Rock & Gem

The Debate over Access to Natural Resources

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Natural resources such as coal, oil, gas or minerals are o en found on public lands. How should such resources be managed? at question has framed a perennial debate that continues.

Per a “Policy Forum” column in the journal Science, a group of authors led by Bryan Leonard (Arizona State University), contends that “acquisitio­n of public natural resource rights for the purpose of withholdin­g them from developmen­t should be allowed. Policies should be reformed to include conservati­on as a legally valid form of ‘use.’”

In the U.S., and throughout the world in general, tracts of public lands and resources they contain may be leased by private individual­s or companies so as to extract those resources. Increasing­ly, though, some groups are purchasing such lands and rights for “non-use” purposes. In other words they are purchasing extraction rights to preserve the land by not extracting minerals or other resources.

Is this legal? Existing U.S. laws going back a century and more regarding natural resources on public lands are biased toward market-based policies and extractive uses. If you lease rights to such lands, you are virtually required to extract and develop resources within your lease and to show your e orts in annual reports if you wish to retain your lease.

Leonard and his co-authors contend that such laws regarding natural resource rights should be amended to include conservati­on and nonuse rights, thus balancing economic interests of mineral extraction against conservati­on, recreation, and other values associated with letting the land be as it is. Here in the U.S., policy dictating this swings wildly depending on the political party in charge and this will not likely change any time soon.

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