International environmental protection is largely up to individual countries

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International environmental protection is largely
up to individual countries
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But, individual countries can try to help
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October 17, 2007

• Term papers, grading guidelines
• Sources a literature cited is not required, but
  there should be some evidence that you looked
  outside of lecture notes and the book.
• According to a recent article in the _____.....
• Grading 50 points
• 5 points--- on time
• 10 points--- grammar
• 10 points---- cohesive argument
• 10 points--- balanced view
• 15 points--- cover the issues

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Chapter 6. Environmental Conservation
Wednesday, Friday

• Urban Ecosystems
• Natural Ecosystems
• Forest Land Uses tropical deforestation
• Rangeland
• Wetlands
• Parks and Protected Areas
• Wilderness, wildlife reserves versus biotic
  representation
• Debt for Nature Swaps

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Urbanization

• Urban populations are growing and rural
  populations are shrinking, especially in the
  developing world.

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Urbanization

• Chicago grew faster than almost any other city in
  the late 19th and early 20th centuries, then
  declined slightly as residents moved to its
  suburbs.

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Frederick Law Olmstead

• Invented landscape architecture
• Designed many of our classic parks
• Central Park, NYC
• Back Bay, Boston
• Stanford
• Yosemite
• US Capital
• ..

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The Midwest Foresight and planning, and now
little new protection, more reshuffling of
management
Established in early 20th century
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• Two primary issues with land use
• Providing livable spaces in and around our urban
  environments
• Protecting valuable natural resources, natural
  legacies and functioning ecosystems

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Urbanization
See also Cities in the Wilderness, Bruce Babbitt

• Today cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas are
  growing as fast as Chicago once did. They are
  spreading across the landscape, as shown by these
  satellite photos of Las Vegas

1972
2002
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Chicago
Red yellow light green high to low risk of
development. Dark Green protected open
space. Gray - Developed
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The Changing urban, suburban and exurban
environment
These people need parks
But, as we build these, people tend to build
their own parks in the form of large yards.
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Growth vs. sprawl

• Economists, politicians, and city boosters
  traditionally encouraged growth, assuming it was
  economically good.
• Growth has become synonymous with sprawl.
  Americans rethinking the benefits of growth.
• (Note the positive connotation of growth and
  the negative connotation of sprawl.)

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19th / 20th century legacy

• The Great Society
• Liveable spaces with parks and open space
• Open space generally for the public good
• East Bay Parks, Presidio, Golden Gate Park, Mt.
  Tam,etc.

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Reduce tax the burden of providing public goods

• Privatizing open space protection.
• Trust for Public Land
• Shift in emphasis
• Natural Resource Protection
• Ecosystem Services
• Buffers between urban and rural landscape
• Protecting critical land uses agriculture

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A brief foray into types of goods--public and
private goods
Grape vines
Timber Fish
Depletability
The Movie Theater
National Forests
Excludability
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Deforestation

• Timber harvesting propelled the growth of the
  young United States.
• Forests were leveled first in the East, then
  one by one moving westward.

Figure 16.8
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Deforestation

• Over 3 centuries, Americans denuded most of their
  forests (green).Even in the green areas
  mapped above, very few large virgin trees
  remained nearly all forest is second growth.

1620
1920
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Measuring forest cover

• A 2001 international study used GIS with
  satellite data to put together an accurate
  inventory and map of the worlds forest cover.
• 20 of Earths surface remains covered by closed
  forest.
• 88 of this is sparsely inhabited by people.
• 80 is concentrated in just 15 nations.

From The Science behind the Stories
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Forests and deforestation

• Demand for wood products, and for open land for
  agriculture, has led to deforestation, the
  clearing and loss of forests, throughout the
  world.

• Africa and Latin America are losing their forests
  most quickly.
• Forests are starting to grow back in North
  America and Europe after centuries of
  deforestation.

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Growth and removal of timber
USA

• Forests are growing back faster than they are
  being cut on all types of land except timber
  company land.

