MADISON – Are private property rights and environmental protection complimentary or contradictory?
Thirteen University of Wisconsin-Madison students who have explored
this question since January will discuss their findings at a free public
forum from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, May 10, in 180 Science Hall, 550 Park
St.
The title of their program: "Private Property and the Environment:
Friends or Foes?"
The students, all seniors in a Nelson Institute for Environmental
Studies seminar, compared the perspectives of Wisconsin
environmentalists, development and property rights advocates, and people
and groups who consider themselves neutral on the issue. They also
conducted a case study of the implementation of the Endangered Species
Act in Wisconsin.
Proponents of environmental regulation appear to be skeptical of private
property rights and the management decisions of private owners such as
farmers and forestland owners, according to
Harvey M. Jacobs, a
professor of urban and regional planning and environmental studies who
leads the seminar.
"Protecting farmland, wildlife habitat, lakeshores, and wetlands seems
premised on government reshaping - essentially restricting - the rights
of the private owner," says Jacobs. "But since the late 1980s a
group of activists, the so-called private property rights movement, have argued
that government regulation for environmental protection is ineffective,
inefficient, and most importantly un-American because private property
is such a fundamental part of this country."
Jacobs expects the student presentation to provoke intense discussion. He says the audience will have ample opportunity to engage and challenge
the students.
For more information, contact Jacobs
by e-mail or at (608) 262-0552.