Environmental governance: Conservation easements and the social meaning of property

This study investigated whether the social meaning of private property is shifting to meet the challenges of global environmental change through the lens of ecological modernization theory. Ecological modernization posits that environmental reforms in the core institutions of society are facilitated through political modernization---a concept that signifies the decentralization of governing capacities. To explore whether the institution of private property changes according to this logic I examined conservation easements. Easements offered a compelling case to examine how the social meaning of property and environmental considerations interact: In the last several decades, conservation easements have become a key strategy for protecting the environment on private lands. Now, easements have been critiqued by a range of scholars and their findings suggest that conservation easement policies are in need of substantive reforms. Still, many in the conservation community have not acted on these challenges because, in part, many landowners are wary of intrusions on their private property rights. To deepen our understanding of these issues I interviewed 24 landowners who donated conservation easements on their respective properties. I found that the decentralization of governing capacities does not inspire institutional reform, indicating that the social meaning of property is not substantively changing to confront global environmental change. In addition, these findings contribute to debates over easement policy reform and I offer recommendations for future research.