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The eastern seaboard declining agriculture,
increasing forest acreage and increasing urban
footprint
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Federal lands

• U.S. federal agencies own a large amount of land
  in the western U.S., allowing resource extraction
  on most of it.

National forests green
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Logging Private and public

• Logging has risen on private land, and has fallen
  on public land since 1986.

Figure 16.13
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Methods of logging
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Design of protected areas

• How parks and reserves are designed has
  consequences.
• Recall how habitat is fragmented by development

Forest fragmentation at Mt. Hood N.F., Oregon,
and in Cadiz Township, Wisconsin, 18311950.
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Our presidents plan for handling global warming
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And, Californias
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Agricultural land use lots more about this in 2
weeks

• Agriculture now covers more of Earths surface
  than forests.
• 38 of planets land surface agriculture
• 26 pasture/rangeland
• 12 cropland
• Intensive monocultures completely displace
  natural ecosystems and have a heavy impact on the
  land.

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Agriculture and wetlands

• Most of North Americas wetlands have been
  drained, filled, and converted for agricultural
  use.
• Monoculture farmland encroaches on prairie
  pothole wetlands in North Dakota.

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Rivers
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Nutrient and sediment plume from the mouth of the
Mississippi
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Rangelands

• Livestock grazing
• Done badly, it can ruin soils, cause erosion and
  desertification.
• Done responsibly, it can sustain grasslands,
  allow wildlife use.

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Rangelands

• Most ranching takes place on federal land managed
  by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)purple in
  map.
• Grazing fees are extremely cheap.

Figure 16.10
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Estuaries S.F. Bay is a prime example of how
estuarine systems get either silted in or
deliberately filled when associated with
agriculture and human development. This 1960
picture depicting SF Bay in 2020 in the Oakland
Tribune helped stimulate Catherine Kerr and the
founders of Save SF Bay Assoc.
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Endangered Ecosystems
California

• 99 loss of native grassland (from 9 million to
  89,100 ha Kreissman 1991).
• 94.2 loss of native grassland in San Diego
  County (Oberbauer 1990).
• 80 loss of tidal marshes in the San Francisco
  Bay (Lewis 1992).
• 99.9 loss of needlegrass steppe (Barbour et al.
  1991).
• 90 loss of northern coastal bunchgrass (Barbour
  et al. 1991).
• 99.9 loss of Central Valley riparian oak forest
  (Martin 1986).
• 100 loss of coastal strand in San Diego county
  (Oberbauer 1990).
• 70-90 of presettlement southern California
  coastal sage scrub destroyed (Westman 1981
  Atwood 1990 Oberbauer 1990 O'Leary 1990 U.S.
  Fish and Wildlife Service 1992).
• 94 loss of inland wetlands (Barbour et al.
  1991).
• .. (41 examples in all for CA)
• 8,653 increase in non-native annual grassland
  (Barbour et al. 1991).

http//biology.usgs.gov/pubs/ecosys.htm
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What is a National Park?
Public good
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A brief foray into types of goods--public and
private goods
HIGH
Grape vines
Timber Fish
Depletability
The Movie Theater
National Forests
LOW
HIGH
LOW
Excludability
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A brief foray into types of goods--public and
private goods
HIGH
Private goods
Common-pool resources
Depletability
Club goods
Public goods
LOW
HIGH
LOW
Excludability
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A brief foray into types of goods--public and
private goods
HIGH
A car
Irrigation system
Depletability
Lighthouse
Library
LOW
HIGH
LOW
Excludability
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Why create parks, reserves, and wildlands?

• Monumentalism
• 19th-century landscape painters raised great
  interest in the American Wests sceneryand its
  new national parks.
• Here, Bridalveil Falls in Yosemite by Albert
  Bierstadt

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U.S. national parks

• 1872 Yellowstone National Park becomes the
  worlds first national park
• a public park or pleasuring-ground for the
  benefit and enjoyment of the people
• Today, the U.S. national park system includes 388
  sites and receives 277 million visits each year.
• It is managed by the National Park Service.

