Article on Split Wildlife Estates

ReedWatson (Property and Environment Research Center) recently published an articleentitled, Public Wildlife on PrivateLand: Unifying the Split Estate to Enhance Trust Resources, 23 Duke Envtl.L. & Pol’y F. 291 (Spring 2013). Provided below is the abstract of his article:

In the United States, wildlife is apublicly owned resource, yet the majority of wildlife habitat is privatelyowned. This division of ownership has perpetuated conflicts over such topics asendangered species, public hunting access, and crop depredation. Tensions arisenot only between private property rights and the public interest, which areboth regrettably dynamic legal concepts, but more fundamentally over thedivision of economic rents generated from the combination of public wildlifeand private habitat.

This Article examines the nature of the splitwildlife estate and the potential to unify it with public-private partnerships.A review of the public trust doctrine and its historical evolution reveals thatstate governments can and, in many instances, should share with privatelandowners the financial benefits of wildlife stewardship–not only the costs.Two case studies demonstrate how unifying the split wildlife estate can lead toimprovements in wildlife habitat and an increase in the health and value ofwildlife resources.