PROPERTY THEORY, PROPERTY RIGHTS, AND LANDOWNER BELIEFS:

VIEWS OF NEW YORK STATE WETLANDS OWNERS AND PERMIT

APPLICANTS ABOUT LAND OWNERSHIP AND WETLANDS REGULATION

A Thesis

Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School

of Cornell University

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Science

by

Noel Paul Gurwick

August 1998

O 1998 Noel Paul Gurwick

ABSTRACT

Land policy in the United States is often formulated and implemented with limited

understanding of landowner views about ownership and regulation. The private property

rights (PPR) movement claims to represent populist views about land ownership.

Critics, however, have questioned its credibility as a grassroots organization and its

representation of landowner attitudes.

This research provides empirical information about landowner views in the context of

wetlands regulation in New York State (NYS). My primary objectives were to:

1. Describe beliefs of New York State wetlands owners ("owners") and permit

applicants ("applicants") about land value, land use regulation, landowner rights,

landowner responsibility and authority, compensation, and property taxation;

2. Compare views of owners and applicants with perspectives from property theorists

and PPR movement leaders; and

3. Assess models describing conceptions of ownership, determinants of beliefs about land

use regulation and wetlands regulation in NYS; beliefs about financial compensation

for regulation; and beliefs and actions regarding the influence of wetlands regulations

on property taxation.

I based conceptual models on a literature review, scoping interviews, and document

analysis. I used self-administered mail questionnaires to characterize views of owners

(n=2,0 12) and applicants (n=594) in NYS.

My conceptual model of ownership contrasted opposing perspectives: a civic-oriented

view emphasizing responsibilities to others, and a self-oriented view emphasizing

autonomy. I hypothesized: (1) owners' views about ownership would influence their

views on land use regulation; (2) attitudes towards regulation would determine beliefs

about financial compensation; (3) beliefs about compensation would influence beliefs

about how regulation should influence property taxation; and (4) beliefs about

compensation and taxation would translate into inquiries and appeals for tax relief

I achieved response rates of 43% (owners) and 55% (applicants). Contrary to a

dichotomous model, owners' and applicants' views reflected elements of both libertarian

and cornmunitarian ideologies. Owners valued land most for privacy, freedom, and

control it provided, and less for financial worth. Beliefs about ownership did not

effectively predict beliefs about regulation and compensation, although most correlations

occurred in expected directions.

Attitudes towards wetlands regulation depended upon attitudes towards land use

regulation and wetlands protection (R* = 0.67 applicants, 0.54 owners). A linear

regression model explained 36% of variation in beliefs about financial compensation.

Independent variables included both financial and personal aspects of land value. Sixty-

three percent of applicants and owners believed they should receive compensation for

wetlands regulation. Widespread support for financial compensation contrasted the high

importance owners placed on land ownership for freedom and control rather than as a

commodity.

A majority of owners (57%) and applicants (67%) believed wetlands regulations

decreased their property resale values. Fewer (30%) respondents believed wetlands

regulations should decrease their property taxes, and 18% believed their property taxes

had decreased. Most (75%) had not discussed the influence of wetlands regulations on

their property assessments with an assessor.

In 77% of cases, logistic regression models predicted correctly whether owners inquired

about the influence of wetlands on their property assessments. Independent variables in

the logistic regression model were owners' beliefs about the influence of wetlands

regulations on property resale price, their beliefs about how wetlands regulations should

influence their property assessment, and their information about wetlands and property

assessment.

PPR rhetoric does not generally characterize those landowners most directly affected by

regulations PPR leaders describe as unjust. However, a minority of wetlands owners

appeared sympathetic to PPR positions.

These data begin to fill the gap in empirical understanding about how wetlands owners

conceive of land ownership, and how they use existing mechanisms (i.e., property

taxation) related to land policy. They should help inform deliberations about appropriate

land policy, particularly regarding issues of regulation and private property rights.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Noel Paul Gurwick was born on July 24, 1964 in New York City. He grew up on the

Upper West Side, a politically liberal and culturally diverse community with tree-lined

streets. Parks, school, groceries, museums, beaches, and friends were all within walking

distance or accessible via frequent buses and subways. His later interests in land use

planning and environmental policy were heavily influenced by what he experienced as a

friendly, workable urban community with large, interesting unpaved environments.

He was first introduced to academic research in summer, 198 1, as a participant in the

Juneau Icefield Research Program. In 1983, he began studying at Brown University,

which generously provided him financial aid to continue his studies following his father's

death in February, 1984. He spent the summer of 1984 as a student fellow at the Woods

Hole Oceanographic Institution, studying relationships between evolution and

development in Dr. Pat Lohman's paleoecology lab. His interests shifted from field

geology to the biological sciences, but he retained a strong appreciation for geologic time.

His first experience with wetlands research was in Dr. Mark Bertness' lab at Brown,

studying salt marsh community ecology. Seeking experience in applied ecology, he

conducted his undergraduate thesis research on behavior and management of the apple

maggot fly, under the guidance of Dr. Ronald Prokopy at the University of Massachusetts

and Dr. Jonathan Waage at Brown. In 1987, he graduated Magna Cum Laude, receiving a

Bachelors of Science with honors in biology.