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U.S. national wildlife refuges

• 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt begins system
  of national wildlife refuges
• Today, 541 sites are managed by the Fish and
  Wildlife Service
• from preservation to active manipulation of
  habitats and populations
• Hunting, fishing, and other recreation and
  allowed policies vary from refuge to refuge.

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Wilderness areas

• 1964 Congress passes Wilderness Act
• Wilderness areas can be designated within
  existing federal lands.
• They are open to public recreation, but not
  exploitative development.
• Criteria Large, undisturbed, roadless,
  representative

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Wilderness areas

• To assure that an increasing populationdoes not
  occupy and modify all areas leaving no lands
  designated for preservation and protection in
  their natural condition. U.S. Congress

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Last year
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www.wilderness.net
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California
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British Columbia set aside 865,000 acres of
protected land for caribou
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Opposition to land set-asides

• Restriction of activities in wilderness areas has
  generated opposition from private landowners that
  would like access..
• State governments of Western states would like to
  have control over more land within their borders.
• Nevada 80 of land federally owned
• ID, OR, UT 50 federally owned

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• California is under the strain of competition for
  land use between
• Public resources
• Agriculture
• Developed private land

Conflicts are inevitable
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Public Lands

• Is it any wonder that Senate and House Committees
  on Resources are usually chaired by reps. from
  western states?

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Opposition to land set-asides

• Wise use movement loose confederation of
  individuals who live off the land and industries
  that extract resources, who oppose advances of
  environmental advocacy, and
• Want to protect private property rights
• Oppose government regulation
• Want federal lands transferred to state, local,
  private hands
• Want more motorized vehicle recreation on public
  lands, ability to build roads

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Land trusts

• Besides federal and state governments, private
  nonprofit groups called land trusts also set
  aside land for protection from development.
• Local or regional organizations
• 900 in U.S. have helped preserve 1.1 million ha
  (2.7 million acres)

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International parks and reserves

• Protected areas have been growing fast in many
  countries.
• The world now has 38,500 protected areas,
  covering 9.6 of the planets land surface.
• But many of these are paper parksprotected on
  paper, but subject to illegal exploitation
  because of lack of funding for enforcement.

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International parks and reserves

• Biosphere reserves that straddle international
  boundaries consist of three zones, combining
  preservation with sustainable development.

Figure 16.19
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Privately funded programsDebt for Nature Swaps

• Private conservation foundation buys off national
  debt in exchange for country setting aside
  conservation lands
• Bolivia - Conservation International (CI)
• CI used 100,000 to buy 650,000 of debt that
  Bolivia was defaulting.
• In exchange, Bolivia set aside 3.7 million acres
• That is 37 / acre for tropical forest!
• Problems remain in enforcement of protection
• The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, CI
• 19 swaps, 17 million to retire 99 mil of debt

Source Kubasek and Silverman. 2000.
Environmental Law, 3rd ed.
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SustainableDevelopment Programs

• Linking preserving people and biological
  resources (e.g., Rural Development and
  Conservation projects sponsored by US AID)
• Combination of resources applied to conservation
  of traditional rural cultures and biological
  resources
• Theory is that they lived in combination with
  resources through the past, why not into the
  future?
• Usually suffers from increased population and
  standard of living (pressure to increase cash
  income)
• Not always clear whether success is measured by
  the conservation of culture or biota
• Many successful programs are driving species
  extinct

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International parks and reserves

• Protected areas have been growing fast in many
  countries.
• The world now has 38,500 protected areas,
  covering 9.6 of the planets land surface.
• But many of these are paper parksprotected on
  paper, but subject to illegal exploitation
  because of lack of funding for enforcement.

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International parks and reserves

• Biosphere reserves that straddle international
  boundaries consist of three zones, combining
  preservation with sustainable development.

