Re: "The Economic Benefits of Open Space"

[Emery Graham <"egraham"@ci.wilmington.de.us>]

Tommie,
The "enlightened self interest" you speak of is not uniform in its content. I
suggest that the socio-cultural differences between us might impact what
each of
considers is in our own self interest; not to mention the differences in
preference supported by different economic levels.

America, the world, is not homogenous. While its true that there's been a
leading
paradigm for sometime, there's always been those "backshelf" authors whose
works
have been read and appreciated by the social and cultural majority.

Emery

TommeY@aol.com wrote:

> Reponding to  Mr. Graham,
>         The point is a good one, but the fact is that environmental
> conservation cannot be founded on (or at least not solely on) governmental
> mandates and governmentally funded programs.  Enlightened self interest has
> been one of the primary factors behind most successful conservation programs
> for many years.  (And for that matter, the concept is the same for all
> property owners -- if the area is more attractive, it will be more valuable.
> The owners in poorer and minority areas are less likely to have the
> wherewithal to undertake significant conservation projects, hence more
> governmentally funded conservation activities are needed (and in my
> experience offered) in poorer areas.)
>         If you can speak of environmental justice in this context, it is the
> fact that the primary benefits of most types of conservation activities are
> "benefits for all"  (beach access, parks and protected areas, wildlife
> preservation, etc.)  The fact that the nearby landowners (whose voluntary or
> involuntary choices create the protected areas, etc,) benefit financially as
> well is the means for achieving the public benefit.
>
> Tomme R. Young
> UN Legal Consultant on Environmental and Conservation Legislation
>
> In a message dated 5/19/99 1:16:25 PM Mexico Standard Time,
> "egraham"@ci.wilmington.de.us writes:
>
> > t becomes increasingly apparent that one of the attendant impacts of
> >  efforts to preserve open space is an increase in the value of land in
other
> >  existing uses. As our efforts to spur economic development succeed, those
> >  who are existing land owners will find themselves the beneficiaries of
> >  windfall profits and rents driven by government supported programs.
> >
> >  What happened to "environmental justice.?