WSP11889

• File Number: 8240.200.10.F.1
• Description: UCRBRIP Fish & Wildlife Evaulation of Program
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Date: 9/27/1993
• Author: John Hamill
• Title: The Upper Colorado River Basin Endangered Fish Recovery Initiative
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

INTRACT ABLE CONFLICT/
CONSTRUCTIVE CONFRONTATION
PROJECT

,I

Developing Constructive Approaches for
Confronting Seemingly Intractable Conflicts

CONFLICT RESOLUTION CONSORTIUM

University of Colorado

Working Paper 93-11, August 17, 19931

TIlE EVOLUTION OF PROPERTY RIGHTS, INCREMENTAL CHANGE,
AND 11IE PROGRESSIVE RESOLUTION OF INTRACfABLE CONFLICf

By Larry MacDonnell
Director, Natural Resources Law Center

As I prepared to speak bere, I tbought about mucb of tbe
work tbat I'm involved in. My background is in the natural
resources area--natural resource allocation decision making,
especially as it relates to water resources. So I come at things
with that perspective.
. We have made a lot of very fundamental decisions in this
country about rights that individuals bave concerning the use of
land and natural resources, including water. Those decisions
have been based on a set of ideas about wbat would be best for
society. In particular, we have created an assortment of property
interests in resources. These property interests are lhe source of
a great deal of conflict in the natural resources arena.
Historically, in tbe United States, resource . allocation
decisions were based on the belief tbat individual ownership of
resources was the best way to gain tbe societal benefits that we
wanted from those resources. These benefits revolved primarily
around economic development. Consequently, we carved land
areas into relatively small pieces that had little to do with many
of today's environmental concerns. But they did have a lot to do
witb otber values we were empbasizing--economic development
being first and foremost, along with other more abstract values
sucb as individual interests and even liberty, in some people's
perspectives.
Now we are struggling with the long-term effects of this age-
old policy. The decisions we have made over the last several

hundred years to carve up our lands wit bout regard to wbat
we now recognize to be very key dimensions of those lands--
for instance, habitat preservation or ecosystem dyoamics--are
causing considerable conflict. Out bere in tbe West, we can
see this dispute in its full glory because tbere is no place tbat
tbis issue gets fought more intensely than bere.
Some of us now recognize that it may have been a
fundamental mistake to give to individuals the belief that
they bave some sort of exclusive domain over a small cbunk
of tbe eartb. But many otbers disagree. I don't think many
people in this country would take back tbe decision to create
private property. It remains a fundamental American value.
Now we are trying to come to grips with wbat it means
to be tbe holder of private property. This is at tbe heart of
many environmental conflicts today. Wbat is tbe real
meaning of this thing called a "property right?" Tbere are
those who look at the idea of "property rights" in a very
19th-century sense: that these are in fact the exclusive
domain of tbe bolders of tbose rights. The traditional notion
of property is that tbe one holding the property bas an.
exclusive rigbt to the enjoyment of tbat property, and that
they can exclude others. You are familiar with tbat approach
in the homes tbat you own. You take for granted the idea
that the piece of property on which your house sits is your
little domain. It is something that you can put a fence

1 This paper is an edited transcript of a talk given by LArry MacDonnell for the Intractable Conflict/Consi";'ctive Confrontation
Project on April 10, 1993. Funding for this Project was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the University
of Colorado. All ideas presented are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Consortium, the University,
or Hewlett Foundation. For more infonnation, contact the Conflict Resolution Consortium, Campus Box 327, University of Calorado,
Boulder, Colorado 80309-0327. Phone: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail].

C> 1993. Conflict Resolution Consortium. Do not reprint witbout permission.