Property rights involve the bundle of entitlements defining the property owner's rights, privileges and limitations for use of the resource. These rights may include such aspects as the entitlement to develop, the entitlement to withdraw resources, and/or the entitlement to transfer the property to someone else through sale or bequest.

Sometimes these rights are bundled inseparably together and other times they may be separated for sale or transfer. For example, conservation easements (restrictions on development) can be separated from the other entitlements and sold or donated to land trusts. Although the transfer of a conservation easement restricts the ability of the owner to develop the land, depending on how the easement is written, it may not affect other entitlements such as the right of the owner to reside on the land or even to harvest it for timber.