The Ecocommons: A Plan for Common Property Management of Ecosystems

Abstract

Bruce Babbitt, United States Secretary of the Interior, has recently advocated "ecosystem management," a program which would replace the current crisis-driven protection of specific endangered species with the protection of complete ecosystems. Mr. Babbitt's enthusiasm for ecosystem management reflects a growing consensus among resource managers and politicians. The National Biological Diversity Conservation and Environmental Research Act (the "Biodiversity Act"), pending before Congress, would require the "identification of regional ecosystems within the United States, and an interagency plan for coordinating federal management of such ecosystems for the purpose of conserving biological diversity." Officials from a variety of federal agencies, including Carol Browner, Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), have expressed strong support for ecosystem management.