT YOU THINK FOR FREE MARKET ENVIRONMENTALISM [email protected] Vol. 34, Issue 2 Winter 2015 4 PRIVATE CONSERVATION IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST by Terry L. Anderson 6 PRIVATE CONSERVATION AROUND THE WORLD 8 SNAPSHOTS Farming water quality in Kansas Ranching for wildlife in Texas Trading for water in Bolivia Partnering for habitat in Kenya by Hannah Downey Page 22 12 IMPRESSIONS © Todd Klassy© Todd A different kind of green by Drew Johnson 14 BANKING ON ENDANGERED SPECIES 36 TANGENTS How assigning property rights to protected species Property rights to fish turned a landfill into a conservation bank. by Daniel K. Benjamin by Ben Guillon, Geoff Smick, Rob Schell, and Liz Agraz 38 ON THE LOOKOUT Redefining the waters of the 18 HATCHING A BETTER PLAN FOR THE United States SAGE GROUSE by Jonathan H. Adler Private landowners are the driving force behind sage grouse conservation. 39 LAST WORD Bringing the sharing economy by Brian Seasholes to private land by Shawn Regan 22 THE NEW WEST Vol.33, Issue 2 A quiet revolution is sweeping across the West, forging Fall / Winter 2014 PERCREPORTS NATIONAL PARKS CENTENNIAL ISSUE Vol. 34, Issue 1 a new approach to conservation in the 21st century. Summer 2015 FOR FREE MARKET ENVIRONMENTALISM FOR FREE MARKET ENVIRONMENTALISM THE WAR ON by Todd Wilkinson WILDLIFE TRADE Page 22 Frackonomics The Economics of Land-use RegulationsPage 8 Paying to Play in the Great Outdoors Page 16 Page 28 30 SAILING THE SAGEBRUSH SEA BACK TO THE FUTURE OF OUR NATIONAL PARKS Ranchers navigate ecosystems of perpetual change. by Gregg Simonds PERCReports-FallWinter 2014.indd 1 Stephen Mather’s Ghost Page 8 Franchising Parks Page 16 e Bear, e Bison, and the Business of Yellowstone Page 22 11/25/14 2:09:52 AM Isle Royale’s Wolf Dilemma Page 28 On the cover: Beartooth Capital restores private land by enhancing environmental assets. This creek in PERCReports-Summer2015_FINAL_071415.indd 1 7/14/2015 2:23:17 PM Montana’s Madison Valley has been transformed from a shallow ditch into a meandering spring creek renowned for its fishing.Photo © Turner & Fitch. atInvest perc.org/donate in PERC Reports PERCREPORTS.ORG 3 Private Conservation in the Public Interest BY TERRY L. ANDERSON ldo Leopold, one of the founding fathers understood the importance of balancing the needs of of the modern environmental movement, resource managers to earn a return on their assets while advocated the importance of a “land ethic.” In staying true to a land ethic. To Leopold, creating this A his well-known book A Sand County Almanac, balance required understanding “Conservation Econom- Leopold writes that a land ethic “reflects the existence of an ics,” the title of one of his many essays. “Conservation will ecological conscience, and this in turn reflects a conviction ultimately boil down to rewarding the private landowner of individual responsibility for the health of land.” Since who conserves the public interest,” he wrote. As Leop- the publication of his book in 1949, the notion of an old saw it, “Incentives are more promising than penalties.” “ecological conscience” has become ingrained in the minds For the most part, Leopold was not sanguine about the of all of us who call ourselves conservationists. potential for political solutions to encourage conservation. A land ethic is one reason why so many private land- “We tried to get conservation by buying land, by subsidiz- owners incorporate stewardship into their land manage- ing desirable changes in land use, and by passing restric- ment decisions—and generate many public environmental tive laws,” he wrote. “The last method largely failed; the benefits as a result. Here in southwest Montana, ranches other two have produced some small