Natural Resources Law

Natural resources, as defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (40 C.F.R.), encompass land, fish, wildlife, biota, air, water, ground water, drinking water supplies, and other such resources belonging to, managed by, held in trust by, appertaining to, or otherwise controlled by the United States, any State or local government, or any foreign government.

Natural resources are naturally occurring substances that are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified ( natural ) form. A commodity is generally considered a natural resource when the primary activities associated with it are extraction and purification, as opposed to creation. Thus, mining , petroleum extraction, fishing , and forestry are generally considered natural-resource industries, while agriculture is not.

Natural resources are often classified into renewable and non-renewable resources . Renewable resources are generally living resources (fish, coffee , and forests, for example), which can restock (renew) themselves if they are not overharvested . Renewable resources can restock themselves and be used indefinitely if they are used sustainably. Once renewable resources are consumed at a rate that exceeds their natural rate of repalcement, the standing stock will diminish and eventually run out. The rate of sustainable use of a renewable resource is determined by the replacement rate and amount of standing stock of that particular resource. Non-living renewable natural resources include soil , as well as water , wind , tides and solar radiation.

Both extraction of the basic resource and refining it into a purer, directly usable form, (e.g., metals , refined oils) are generally considered natural-resource activities, even though the latter may not necessarily occur near the former. Natural resources are natural capital converted to commodity inputs to infrastructural capital processes. They include soil, timber, oil, minerals, and other goods taken more or less as they are from the Earth.

A nation's natural resources often determine its wealth and status in the world economic system, by determining its political influence. Developed nations are those which are less dependent on natural resources for wealth, due to their greater reliance on infrastructural capital for production. However, some see a resource curse whereby easily obtainable natural resources could actually hurt the prospects of a national economy by fostering political corruption.

In recent years, the depletion of natural capital and attempts to move to sustainable development have been a major focus of development agencies . This is of particular concern in rainforest regions, which hold most of the Earth's natural biodiversity - irreplaceable genetic natural capital . Conservation of natural resources is the major focus of Natural Capitalism , environmentalism , the ecology movement , and Green Parties . Some view this depletion as a major source of social unrest and conflicts in developing nations .

Most natural resources are not renewable.