Economists take an interest in property rights structures because of their importance in the definition of incentive structures. Fisheries have been analyzed as open access resources because they are not often organized around private property rights. The lack of private property rights though should not be taken to imply unlimited access. There is a need to differentiate between situations in which an institutional structure supports a system of common property rights from those in which access to a resources is truly limited. In this study, a conceptual framework of the structure and workings of property rights to natural resources is developed. This includes a taxonomy of possible property rights structures that differentiates among types and degrees of common and private property. The study then compares and contrasts the differing views in the economics literature on the process by which property rights evolve. This conceptual framework is used to develop a set of research questions that will structure the inquiry about the evolution of property rights to a specific natural resource, the Chesapeake Bay oyster grounds. The conventional and Institutionalist perspectives are related to fishery management policy and their differences assessed. The Institutionalist perspective is shown to raise questions about the historical development of property rights that would not be considered by conventional economists. The resulting research questions are used to explain the economic history of the property rights to the Chesapeake Bay oyster grounds from 1607 to 1986. In Maryland and Virginia certain grounds of the Chesapeake Bay are reserved as a public oyster fishery, but, they have been regulated and managed by the states. In the history of the fishery, those who harvest from the public grounds have continually resisted the extension, or even encouragement of oyster cultivation on private leaseholds. The primary advocates of greater privatization of the bottoms have been economists and biologists. The governments of each state have chosen to maintain the commons in order to provide employment for watermen and to more widely distribute income among them. The results of a survey of Virginia's oyster harvesters are presented. These provide further insights for discussing the role of the watermen in the evolution of property rights, and help to form conclusions on the future of the fishery. This case study leads to the discussion of conclusions on the theory of the economics of property rights. / Ph. D.

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<p>The paper examines the 1985 Farm Bill-version of the Conservation ReselVe Program (CRP) as a potential water-quality improvement tool in the Chesapeake Bay region of Virginia. Participation levels. bidding behavior. land use options and other conditions in Richmond county. a predominantly agricultural county in Virginia's Northern Neck region. were analyzed.</p> / Master of Science

The toxicity of ammonia has become an issue in recent years, especially in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Currently, the EPA has set a chronic criterion of 0.035 mg/L (unionized ammonia). The chronic criterion is a four-day average concentration that cannot be exceeded more than once every three years. However, a lack of data exists on the toxicity of ammonia to saltwater organisms. Prior to this research, the chronic criterion was based on two saltwater and four freshwater organisms. This research was conducted to add additional data so more appropriate criteria may be set. Two saltwater fish, the Summer Flounder (Paralichthys dentatus), and the Atlantic Silverside (Menidia menidia) and one invertebrate, the Quahog Clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) were tested for acute toxicity to ammonia. The acute tests performed on the Summer Flounder (2 months old) were 48 and 96-hour tests performed in both synthetic seawater and natural seawater. Seven-day chronic tests were also performed on the Summer Flounder using synthetic seawater. Both 48 and 96-hour acute tests were performed on the Atlantic Silverside (10-14 days old.) using natural seawater. Both 48 and 96-hour acute tests were performed on the Quahog Clam (5mm shell height) using synthetic seawater. The 48-hour LC50s for the Summer Flounder in synthetic and natural seawater were 1.22 mg/L and 1.09 mg/L, respectively. The 96-hour LC50s for the Summer Flounder in synthetic and natural seawater were 1.07 mg/L and 0.889 mg/L, respectively. The 7-day chronic NOEC was 1.37 mg/L. The 48 and 96-hour LC50s for Atlantic Silverside in natural seawater were 1.52 mg/L and 1.18 mg/L, respectively. The 48 and 96-hour LC50s for Quahog Clam in synthetic seawater were 216 mg/L and 36.6 mg/L, respectively. The acute-chronic ratio for the Summer Flounder was 2.27. The refined chronic criterion was 0.081 mg/L based on this research and the research of others. Summer Flounder were more sensitive to ammonia in natural seawater than synthetic seawater. However, Atlantic Silverside showed no difference in sensitivity. / Master of Science

