Journals
Winter 2005, Vol. 45, No. 1
Natural History and the Deep Roots of Resource Management
Thomas L. Fleischner
Who? What? Where? How many? How does it survive and reproduce? These are the questions traditionally asked by practitioners of the oldest Western science, natural history. What is natural history? Bates described it as “the study of life at the level of the individual—of what plants and animals do, how they react to each other and environment, how they are organized into larger groupings like populations and communities.” Bartholomew stressed that naturalists (the practitioners of natural history) observe plants and animals directly. He pointed out that these organisms are functionally inseparable from their habitats, and so naturalists pay attention to the physical aspects of plant and animal habitats as well. According to Greene and Losos, natural history focuses on where organisms are and what they do in their environments. Physiological and metabolic processes are considered insofar as they affect what these organisms do. Greene defined natural history as descriptive ecology and ethology. Wilcove and Eisner define natural history as “the close observation of organisms—their origins, their evolution, their behavior, and their relationships with other species.” Halfpenny and Ozanne point out that natural history is primarily descriptive and comparative, rather than experimental or theoretical. What all these definitions have in common is a focus on individual organisms in their natural settings and a reliance on direct observation as the most trustworthy tool for learning about the more-than-human world. Direct observation leads to careful description, which then allows comparison between species, habitats, and geographies.
Economic Tradeoffs in Preserving Riparian Habitat
Bonnie Colby & Patricia Orr
Riparian habitat has been diminishing throughout the western United States due to land development and water diversions. Efforts to preserve remaining riparian habitat confront problems with competition for water and inadequate policy mechanisms to assure water for habitat maintenance. This article highlights economic tradeoffs in efforts to preserve the San Pedro River in southeastern Arizona and reports the results of a recent contingent valuation method study determining visitors’ willingness to pay for riparian area preservation.
Uncharted Territory—The Charter Forest Experiment on the Valles Caldera National Preserve: An Initial Economic and Policy Analysis
Joseph Little, Robert P. Berrens & Patricia A. Champ
The Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP), located in Northern New Mexico , was the first federal land acquisition specifically devoted to the application of the charter forest concept. Managed by a nine-member trust board, the VCNP represents a unique public lands management experiment. The objective of this paper is to provide an initial economic, institutional, and policy analysis of the recreation program on the Preserve. Given its early prominence in program development, an analysis of the elk-hunt program is used to provide insights into how the Valles Caldera Trust has attempted to balance revenue generation and equity considerations while dealing with external pressures introduced by the state and private interests.
Taxation of Oil and Gas in the United States 1970–1997
Mitch Kunce & William E. Morgan
This article provides an extensive examination of all major types of taxes and royalties levied on the oil and gas industry by federal, state, and local governments in the United States during the 1970–1997 period. Important taxes levied on the oil and gas industry can be grouped into three broad categories based on their effects on resource extraction: (1) production, (2) property, and (3) income. Reliance on these three types of taxes differs substantially among the eight key states responsible for about 73 percent of U.S. oil and 83 percent of U.S. gas production ( Alaska, California, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming). A detailed comparison of differences in institutional structure and effective tax rates for the eight major oil and gas producing states is presented.
Shell Games: Vicarious Liability of State and Local Governments for Insufficiently Protective Regulations under the ESA
Valerie J.M. Brader
Lawsuits forcing states and local governments to enforce the Endangered Species Act in lieu of federal regulation have met with surprising success despite constitutional, statutory, and regulatory obstacles. Instead of directly punishing individuals who cause problems for endangered species, environmental interest groups are often suing states and municipalities, claiming state and local regulations are too lenient and therefore “cause” individuals to harm endangered species. This article concludes that vicarious liability jurisprudence is too severely flawed to maintain vitality. The statute and its implementing regulations do not support it, the causation is too tenuous to provide standing, and the federalism jurisprudence forbids it.
Coverage of the Endangered Species Act in Four Major Newspapers
Laura J. Hendrickson
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is among the most prominent laws in a controversial federal system of resource preservation. When conflicts over the ESA emerge, they are convenient fodder for the news media. This article examines both the amount and character of coverage of the statute in four major U.S. newspapers over the course of one year. During the year studied, coverage of the ESA overall was substantial compared to that of most other federal environmental or resource preservation statutes. Popular, familiar species were more widely covered than less popular, unfamiliar species; while at the same time, species regarded as unappealing and obstructionist received significant attention. The regulatory process provided a common legal framework for ESA stories, and conflict scenarios were fairly common, with the interests of both rural and urban residents set against the preservation interests protected by the statute. The author suggests an examination of more regional newspapers, among other approaches, for a fuller picture of news coverage.
The Coase Theorem and Western U.S. Appropriative Water Rights
C. Carter Ruml
The article analyzes the prior appropriation system in the western United States as a compelling application of the Coase Theorem. In the overall prior appropriation system, few statutory transfers occur, but there are thriving transfer markets in the smaller-scale context of water districts. This suggests that the system at large is not at Coase Equilibrium, but that Equilibrium does prevail inside the water institutions. Institutions facilitate low transaction costs and secure property rights and catalyze an iterative process that tends toward Coase Equilibrium. The article makes policy recommendations regarding the formation of larger-scale water institutions to reduce deadweight losses by expanding the scope of Coase Equilibrium within the prior appropriation system.
Will the Durational Element Endure? Only Time Will Tell: Temporary Regulatory Takings in the Court of Federal Claims and Federal Circuit after Tahoe-Sierra
Heather G. Wight-Axling
In the 2002 Tahoe-Sierra case, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a 32-month moratorium on development imposed by a local government agency did not constitute a taking within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Although Tahoe-Sierra addressed the actions of a local government agency, the case has been equally instructive in federal takings litigation. The Court of Federal Claims is the exclusive forum in which to bring suits against the federal government, and, as such, it is the epicenter of federal takings litigation. In many federal cases in which takings are alleged, plaintiffs challenge the denial or delay of a permit. Prior to the Tahoe-Sierra decision, it was well established that a plaintiff seeking compensation for delay occasioned by a federally mandated permitting process would have to show that there had been “extraordinary delay.” Notably, the Court of Federal Claims cases decided after Tahoe-Sierra appear to preserve the longstanding test of “extraordinary delay” with respect to permitting decisions. However, the Court of Federal Claims has added an interesting twist, now using “extraordinary delay” as a threshold requirement, before ever reaching the Penn Central balancing test endorsed by Tahoe-Sierra. These cases suggest that there is a growing trend in federal courts to favor government defendants in Fifth Amendment takings cases where the claim is based on temporary regulatory action.
Conservation Easement Design: Saving the Ranch or Paved with Good Intentions – A Review of Saving the Ranch: Conservation Easement Design in the American West by Anthony Anella & John B. Wright
Erin Morrow
It is often said that life offers only two certainties: death and taxes. In ranching, these inevitabilities may combine to result in tragedy. Estate taxes can be as high as 50 percent of a ranch’s fair market value—a value bearing almost no relation to the value of the ranch as a ranch. Estate taxes are especially important for ranches because many are “wealthy” in terms of real property, but also suffer from cash-flow, liquidity, and profitability constraints. Heirs and devisees—who have often spent most of their lives working on the ranch—may therefore be forced to sell all or part of the property just to pay the estate taxes. Poor tax planning commonly results in ranch subdivision, a decrease in open space and wildlife habitat, and the loss of generations of family tradition—not to mention a unique way of life.
