A Report to Owners from Friends of the CommonsThe State of The Commons2003/04The State of The Commons 2003/04Part I: Understanding The Commons pg 2Part II: The State of The Commons pg 10Part III: The Future of The Commons pg 24waterrainsnowicelightfireelectricityradio wavesDNAseedsalgaetopsoilrocksmetalsoiluraniumwild animalsdomesticable animalsedible plantshealing plantssolar energywind energytideswater powerbiosphereatmosphereforestsgrasslandslakesriversestuariesbeachesphotosynthesiswaste absorptionnutrient recyclingfresh water replenishmentUV protectionclimate regulationerosion controlpollinationoceanswatershedsaquiferswetlandsItems listed are exemplary, not exhaustive.Shared Natural CreationsIf you steal $10 from a man’s wallet, you’re likely to get into a fight. But if you steal billions fromthe commons, co-owned by him and his descendants,he may not even notice.— Walter Hickel, former Secretary of the InteriorA letter fromFRIENDS OF THE COMMONSDear Fellow Owner,Despite the fall of the stock market and the rise in unemployment, youand your family are richer than you think. Here’s why:All Americans are joint owners of a trove of hidden assets. These assets —natural gifts like air and water, and social creations like science and theInternet — constitute our shared inheritance. They’re vital to our livesand make our economy run. Though it’s impossible to put a precisevalue on them, it’s safe to say they’re worth trillions of dollars.The trouble is, our shared inheritance is being grossly mismanaged.Maintenance is terrible, theft is rampant and rents often aren’t beingcollected. To put it bluntly, our common wealth — and our children’s —is being squandered. We are all poorer as a result. What should be done? The first step is to do what any responsibleowner would do: conduct an audit. To this end, Friends of theCommons, on behalf of American commons owners, formed an auditcommittee to identify problems and make recommendations. Whatfollows is the committee’s report. The report has three parts. Part I describes our common wealth andsets forth basic principles for managing it. Part II examines the state ofsix important commons. And Part III makes recommendations for thefuture. A fuller interactive version of the report is available atwww.friendsofthecommons.org.If you’d like to become a Friend of the Commons, we welcome yoursupport. Donations are tax-deductible and will help protect ourcommon wealth for generations to come. Sincerely, Harriet Barlow, chair Friends of the Commons is a project of the Tides Foundation. We raise anddistribute money to non-profit groups working to protect our common wealth.1The commons is the sum of all we inherittogether and must pass on, undiminished,to our heirs. 2What is the commons? pg 3The commons, the market and the state pg 5Why the commons matters now pg 6Principles of commons management pg 7How much is it worth? pg 9By the law of nature these things are commonto mankind — the air, running water, the sea,and consequently the shore of the sea.— Institutes of Justinian (535 A.D.)WHAT IS THE COMMONS?In this report we use the terms commons, common assets, commonproperty and common wealth. They all refer to the same thing inslightly different ways.Commons is the generic term. It embraces all the creations of natureand society that we inherit jointly and freely, and hold in trust for futuregenerations.Common assets are those parts of the commons that have a value inthe market. Radio airwaves are a common asset, as are timber andminerals on public lands. So, increasingly, are air and water.Common property refers to a class of human-made rights that liessomewhere between private property and state property. Examplesinclude conservation easements held by land trusts, Alaskans’ right todividends from the Alaska Permanent Fund, and everyone’s right towaterfront access.Common wealth refers to the monetary and non-monetary value ofthe commons in supporting life and well-being. Like stockholders’equity in a corporation, it may increase or decrease from year to yeardepending on how well the commons is managed.The commons itself is as old as the earth, and the concept of thecommons goes back many hundreds of years. The Romans distinguished between three types of property: resprivatae, res publicae and res communes. The first consisted of thingscapable of being possessed by an individual or family. The secondconsisted of things built and set aside for public use by the state, suchas public buildings and roads. The third consisted of natural thingsused by all, such as air, water and wild animals. In the United Kingdom during the Middle Ages, the commons wereshared lands used by villagers for foraging, hunting, planting cropsand gathering wood. In 1215, the Magna Carta established forests andfisheries as res communes, resources available to all. (Prior to theMagna Carta, the king could grant or sell exclusive usage rights.) In America, four early states — Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginiaand Kentucky — called themselves ‘commonwealths.’ Several statesdeclared in their constitutions that natural resources belong to thepeople and that government acts as the people’s trustee. 3Redefining the boundaries between themarket and the commons is a task eachgeneration undertakes anew.Pennsylvania's public natural resources are thecommon property of all the people, includinggenerations yet to come. As trustee of theseresources, the Commonwealth shall conserve andmaintain them for the benefit of all the people.— Pennsylvania constitution The most useful way to understand the commons today is as the sumof all we inherit together and should pass on, undiminished, to our heirs.In this way of viewing things, the economy is divided between themarket and the commons. The market encompasses private things(which we mostly manage for short-term monetary gain), while thecommons comprises shared things (which we manage, or should manage,for shared long-term life enhancement).The boundaries between the market and the commons shift over time.Redefining those boundaries is a task each generation undertakes anew.For a vocabulary of commons-related terms, see page 31.4KEY FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMONSBasic sustenanceFor most of human existence, the commons supplied everyone’sfood, water, fuel and medicines.Ultimate sourceThe commons is the source of all natural resources and nature’smany replenishing services.Ultimate waste
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