ABOUT THIS BOOK

The Law and Policy of Ecosystem Services is the first comprehensive exploration of the status and future of natural capital and ecosystem services in American law and policy. The book develops a framework for thinking about ecosystem services across their ecologic, geographic, economic, social, and legal dimensions and evaluates the prospects of crafting a legal infrastructure that can help build an ecosystem service economy that is as robust as existing economies for manufactured goods, natural resource commodities, and human-provided services. The book examines the geographic, ecological, and economic context of ecosystem services and provides a baseline of the current status of ecosystem services in law and society. It identifies shortcomings of current law and policy and the critical areas for improvement and forges an approach for the design of new law and policy for ecosystem services.

Included are a series of nine empirical case studies that explore the problems caused by society’s failure to properly value natural capital. Among the case study topics considered are water issues, The Conservation Reserve Program, the National Conservation Buffer Initiative, the agricultural policy of the European Union, wetland mitigation, and pollution trading.

The Law and Policy of Ecosystem Services is a groundbreaking look at the question of whether and how law and policy can shape a sustainable system of ecosystem service management. It is an accessible and informative work for faculty, students, and policy makers concerned with ecology, economics, geography, political science, environmental studies, law, and related fields.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

J.B. Ruhl is the Matthews and Hawkins Professor of Property and codirector of the Environmental, Natural Resources, and Land Use Law Program at Florida State University School of Law.

Steven E. Kraft is professor and chair of the Department of Agribusiness Economics and codirector of the environmental resources and policy Ph.D. program at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

Christopher L. Lant is professor of geography and environmental resources and codirector of the environmental resources and policy program at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

REVIEWS

"One of the most important contributions of economics to environmental protection is the idea that ecosystems can perform economically valuable services even if their monetary value is not captured in markets. This book is the most comprehensive survey of current efforts to measure these services and to overcome the disincentives for land owners to produce them. However, its real contribution is a carefully reasoned suite of legal and policy reforms to increase the production of vital ecosystem services in the future."

— Dan Tarlock, Distinguished Professor of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law

"If you are looking for one book to introduce you to the full spectrum of ideas around the concept of ecosystem services, this is it."

— Ecological Restoration

"In remarkably readable prose, the book is laid out in four main parts accessible to anyone from a scientific, legal, or policy background...It reminds me of the successful interaction of science, law, and policy in the 1970s. We need that to happen again and this book provides the basis for it."

— Thomas. E. Lovejoy, Ecology

"Anyone interested in ecosystem services—from amateur environmentalist to professional policy-maker—would benefit from reading this book."

— Natural Areas Journal

"As with any new idea, there is confusion over ecosystem services and what conserving or selling them really means. Ruhl, Kraft, and Lant are meticulous in research, comprehensive in scope, and accessible in style. To dig beneath the hype and understand the promise and challenges of conserving ecosystem services, start by reading this book."

— James Salzman, Nicholas Institute Professor of Environmental Policy, Duke University

"The work synthesized in this wide-ranging volume marks a dramatic transformation in the way people think about the environment. Ruhl, Kraft, and Lant outline the concrete changes in law and policy needed to go further and turn thinking into action. This book is packed with intellectual excitement and practical promise."

— Gretchen C. Daily, Professor, biological sciences; author of New Economy of Nature

"Ecosystem service values derived directly from nature are well understood but do not show up as measured aspects of our economy ... The authors provide insights as to why ecosystem services fail to be accounted for in land/water use decision-making. They also make the case for why they should be included in our economic models."

— Wildlife Activist

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface
Introduction

PART I. The Context of Ecosystems Services
Chapter 1. Ecology
Chapter 2. Geography
Chapter 3. Economics

PART II. The Statua of Ecosystem Services in Law and Policy
Chapter 4. Property Rights
Chapter 5. Regulation
Chapter 6. Social Norms

PART III. Empirical Case Studies in Ecosystem Services Law and Policy
Chapter 7. An Odyssey on 6,000 Acres: Pre-1670 to 2006
Chapter 8. Water: Blue, Green, and Virtual
Chapter 9. The Conservation Reserve Program 1985–2006: From Soil Erosion to Ecosystem Services
Chapter 10. The National Conservation Buffer Initiative: Ecosystem Services from Riparian Buffers
Chapter 11. From Amber to Green: The Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union
Chapter 12. Ecosystem Services from an Agricultural Watershed: The Case of Big Creek
Chapter 13: Wetland Mitigation Banking: An Ecosystem Market without Ecosystem Services
Chapter 14. Ecosystem Services and Pollution Trading I: A Sulfurous Success and a Nutritious Failure
Chapter 15. Ecosystem Services and Pollution Trading II: Carbon Trading to Ameliorate Global Warming

PART IV. Designing New Law and Policy for Ecosystem Services
Chapter 16. Drivers and Models
Chapter 17. Trade-Offs and Transitions
Chapter 18. Instruments and Institutions

Conclusion
Endnotes
References
About the Authors
Index

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