James Salzman holds joint appointments at Duke University as the Nicholas Institute Professor of Environmental Policy at the Nicholas School and as the Samuel F. Mordecai Professor at the Law School. He is also the Donald Bren Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law at UC Santa Barbara. Salzman’s scholarship has addressed topics spanning trade and environment conflicts, wetlands mitigation banking, and the legal and institutional issues involved in creating markets for ecosystem services. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and named a Bren Fellow (UC Santa Barbara), a McMaster Fellow (CSIRO Australia), and a Fulbright Senior Scholar (Australia), he has served as a visiting professor at Stanford, Harvard, Yale, and Macquarie University.
Allowing such “nonuse rights” to public natural resources would enable markets to advance environmental goals, leading to more stable and less contentious outcomes.
Ecosystem services such as clean water from forests are free, but now their value is being recognized. Entrepreneurs are developing markets for these services and providing incentives for conservation.
Markets for ecosystem services such as water filtration, erosion control, and pollination benefit the providers and enhance environmental assets.
Mark Sagoff’s piece, ‘The Catskills Parable,’ (June 2005) recounted the decision of New York City to invest in land management and infrastructure changes in the…
From Jim Salzman, Professor of Law, Nicholas Institute, Professor of Environmental Policy, Duke University