Environmental Ethics and Science Policy Series Privatizing Public Lands

This work critically examines the thesis that public lands would be more productive if they were private, or, failing that, managed as if they were private. The discussion includes background chapters on US federal lands, management agencies, economics and ethics. This work critically examines the thesis that public lands would be more productive if they were private, or, failing that, managed as if they were private. The author argues that there is no sense of `productivity' for which it is true that greater productivity is both desirable and a likely consequence of privatizing public lands or `marketizing' their management. The discussion is self-contained, with background chapters on federal lands, management agencies, economics, and ethics.