After completing his BS, Noel taught high school and middle school science for two years,

and then traveled to Sub-Saharan Africa to find out what a "developing country" was and

what it meant to work in environment and development. Returning to the U.S. in 1990,

he was hired as "Research Translator" at the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research

Reserve, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where he worked with ecosystem researchers and

local, regional, and state agencies on coastal zone policy. He came to Cornell in 1992

with a Liberty Hyde Bailey Assistantship to work with Dr. Barbara A. Knuth and Dr.

Barbara L. Bedford on science and policy of wetlands.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I first thank my committee members, Barbara Knuth (Barb) and Barbara Bedford

(Barbara) for their availability, support, feedback, and ideas. I thank them also for

treading the murky waters of co-chairing a committee during the middle of my program

and for their patience. They gave me the flexibility and freedom to explore ideas that truly

interested me, and were unswerving in their belief in my work and my abilities. Chuck

Geisler encouraged my interest in property rights and my ideas about property theory and

wetlands regulation. He gave me thorough critiques of drafts of my surveys, and made

time for invaluable discussions about the private property rights movement and ways to

focus my research. Early in my exploration of wetlands policy, Curtis Bohlen provided

ideas, the practical perspective of his "in the trenches" experience, and the motivation that

interest fiom an external reviewer often does.

The entire staff of the Human Dimensions Research Unit helped immensely with this

project. Annie Adams (a.k.a. "temfic") and Heidi Christoffel (a.k.a. "wondefil") assisted

me with the arduous and complex task of gathering the sample of wetlands owners.

Margie Peech entered data sheets into an electronic database. Nancy Connelly was always

available to help me in my struggles through the SPSS-X manual. Jody Enck, Bruce

Lauber, Tommy Brown, and Bill Siemer provided useful feedback on drafts of my surveys.

Cara Olsen, in the College of Human Ecology, gave me a crash course in statistics for the

social sciences, was never at a loss for resources, and always answered my questions at

exactly the right level. I thank the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell

University and Barb Knuth for supporting me with a Liberty Hyde Bailey Assistantship.

This work is a contribution of New York Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Grant WE-

1 73-G, Sub-Grant W- 146-R.

At the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Thom Engle

provided me with electronic files of information about permit applicants and helped me to

understand them. Nancy Heaslip, Eric Fried, Pat Riexinger, and Diane Goetke engaged in

lengthy discussions to ensure that this work would be usehl to the agency.

Todd Paul provided a constant and present source of support, as well as outrageous

humor; no one could ask for a better friend. Dorothy Swain showed me that there is life

after thesis. Laura Kramer accommodated my bouts with tension and generally erratic

work schedule, and taught me why chickens are a conundrum. Erik Lilleskov and Elise

Nelson gave me a second home when it was too late or too icy to drive twenty miles in the

wee hours of the morning. Last, I thank my parents, Dora Haddad Gurwick and Paul

Gurwick, for giving me the foundation that enabled me to get this far; and Gerald Anders,

for stepping in when they could not.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

LIST OF TABLES xi

LIST OF FIGURES xvi

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose 1

1.2 Rationale 4

1.3 Overview of the New York State Wetlands Regulation Program 7

1.4 Thesis Outline 9

CHAPTER 2 - VIEWS OF LAND AS PROPERTY

2.1 The importance of land use patterns - ecological and social effects 11

2.2 Theories and rhetoric about land ownership 12 2.2.1 Introduction 12 2.2.2 Definition of rights, and property as systems of rules 15 2.2.3 Autonomy, control, and personhood 21 2.2.4 Libertarian arguments 24 2.2.5 The private property rights movement 27 2.2.6 Analyses emphasizing the social nature of property 36 2.2.7 Views of property from environmental ethics, and the evolution of property rights 44 2.2.8 Perspectives on value: land as commodity, land as place 48

2,3 Previous research 54

2,4 Study objectives 58

, 2.5 Conceptual framework 59

2.6 Hypotheses 64

CHAPTER 3 - METHODS

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Scoping interviews

vii

3.3 Conceptual models

3.4 Mail questionnaires 3.4.1 Questionnaire implementation and development 3.4.2 Questionnaire foci 3.4.3 Question types and questionnaire structure 3.4.4 Sampling

3.5 Telephone non-response follow-up interviews 3.5.1 Owners 3.5.2 Permit applicants

3.6 Analysis 3.6.1 Data organization 3.6.2 Data exploration 3.6.3 Rules for grouping data 3.6.4 Hypothesis testing

CHAPTER 4 - RESULTS 4.1 Response rates

4.1.1 Wetlands owners 4.1.2 Permit applicants

4.2 Non-respondents 4.2.1 Wetlands owners 4.2.2 Permit applicants

4.3 Respondent characteristics 4.3.1 Demographics 4.3.2 Comparing owners and applicants

4.4 Beliefs about land ownership 4.4.1 Landowner rights and responsibilities 4.4.2 Dimensions of land value 4.4.3 Willingness to grant access to land 4.4.4 Land use intentions and preferences 4.4.5 Reasons for wetlands use 4.4.6 Cohesiveness of visions of ownership

4.5 Beliefs about wetlands and environmental regulation 4.5.1 Support for environmental protection and regulation 4.5.2 DEC Wetlands regulation and landowner rights 4.5.3 Determinants of support for land-based environmental regulation 4.5.4 Beliefs about effectiveness of DEC's wetlands regulation program 4.5.5 Determinants of support for wetlands regulation

4.6 Beliefs about compensation for regulation 4.6.1 Pattern of responses 4.6.2 Determinants of attitudes towards compensation

. . . Vlll