ABSTRACT
Free market environmentalism emphasizes an important role for government in the enforcement of property rights. At the heart of free market environmentalism is a system of well-specified property rights to natural resources. Whether these rights are held by individuals, corporations, non-profit environmental groups, or communal groups, a discipline is imposed on resource users because the wealth of the owner of the property right is at stake if bad decisions are made. The Nature Conservancy’s private land management program offers an excellent example of how free market environmentalism works. The theory of free market environmentalism is founded on certain visions regarding human nature, knowledge, and processes. The difference between perceptions of knowledge under centralized, political resource management and free market environmentalism centers on the distribution of knowledge among individuals. Comparing free market environmentalism with ecosystems serves to emphasize how market processes can be compatible with good resource stewardship and environmental quality.
