Who owns wildlife? Common law, upheld by judicial decision, says that wildlife is owned in common by all citizens, and governments have the authority to manage wildlife on our behalf. An equally strong legal tradition, however, is the right of property owners to control the resources on and access to their lands. Two-thirds of lands are private and 85 percent of wildlife in the United States is found on these private lands, so how can governments carry out their management mission without encroaching on the property rights of landowners? If that mission is restricted, how can landowners be...