This course uses an economic perspective to examine how human decisions affect natural resources and how natural resources affect humans. We will apply economic principles to questions of use and sustainable management of renewable and nonrenewable natural resources. Our discussion will center around scarcity, property rights, market failure, economic efficiency, resource allocation over time, sustainability, and public actions that could be taken to influence the rates at which natural resources are used. The course will cover the main resource issues including minerals, energy, forest management, marine resources, water resources, land management, wildlife, and biodiversity, showing how underlying economic principles provide the basis for specific natural resource policies.