Public vs' Private Natural Resource Management

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Public vs. Private Natural Resource Management

• In the last few lectures we have discussed the
  definition and evolution of the concept of
  sustainable natural resource management
• However, there can be different approaches to
  managing natural resources
• Today we will discuss public and private models
  of natural resource management

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• First of all, we need to understand what we mean
  by public and private management
• As far as this discussion is concerned, the word
  public means the same as government
• The public model of natural resource management
  would then mean management where the government
  is involved, either directly or indirectly

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• The private model, on the other hand, would imply
  that the management is done by private parties
  with little or no involvement by the government

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• Sowhat do we exactly mean by public management
  of natural resources? How does it actually
  happen?
• We have actually discussed something very similar
  earlier in the semester
• If you remember our discussion for the fourth
  component of the human dimensions model,
  management strategies, you should remember the
  following

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• Some management strategies are quite direct.
  Examples include
• Regulationnew laws, zoning etc.
• Enforcement of existing regulations
• This type of management strategies include the
  traditional command and control approach

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• A second type of management strategy is somewhat
  indirect. Examples include
• Incentive programs
• Demonstration projects
• Education and outreach
• This is more of a participatory approach

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• Todays discussion on public management of
  natural resources is actually almost identical to
  what we had discussed earlier
• The basic idea is that every type of management
  has some objectives behind it. When the
  government tries to influence natural resource
  management, there are certain objectives that it
  tries to achieve

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• The government can try to achieve these
  objectives (on both public and private lands)
  through a variety of different ways
• The most obvious and perhaps the most traditional
  way is through laws and regulations
• There is an obvious element of force in this
  approach

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• However, there are other approaches that are not
  so direct and more participatory in nature
• One such approach is by providing technical
  advice
• Government employees (both federal and state) are
  usually quite accessible and willing to provide
  technical information free of charge

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• Another approach, and quite popular for obvious
  reasons, is through financial incentives, i.e.
  subsidies
• The government would often share some of cost in
  exchange for some specific management actions
• There is no free lunch, the government is doing
  this because it wants to achieve a certain level
  of quality in natural resource management

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• Yet another approach to public management is
  through demonstration projects
• The government manages a vast amount of forest
  land
• The government tries to manage the land that it
  owns in a sustainable way and are eager to show
  off their management techniques to private owners
• The hope is that these private owners will
  replicate these management techniques on their
  land as well

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• OKhow about private management? How is that
  achieved?
• Again, the important point here is the objective,
  i.e. the motives of the party trying influence
  management

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• Sometimes private entities will take approaches
  that are similar to the government
• For example, forest products industries will
  sometimes provide free services to landowners,
  why??
• They want to maintain a smooth (and hopefully
  cheap!!) supply of wood to their mills!

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• The important thing to remember is that in the
  private case the motivation is very different
• Many private entities seek to maximize profit,
  therefore they will try to achieve that in their
  management
• In order to achieve the management objectives,
  different approaches may be undertaken such as
  agreements, contracts, or fee-based services (for
  example hunting leases)

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• After this discussion of public vs. private
  management, one might ask, which is better?
• There is no easy answer for this!
• It all goes back towhat is it that we are trying
  to achieve?

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• If our objective was to produce the products that
  we want in the most efficient, least-cost way,
  the private model is the way to go
• The problem is, the private model is market-based
  and hence does not work for the goods and
  services for which there is no established market
• This is where the public model of natural
  resource management comes in

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• The perfect solution is probably finding an
  ideal balance of both public and private
  management
• In a democratic free-market society like ours,
  that is what we try to achieve, sometimes
  successfully, sometimes not