No abstract

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Limited Print and Electronic Distribution RightsThis document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.

No abstract

Abstract. The social, demographic, technological, and ecological circumstances in the United States have changed since its beginning. Society's view of property rights—i.e., the way resources are to be used—has evolved accordingly. Resource owners’virtually unrestricted right to use their property as they wished disappeared along with the western frontier, pristine wilderness, and abundant natural resources. There is now a strong commitment to preserve what little nature and resource are left. To overcome the problem of abuse or destruction of nature, it is necessary to recognize, first and foremost, that the problem has become institutionalized over the years and, secondly, that humans and natural objects are interdependent and are of roughly equal importance in the biotic community. Protection of nature against abuse therefore requires that nature be granted legal rights on moral grounds, that consequently human decisions and actions must take into consideration their impacts on nature, and that defenders of nature be able to raise its rights in its own name in any administrative or legal dispute.