The discharge of wastewaters containing ammonia has become a major environmental concern, especially in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. A tentative instream limit of 1-2 mglL for total ammonia has been proposed in Virginia to protect marine aquatic life. This limit was based upon the national chronic criterion for un-ionized ammonia (0.035 mg/L) which was calculated using both freshwater and saltwater toxicity data. Therefore, additional bioassays needed to be performed with marine organisms in order to refine this limit based solely on saltwater organisms. Acute bioassays were conducted with one marine fish, the sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus), and two marine invertebrates, the mysid (Mysidopsis bahia), and grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio). The acute LC 50 and the no-observed-effect-concentration (NOEC) were determined for each organism and compared to data in the literature. The species mean acute values (SMA V) for the sheepshead minnow (13.5% difference) and the mysid (14.7% difference) compared well with the literature, while the grass shrimp was more tolerant (81.2% difference) to ammonia than expected. The SMA V were calculated based upon the LC 50 data and used to assess both the national acute and chronic criterion for ammonia. Seven day chronic bioassays were performed with the sheep shead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus). The LC 50 and the NOEC for both mortality and growth were calculated. The acute-chronic ratio was determined to be 6.95 for the sheepshead minnow and 4.35 for the mysid. Based upon these data, the refined national criteria for unionized ammonia was determined to be 0.054 mg/L. The instream limit can be set based upon the water pH, temperature, and salinity. / Master of Science

Nonpoint Source (NPS) pollution, pollution that comes from diffuse sources that are difficult to trace back to a single point such as farm fields, is a major concern affecting America's water ways. Nationally, agriculture is the leading source of water impairment and has also been identified as the largest source of pollution affecting the Chesapeake Bay. There are proposals now for a program that would pay farmers to use 15 percent less than the extension recommended amount of fertilizer. Known as the Yield Reserve Program, or Enhanced Nutrient Management, this policy could possibly help to reduce the nutrient loads. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of a Yield Reserve Program on farm yields and net revenues. Costs were estimated for different policy implementations for the Virginia Coastal Plain to better understand problems with this type of program. The effects of Yield Reserve on enterprise net returns, yields, and N applications for corn under varying weather and soil conditions were estimated. Based on experimental trials from North Carolina and Virginia from 2000 to 2004, yield response functions were calculated for corn. The costs of the Yield Reserve Program vary depending on its implementation, but under current proposals these costs were estimated at $113 per hectare, and $10,855,000 for the coastal plain. This proposal is a more costly program than would be necessary to compensate farmers for yield losses based on estimates in this study. / Master of Science

Conventional nonpoint source pollution policies encourage the adoption of conservation practices to reduce nonpoint source pollutants by paying a portion of the cost to install best management practices. Alternative financial incentive programs, such as payment for environmental services (PES) programs, aim to improve program effectiveness by paying directly for the quantity of environment services provided, but implementing PES programs to reduce nonpoint source pollution has been challenging given the costs and technical feasibility of measuring pollutant outcomes. Bioreactors, engineered sinks that convert biologically available forms of nitrogen into an inert form (N_2), have recently been proposed to treat and remove legacy nitrogen from springs (Easton et al., 2019). Since nitrogen removal can be directly measured, there is potential to implement an outcome-based PES program. Little information exists on the costs and risks sellers face under such a program or the impact of contractual conditions. This research applies Monte Carlo simulation to a case study bioreactor in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed to estimate the financial risks and rewards to N removal service providers under different outcome-based PES contractual conditions. Results indicate that under a fifteen-year contract term and price of $25/lb/yr of nitrogen removal, outcome-based PES for denitrifying bioreactors has a high chance of generating positive financial outcomes for a commercial size case study bioreactor that removes an average of 1,279 lbs of N annually. / Master of Science / Conventional policies to reduce diffuse water pollutants encourage the adoption of conservation practices to reduce diffuse water pollutants by paying a portion of the cost to install remedial practices or technologies. Payment for environmental services (PES) programs, an alternative to conventional policies, aims to improve program effectiveness by paying directly for the quantity of environment services provided. However, implementing PES programs to reduce diffuse water pollution has been challenging given the costs and technical feasibility of measuring pollutants and outcomes of remedial efforts. Bioreactors, engineered sinks that convert the diffuse water pollutant nitrogen into a non-pollutive form, have recently been proposed to remove legacy nitrogen from springs (Easton et al., 2019). Using bioreactors, nitrogen removal can be directly measured, so there is potential for an outcome-based PES program. Little information exists on the costs and risks sellers face under such a program or the impact of contractual conditions. This research applies financial simulation to a case study bioreactor in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed to estimate the financial risks and rewards to N removal service providers under different outcome-based PES contractual conditions. Results indicate that under a fifteen-year contract term and price of $25/lb/yr of nitrogen removal, outcome-based PES for denitrifying bioreactors has a high chance of generating positive financial outcomes for a commercial size case study bioreactor that removes an average of 1,279 lbs of N annually.

