U.S. National Parks and “The Tragedy of the Commons”

This paper aims at presenting the stakes related to the access to protected land in the United States and to its conservation, through the analysis of the professional practice of U.S. mountain guides. From a methodological standpoint, this research is based both on a theoretical analysis grounded i...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Séverine Wozniak, Arnaud Buchs
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut de Géographie Alpine 2013-12-01
Series:Revue de Géographie Alpine
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Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/rga/2084
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Summary:This paper aims at presenting the stakes related to the access to protected land in the United States and to its conservation, through the analysis of the professional practice of U.S. mountain guides. From a methodological standpoint, this research is based both on a theoretical analysis grounded in the field of environmental economics and on an empirical study. The authors’ starting point is Garrett Hardin’s paper, “The Tragedy of the Commons” (Science, 1968), even if it introduces some confusion on the notion of common goods. So as to avoid this confusion, the authors use two theoretical tools pertaining to a typology of common goods and the different property rights that can be applied in National Parks. Finally, they apply this framework to the observations made on the field in Colorado in July 2009.
ISSN:0035-1121
1760-7426