Rural Rentierism and the Financial Enclosure of Maine's Open Lands Tradition

Bibliographic Data

ID3775752
AuthorsKelly Kay (0000-0003-1824-2617, University of California, Los Angeles, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume107
Issue6
Pages1407-1423
Publication date2017-11-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnnals of the American Association of Geographers (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2469-4452 • E-ISSN: 2469-4460
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/24694452.2017.1328305
OpenAlexW2732230820
LanguageEN
Citations received31
References cited31

This article looks at the changing nature of property access regimes in northeastern Maine. The state's unique "open lands" tradition has come under threat as a result of the large-scale restructuring of the timber industry from vertically integrated forest products companies toward individual and institutional investor-owners. Using a large conservation project in the town of Grand Lake Stream as a case study, I argue that new investor-owners have been able to generate profits by enclosing long-standing common access regimes and commanding monopoly rent payments. After reviewing literatures on rent, enclosure, and the commodification of nature, I examine two prominent examples of this process of rent extraction through the enclosure of common access regimes: lease lots and working forest conservation easements. The article concludes arguing for regulatory intervention, as well as the need for more concrete case studies on the impacts of financial investment on the biophysical environment

Commodification · Easement · Investment · Lease · Restructuring · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Forest Management and Policy