Application of Natural Resources Property Theory to Hidden Resources

Abstract

The visualization of property and resources is a defining foundation of the construction and application of a property rights framework. When humans encounter resources they cannot see — or hidden resources —, they have difficulties imagining an appropriate property regime. These hidden resources include subsurface resources (oil and gas reservoirs, groundwater, pore space), biological resources (migration paths, plant and animal dormancy cycles), informal and unrecognized land titles, and extraplanetary resources (asteroid mining and water). As a result, we often apply an existing two-dimensional property framework from visible resources to three and four-dimensional hidden resources. This article argues that lacking the ability to see resources —resource blindness — directly impacts our ability to use, manage, and conserve them. Conversely, resource sight — the ability to see resources — can tremendously aid the development of an effective and efficient property rights framework. This article also contends that hidden resources are best governed when owners and users understand the resource’s scientific properties. And those properties are likewise better gathered when the natural resource is visible to the human eye. Finally, if resource sight cannot be acquired, this article proposes avoiding resource conflicts by creating small groups of local and knowledgeable community property owners to advise in the resource’s management and encourage cooperative development.