Re-thinking the role of the law in intractable land use conflict

As Babbitt remarked twenty years ago, the '...next generation of environmental challenges will be more intractable, more difficult problems that fundamentally relate to how we live on the land and on the planet', arguing that our attention must turn to '...how to make the kinds of changes in the structure of this society, in the organization of our economy and our culture, and in our personal habits, to avoid the possibility of environmental catastrophe (1993: 514). Current contests over land use, particularly in communities where gas and mineral extraction are under debate, indicate that such challenges are now upon us. Competition between extractive industries and other users in such communities (including residential, agricultural, environmental and recreational users) are increasingly typified by their ability to elude resolution, span a considerable period of time and involve several stakeholders. They are, in every sense of the word, 'intractable' (Babbitt, 1993; Schon and Rein, 1994; Lewicki, Gray and Elliot, 2003; Elix, 2003a, 2003b). Some have involved broad-scale confrontation and litigation, and many have had 'spillover' (Abdalla et al, 2002) effects on the communities in which they are situated, taking an economic and often emotional toll on those involved. With some economies heavily reliant upon mineral and gas resources, as well as agriculture and tourism, management of conflict over land use is complicated and crucial. It is therefore fundamental that systems to manage conflict over land use are effective.