Neoliberalism, as the influence of economic considerations within the political process, has impacted environmentalism on a variety of levels. Without regulation, the neoliberal capitalist drive to maximize production, consumption, and profits is antagonistic to environmental sustainability. The influences that corporations and economic elites have within modern democracies holds substantial implications for the rigor and enforcement of environmental policies. Particular to the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency offers numerous illustrations of neoliberal influence within its history and policy practices. These influences inevitably impact the Agency's ability to accomplish the goals of their mission and purpose statements. As seen through regulations such as the Clean Water Act, neoliberal pressure has altered the priorities of government on a federal level to prioritize economic well-being over that of other social goods, such as environmental protection. The Clean Water Act prioritizes economic profitability over environmental protection through cap and trade policies, such as NPDES permits, and legitimizes pollution-causing behavior through TMDLs. Further, the act was weakened by neoliberal forces with the non-point source exemption created for the sake of avoiding economic harm to large industries and its shortcomings are visible within many of the nation's waterways, including the Chesapeake Bay. Through a case study, this project demonstrates how the neoliberal influences impacting the Environmental Protection Agency has resonated in its policies, like in the abilities of the Clean Water Act to sufficiently clean-up the Chesapeake Bay within its proposed timeline. / Master of Arts

Anticipating future trends in land development and climate change is a constant challenge for engineers and planners who wish to effectively compensate for the resulting changes in stormwater runoff that will inevitably follow. This study is a regional attempt at predicting how predicted changes in land cover will affect runoff characteristics in a number of watersheds throughout the Delmarva Peninsula when compared to the current state. To predict changes in land cover and the associated land use, the SLEUTH model coupled with PED utilized a number of different inputs including population growth trends, existing geography, current land planning policies as well as different growth factors to predict where urban growth is most likely to occur. The model creates maps which show the approximate location of predicted growth for the year 2030. Using SLEUTH output, the magnitude of changes that can occur in runoff quality and quantity due to land cover changes were estimated in each of the seventeen representative watersheds that were chosen within the Delmarva Peninsula. Changes in water quality were calculated based on nutrient loading rates for sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen. These nutrient loading rates correspond to different land uses within different county segments in the peninsula. The expected changes in water quantity were quantified using the United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Services' TR-20 which estimated the peak flows for each watershed based on watershed's size, land cover, soils, and slope. Evaluating the magnitude of these potential changes in the Delmarva Peninsula provides an important look into the effects of increased urban development on the predominantly agrarian land mass, the majority of which drains to the Chesapeake Bay. / Master of Science

In the interest of maintaining lands to fully support the military mission, Department of Defense (DOD) installations must manage competing objectives under constraints related to mission operations, regulation and compliance requirements, and budget reductions. Silviculture offers promise for ecosystem management while providing financial means through the sale of forest products. This study used forest inventory and bald eagle nest site data to investigate the potential effects of silviculture on bald eagle nesting habitat at Naval Support Facility Indian Head. Mahalanobis distance was used to define and classify preferred nesting substrate. Silviculture was simulated using the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) to assess forest nesting substrate, economic yields and the tradeoffs between these two objectives. An alternative substrate model based on cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) and Boolean logic allowed evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the Mahalanobis distance method. The Mahalanobis distance model provided greater relative fit to the sample of nest sites compared to the CDF model but had lower discriminating power between presence and absence data. Simulation results indicate that top performing silvicultural treatments resulted in greater substrate availability compared to no-action over equal time periods. Uneven-age management was shown as the best system for providing nesting substrate as well as favorable economic yields in hardwood stands. Results also stress the importance of thinning in providing future nesting substrate and maintaining preferred substrate late in the rotation. Economic and habitat tradeoffs varied by treatment, suggesting that optimum prescriptions could be identified to provide for both objectives and minimize tradeoffs. / Master of Science