2.4 Ownership and use of the lands or resources is known or knowable.

Identifying who currently owns and uses the lands and resources targeted for conservation is essential. This information will be used to determine if exclusivity is possible and necessary, as well as to determine the authorization mechanisms available for achieving exclusivity. However, ownership boundaries, authorities, jurisdictions, and user rights are often in dispute and difficult to determine in ocean and coastal environments. An extensive primer on Shore and Sea Boundaries is available from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA has also developed a summary manual for Marine Managed Areas: Best Practices for Boundary Making. The manual identifies many of the boundary issues that organizations may come across when working offshore.

It may be possible to determine current ownership and use of sites by consulting the state or local agencies responsible for recording and administering the lands (such as state submerged land programs or county tax assessors’ offices). This toolkit provides contact information, as well as sources of mapping and ownership data within coastal states and countries.

Spatial Data Assessment and Development

Sometimes ownership and use information for lands and resources lying within ocean and coastal waters is easily accessible and reliable. Other times the information is either difficult to access or unreliable. If the ownership and use information is not easily accessible or reliable, conservation organizations may have to assess and develop the information themselves. The information assessment and development can be undertaken for specific sites or whole regions, states, and countries. Suggested general steps to assess and develop spatial data for ownership and use include:

1. Plan project.
2. Assess ownership and use circumstances.
3. Identify and retrieve data.
4. Develop database.
5. Develop spatial data.
6. Document and Assure Data Quality
7. Make data accessible.

This process is presented in detail in a Spatial Database Template (download pdf, 223k). The template was designed to facilitate spatial data projects and to enable comparisons of progress among different state and country spatial databases. The template was used in 2006 to assess and develop spatial data for leasing and ownership in Oregon (download pdf, 464k) and Massachusetts (download pdf, 2,117k).

Fundamental Questions

Whether or not information and data are easily accessible and reliable, current ownership and human use must be determined before it is possible to identify what authorization mechanisms are available and if the site is amenable to conservation. If ownership and current use cannot be determined, then exclusivity likely cannot and should not be achieved. If ownership and use can be determined, the fundamental questions to answer include:

• Is the site publicly or privately owned?
• Is the site already being used by a public or private entity for a specific purpose which excludes others, including conservation interests?
• If the site is already in use, is there a specified time period of use, are there opportunities for multiple uses, or are there opportunities for partnering with the current user?
• Are the environmental liabilities at the site known and acceptable (see Step 3.8 Due Diligence)?

Once the ownership and use status is clearly understood, the next step is to assess the laws and policies associated with the lands and resources.