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"Alaska's biological, cultural, and economic viabilities depend on human beings and institutional frameworks to guide natural resource use. These designs and actions address issues related to ownership and access. In most societies, and especially Alaska, private ownership of natural resources is unusual.
"From 1960 to 2000, approximately 300 million acres shifted from Alaska's federal public domain to parks, wildlife refuges, and general state land. Non-native private lands increased from 1.2 million acres to 1.8 million acres or just 0.5 percent of Alaska's land.
"In classical economic literature, property rights refer to an individual's or group's ability to use and control valuable resources. The more property rights an individual possesses, the greater the resources value, as defined by markets. As resource value increases, individuals demand more precision and specificity of property rights. Structure of property rights under a market-based system determines economic outcomes by providing incentives to create new wealth. However, there are examples of commons management where classical market actions are being modified by social and democratic forces. In Alaska, one example is the Alaska Mental Health Trust.
"In 1956, Congress designated one million acres of Alaska land for a trust benefiting mental health programs. Alaska accepted this designation as a condition for entering the Union in 1959. However, these lands were not managed as a trust, and, in 1978, Alaska attempted to abolish the trust and law suits ensued.
"A 1982 class action suit, settled in 1994, reconstituted 500,000 acres of original trust land, 500,000 acres of replacement land, and $200 million dollars. The settlement also established an independent Board of Trustees to manage the Trust, expend income and recommend expenditures. Trust beneficiaries are Alaskans who experience mental illness; developmental disabilities; chronic alcoholism with psychosis; or Alzheimer's disease and related dementia.
"In 1995, the Trust established a land management office and began to develop its land. Trust managers have demonstrated an ability to generate revenue while avoiding significant controversy. Trust management meets many of Ostrom's (1990) design principles for common pool resource institutions as well as tenets of a clearly defined trust (Sauder and Fairfax, 1996). One example is the Community Enhancement Initiative (CMI). The CMI helps resolve contentious land management issues through a combination of economic and non-economic actions. The TLO has several lessons to offer other commons land managers." |
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