Toward a workable policy for freshwater wetlands

Excerpt

WHILE working in the Maryland State Planning Department in the 1960s, I wrote an article titled “In Search of Standards for Preserving Open Space” (5) in which I raised questions that attracted considerable attention, drawing some criticism as well as praise. The point implicit in that article is equally apt in connection with current and proposed controversial programs to protect freshwater wetlands: Can any principles of economics and public policy improve these programs? Can questions of infringement on the property rights and equity of private owners of wetlands be addressed more sensibly?.

After the article was published, I began searching for a set of workable policy principles that would be broadly applicable to land preservation programs. My thinking about freshwater wetlands policy resolved when I attended the Association of

The uncertainty about what's ahead for freshwater wetlands protection leads me to offer the following three principles for consideration in moving toward a workable policy for freshwater wetlands: 1. Start with a general approach that seems reasonable to affected interests, such as landowners, developers, and environmentalists, and to the citizenry.

Move to specific policy(ies) that analysts and policymakers agree on as appropriate means (not necessarily the most …