This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Monday, September 2nd, 2019.

I'm Caleb Brown.

Property rights are often viewed as an enemy of conservation, but ownership allows us to

value what we own in terms of how others might

value our possessions as well and others can hold us liable for damage done to their

possessions. Holly Freightwell of the Property and Environment Research Center argues that property rights are key to creating markets in conservation.

We spoke in July in Bozeman, Montana.

Property rights and property to one's individual self is probably the most fundamental property right that we have that allows people self-determination

allows them to choose for themselves and make decisions for themselves,

also suffering the consequences of those decisions.

And there is one sort of caveat in that doing no harm on to other individuals would be a part of that property right as well.

So what does that have to do with conservation?

I mean self ownership is important.

Most libertarians believe that you own yourself and you're responsible for taking

care of yourself in a way, but what does that have to do with like preserving land or water or timber or wildlife.

Property rights to self is the fundamental right, but it is the beginning of all those rights that

are really going to motivate and incentivize individuals to be good stewards of land, assets, water, other resources,

and encouraging them to actually be a conservationist, even if somebody doesn't like conservation or isn't interested in conservation.

As long as we have clear property rights, individuals will respond considering not only

their own individual ideas and preferences but

others preferences as well. So how do we see that play out practically? We see that

play out practically when we think about actually being able to trade our resources or able to trade our lands and assets

...