The Rural Review

An online journal produced in conjunction with the Rural Reconciliation Project.

Rural Reconciliation 11/10/26 Rural Reconciliation 11/10/26

Kjerstad McKnight & McKnight: From Cowboys to Corner Crossers

In From Cowboys to Corner Crossers: Reviving the Unlawful Inclosures Act to Protect Public Land Access, Brittany Kjerstad McKnight and Ryan McKnight (both Management and Economics, South Dakota State University) argue that corner crossing property—stepping from one parcel of public land to another at a shared corner with private property—is lawful and should be broadly recognized as such under existing property law principles.

Rural Reconciliation 11/3/26 Rural Reconciliation 11/3/26

Howlader & Li: Effects of Land Retirement Policies on Agricultural Labor and Land Tenure

In Consequences of Land Retirement Policies on Agricultural Labor and Land Tenure: Evidence from the Historical Conservation Reserve Program in the United States, Aparna Howlader (Economics, Chatham) and Liqing Li (Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M) examine the short- and long-term economic impacts of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) on agricultural labor and land tenure. The CRP is a land retirement initiative first introduced in 1956 by the United States Department of Agriculture. The program provides incentives to landowners to retire their land for environmental purposes.

Rural Reconciliation 10/27/26 Rural Reconciliation 10/27/26

Haines: Financial Aid Access Across the Urban-Rural Continuum

In The Landscape of Financial Aid Access in Iowa: An Examination of FAFSA Completion Rates Across the Urban-Rural Continuum, Stephanie Marie Haines (Iowa State University School of Education) discusses the association between rurality and the completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) using Iowa public high schools as a case study.

Rural Reconciliation 10/20/26 Rural Reconciliation 10/20/26

Pruitt: Rurality and Redistricting

In Rurality and Redistricting: California’s Proposition 50, Rural Identity, and Democratic Legitimacy, Lisa R. Pruitt (University of California, Davis School of Law) explores California’s hyper-partisan redistricting, otherwise known as Proposition 50, through a ruralist critique. The article focuses on the effects in far northern California and situates the measure within a broader national redistricting trend that dilutes rural or urban representation. Pruitt argues for greater protection of rural “communities of interest,” described as a contiguous population sharing common social and economic interests within a district, and thereby providing effective and fair representation.

Rural Reconciliation 10/13/26 Rural Reconciliation 10/13/26

Marouf & Casado Pérez: Property and Prejudice

In Property and Prejudice, Fatma Marouf and Vanessa Casado Pérez (both Texas A&M Law) examine the newest wave of state “alien land laws,” which restrict certain noncitizens and foreign entities from owning real property in the United States.

Rural Reconciliation 10/6/26 Rural Reconciliation 10/6/26

Dorkenoo & Res: Climate-related Land Loss

In On the Production of Climate-related Loss: Land Dispossession, Indebtedness, and Climate Change in Northeastern Cambodia, Kelly Dorkenoo (Centre for Sustainability Studies, Lund University, Sweden) and Phasy Res (Development Studies, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University) explore how development policies reinforce social and economic inequalities that shape climate-related land loss in rural and Indigenous farming communities.

Rural Reconciliation 9/29/26 Rural Reconciliation 9/29/26

Totty: Tackling Arkansas’s Legal Deserts

In The Rural Rescue: Tackling Arkansas’s Legal Deserts Through Proven Statutory Reform, Kathryn Totty (University of Arkansas School of Law), examines how successful frameworks for rural recruitment programs in other fields and states can be applied to reduce the rural legal desert crisis in Arkansas communities.

Rural Reconciliation 9/22/26 Rural Reconciliation 9/22/26

Fulkerson & Thomas: Rural America’s Housing Vacancy Problem

In America’s Empty Homes: The Overlooked Rural and Nonmetropolitan Housing Vacancy Problem, Gregory M. Fulkerson and Alex R. Thomas (both PLACES Institute, SUNY Oneonta) examine housing vacancy across rural and nonmetropolitan areas of the United States. They focus on patterns of “structural housing vacancy,” meaning vacant housing units excluding those designated for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use. The study uses various factors like socioeconomic conditions, demographic characteristics, rurality and remoteness, and regional contexts to advance a more geographically nuanced understanding of housing vacancy in the US.

Rural Reconciliation 9/8/26 Rural Reconciliation 9/8/26

Stark: Taxation, Redistribution, and the Urban-Rural Divide

In Taxation, Redistribution, and the Urban-Rural Divide, author Kirk J. Stark (UCLA School of Law) considers how population density in urban and rural areas influences subnational and nation tax policies in the United States. The author claims that the urban-rural divide promotes more redistributive tax policies at the subnational level, while pushing the national government towards less redistributive tax policies.

Rural Reconciliation 9/1/26 Rural Reconciliation 9/1/26

Robertson: Community Lawyering in Coal Country

In Community Lawyering in Coal Country: Empowering Those Who Power America, Gregory Robertson (West Virginia Law) examines how social institutions have failed coal miners by systematically discouraging attorneys and advocates from representing coal miners in Black Lung benefits claims, and how four attorneys have modeled success despite these challenges by drawing on the principles and strategies of community lawyering.

Rural Reconciliation 8/25/26 Rural Reconciliation 8/25/26

Green III et al.: Protecting Rural Schools

In Preserving Rural School Districts from the Threat of Vouchers and Charters, Preston C. Green III (Urban Education and Educational Leadership and Law, University of Connecticut), Bruce D. Backer (Teaching and Learning, University of Miami), Christopher M. Saldana and Julie F. Mead (both Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison) discuss how voucher and charter school programs are having an unintended negative impact on rural school districts and communities. The authors suggest that state legislatures take action to fulfill their constitutional obligation to ensure public access to education by creating “education preserves.”

Rural Reconciliation 8/18/26 Rural Reconciliation 8/18/26

Smith: Rural Electric Cooperatives

In Empowering the Energy Transition in Rural Electric Cooperatives, Katrina Smith (Carolina Law), outlines the shortcomings of rural electric cooperatives and how they have transformed from their original design to what they are today. Smith considers various pathways for reform to empower rural communities, including how tax status can be leveraged as a new method of reform.