7966

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7966
• Author: MacDonnell, L.
• Title: The Evolution of Property Rights, Incremental Change, and the Progressive Resolution of Intractable Conflict.
• USFW Year: 1993.
• USFW - Doc Type: University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado.
• Copyright Material: YES

?q` INTRACTABLE CONFLICT/
CONSTRUCTIVE CONFRONTATION
PROJECT
Developing Constructive Approaches for
Confronting Seemingly Intractable Conflicts
CONFLICT RESOLUTION CONSORTIUM University of Colorado
Working Paper 93-11, August 17, 1993'
THE EVOLUTION OF PROPERTY RIGHTS, INCREMENTAL CHANGE,
AND THE PROGRESSIVE RESOLUTION OF INTRACTABLE CONFLICT
By Larry MacDonnell
Director, Natural Resources Law Center
As I prepared to speak here, I thought about much of the
work that 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 have concerning the use of
land and natural resources, including water. Those decisions
have been based on a set of ideas about what would be best for
society. In particular, we have created an assortment of property
interests in resources. These property interests are the source of
a great deal of conflict in the natural resources arena.
Historically, in the United States, resource allocation
decisions were based on the belief that individual ownership of
resources was the best way to gain the 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
with other values we were emphasizing--economic development
being first and foremost, along with other more abstract values
such 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 without regard to what
we now recognize to be very key dimensions of those lands--
for instance, habitat preservation or ecosystem dynamics-are
causing considerable conflict. Out here in the West, we can
see this dispute in its full glory because there is no place that
this issue gets fought more intensely than here.
Some of us now recognize that it may have been a
fundamental mistake to give to individuals the belief that
they have some sort of exclusive domain over a small chunk
of the earth. But many others disagree. I don't think many
people in this country would take back the decision to create
private property. It remains a fundamental American value.
Now we are trying to come to grips with what it means
to be the holder of private property. This is at the heart of
many environmental conflicts today. What is the real
meaning of this thing called a "property right?" There 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 the holders of those rights. The traditional notion
of property is that the one holding the property has an.
exclusive right to the enjoyment of that property, and that
they can exclude others. You are familiar with that approach
in the homes that 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
t This paper is an edited transcript of a talk given by Larry MacDonnell for the Intractable Conflict/Constructive 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 information, contact the Conflict Resolution Consortium, Campus Box 327, University of Colorado,
Boulder, Colorado 80309-0327 Phone: [phone], a-mail: [e-mail].
0 1993. Confect Resolution Consortium. Do not reprint without permission.