1. Property rights across sustainable landscapes Does diversity beget sustainability?

2. Property mosaic Diverse interests in a landscape Shared uses, not singular uses Use rights, not exclusive dominion - Pluralist property - Inter-connected, - competing - Public, - private, and - communal - Claims, - uses

3. Does diversity in property interests beget landscape sustainability? Proposition: Property mosaic that is  diverse,  Inter-connected,  pluralistic,  complex Aesthetically Legally Economically Politically  Landscapes that are  Sustainable

4. 3 property mosaics Mosaic construction: Sea Ranch, California Mosaic re-configuration: Northern Forest, USA Mosaic deconstruction: High Country, New Zealand South Island

5. Sea Ranch, California Constructing a property mosaic: The Sea Ranch

6. Pre-1963: simple mosaic Private sheep ranch on the Northern California coast Interests in landscape = – private + – dormant public trust doctrine (public ownership and possible access to wet sands of beach)

7. 1963: Oceanic Properties purchases 4000 acre sheep ranch Interests in landscape = – Private (architecturally visionary developers) – + latent public trust in wet sand

8. 1965: addition of Sea Ranch Association to property mosaic Interests in landscape= – Private (developer) – + latent public trust 140 acres of public reserves in the proposed, and approved, development – + private residents, members of Sea Ranch Association – + private / communal interest Established “declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions” on each title to maintain architectural vision – + public / communal interest Established landscape plan placing houses to mimic landscape, to enhance sustainability

9. 1968-1980: addition of public trust to mosaic Local public trust interest awakens – Formation of Californians Organized to Acquire Access to State Tidelands (COAST) in Sonoma Cty – Sponsored county initiative (1968) to force coastal access through almost every mile of Sea Ranch – Failed, but State-wide public trust awakens – CA-wide Coastal Alliance forms – Sponsors Prop 20 (1972), to form regional and state-wide Coastal Commissions to govern and restrict coastal development – Empowered commissions to refuse dev’t permits

10. 1980: addition of state of California to mosaic State asserting public interest in coastal vistas and access to beaches for recreation State demands (and Courts enforce): – 5 public access easements + parking State compensates Sea Ranch $500,000 – Scenic view corridors from CA-1 by tree removal – Height limits on houses – Number of houses reduced from 5200 to 2300

11. 1960s mosaic Latent public trust Private rights for exclusive housing – Purchased from sheep rancher – Approved by county Communal interest of Sea Ranch Ass’n, collective of private right-holders Public trust asserted by common law, enforced by statute Access easements Public interest in scenic vistas asserted by state Height limits and corridors Private rights for exclusive housing Communal interest of Sea Ranch Ass’n aesthetic covenants Post-1980 mosaic

12. Reconstructing a property mosaic Northern Forest of New England, USA

13. Pre-1980: diverse mosaic Spans 4 states (Maine, NH, VT, New York) 25 million acres (10 million hectares) 1.8 million residents 80% privately owned – Owned by timber companies, originally based in New England – Used for pulp/paper, hardwood timber, maple syrup, recreation / vacation homes

14. 1980s: Complex mosaic simplifying Seemingly stable landscape mosaic of uses and ownership, but – Timber companies consolidating ownership 1982: Goldsmith hostile takeover of Diamond International Corp (and their 976,000 acres) Followed by many takeovers of forest land by global corporations

15. Late 1980s Old mosaic no longer supports economically sustainable landscape By 1987: land ownership had shifted on a large scale from timber companies to entrepreneurs – Connection to forestry lost Large and growing disparity in values of land uses forestry vs. recreation and development Disparity threatened to tip dominant use of landscape from forestry to second homes 1980s: Landscape changing

16. Late 1980s – early 1990s Flurry of state and federal studies of what to do, spurred by a broad group of interest groups Resulted in a federally coordinated, large-scale mixed program designed to change the disparity in values of land uses – Easement purchases – State and federal land acquisition – Tax and fiscal incentives – Joint-ownership schemes (involving land trusts)

17. Northern Forest mosaic then and now Pre-1980s 80% privately owned Mostly fee-simple ownership Post-1990s Still mostly privately owned More interconnected Public-private partnerships More encumbered fee-simple ownership Easements Covenants Partnerships More enduring mechanisms for coordinated response to shocks to the mosaic

18. Deconstructing a property mosaic New Zealand South Island High Country

19. 1850s -1992 Bundle of sticks divided between Crown as land-owner and leaseholder – Leaseholder held pastoral grazing rights – No right to freehold – Crown held residual rights No right to freehold created a legally stable landscape mosaic Statutory pastoral leases over 2.4 million hectares of eastern slope of Southern Alps

20. 1992 – present Result = land reform – program to privatise the low country, and – conserve the high country in Crown ownership Land reform polarizes ownership patterns – More distinct public vs private divide – Fewer encumbrances on fee-simple title Recreationists want access Enviros want fewer sheep Leaseholders want to diversify land use

21. High country mosaic then and now

22. Landscape sustainability? Pre 1992: legally sustainable landscape 1980s:  political and  economic sustainability 1990s – present: mosaic deconstruction Final result = legal sustainability  economic,  ecological, and  aesthetic sustainability Pre-1992 = 90 parcels 2009 = 1500 parcels

23. Conclusion  diversity =  sustainability Landscape sustainability takes many forms: – Aesthetic and ecological – Economic – Legal – Political Configuration of the property mosaic can enhance or detract from sustainability Diverse and inter-connected mosaic enhances the most forms of landscape sustainability