Ken Ilguas, This Land is Our Land: How We Lost the Right to Roam and How to Take It Back (Plume, 2018)
Author, journalist and sometime park ranger Ken Ilgunas has written an argument in favor a \u201cright to roam.\u201d\xa0 This concept, unfamiliar to most Americans, is one of an ability to traverse public and private property for purposes of enjoying nature.\xa0 In\xa0This Land is Our Land: How We Lost the Right to Roam and How to Take It Back (Plume, 2018),\xa0Ilgunas compares U.S. property laws with the traditions and laws of England, Scotland and Scandinavian countries.\xa0 In these nations a right to roam has been recognized and, Ilgunas argues, has been a boon to citizens\u2019 enjoyment of their nations\u2019 lands, while also protecting the property rights of private owners.\xa0 Ilgunas addresses owners\u2019 concerns about the use and enjoyment of their land and makes the case that a \u201cright to roam\u201d would be beneficial to owners and members of the public alike.\xa0 Yet, Ilgunas also acknowledges the obstacles to creating such a right in the United States: popular understandings of the sacredness of private property, fears of lawsuits, the existence of public lands as alternative venues, and the federal and state systems of land management.\xa0 Ilgunas also concedes that a \u201cright to roam\u201d is not merely a legal problem but a problem regarding long-held perceptions of the moral rightness of private property and the ability to exclude others from using one\u2019s land.\n\n\n\nIan J. Drake is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Law at Montclair State University. His scholarly interests include American legal and constitutional history and political theory.\n\n\xa0\n\n\xa0\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law