Figure 16.19
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Privately funded programsDebt for Nature Swaps

• Private conservation foundation buys off national
  debt in exchange for country setting aside
  conservation lands
• Bolivia - Conservation International (CI)
• CI used 100,000 to buy 650,000 of debt that
  Bolivia was defaulting.
• In exchange, Bolivia set aside 3.7 million acres
• That is 37 / acre for tropical forest!
• Problems remain in enforcement of protection
• The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, CI
• 19 swaps, 17 million to retire 99 mil of debt

Source Kubasek and Silverman. 2000.
Environmental Law, 3rd ed.
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SustainableUse

• Linking preserving people and biological
  resources (e.g., Rural Development and
  Conservation projects sponsored by US AID)
• Combination of resources applied to conservation
  of traditional rural cultures and biological
  resources
• Theory is that they lived in combination with
  resources through the past, why not into the
  future?
• Usually suffers from increased population and
  standard of living (pressure to increase cash
  income)
• Not always clear whether success is measured by
  the conservation of culture or biota
• Many successful programs are driving species
  extinct

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Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Reserve Program

• Biosphere Reserves endorsed by financial
  incentives through UNESCO (United Nations
  Educational, Scientific and Cultural
  Organization)
• gt 110 countries participating
• gt 260 reserves established
• US has 44
• Requirement they must be BIG

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World Parks and Preserves
lt remaining
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This lecture will help you understand

• Land use decisions
• Urbanization and urban sprawl
• Forestry and forest management
• Agricultural land use
• Parks and reserves
• Planning for livable cities

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Conclusions Challenges

• Urban populations continue to grow, making it
  necessary to improve conditions in cities.
• Urban sprawl eats up undeveloped land.
• Balancing timber production with preservation of
  forest ecosystems, and managing for fire, poses
  challenges.
• Agriculture comprises huge amounts of land, and
  often degrades it.
• There is debate over how much land should be
  protected.
• There is debate over how best to design reserves.

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Conclusions Solutions

• Effective city planning and better public
  transportation can make cities more livable and
  can mitigate the impacts of urban sprawl.
• The Forest Service has begun moving toward a
  better balance of management for timber,
  ecosystems, and fire.
• Agricultural practices can be further improved to
  lessen the impacts upon soil and biodiversity.
• Democratic debate over land protection policy is
  healthy.
• Through science, conservation biologists are
  progressing in determining how best to design
  reserves.

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QUESTION Review

• The U.S. Forest Service?
• a. Burns forests to restore ecosystems.
• b. Helps put out fires that threaten homes.
• c. Builds roads used to log forests.
• d. Manages the national forest system.
• e. Does all of the above.

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QUESTION Review

• Which is NOT a reason national parks were
  created?
• a. For outdoor recreation
• b. To protect beautiful and unusual natural
  features
• c. To provide timber products
• d. To preserve biodiversity

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QUESTION Review

• A supporter of the wise use movement would?
• a. Want to see a beautiful mountain range in Utah
  made into a wilderness area.
• b. Want to open Yellowstone National Park to
  unrestricted snowmobile use.
• c. Oppose a mining project to exploit a newly
  discovered silver deposit in Nevada.
• d. Want federal officials to crack down on
  private landholders in Wyoming violating the
  Endangered Species Act.

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QUESTION Review

• Which is NOT something modern city planners might
  do to make a city more livable?
• a. Develop a new light rail line
• b. Encourage neighborhood shops and restaurants
• c. Eliminate bicycle lanes on city streets
• d. Revise zoning codes to limit sprawl
• e. Create a new city park in place of an
  abandoned warehouse

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QUESTION Weighing the Issues

• How livable is your town or city?
• a. Its very livable it is well planned and
  pleasant to live in.
• b. Its fairly livable, but there are some
  problems that should be improved.
• c. Not so good there are a lot of problems.
• d. Terrible I want to move out.

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QUESTION Interpreting Graphs and Data

• In developed nations?
• a. People are moving mostly from cities to rural
  areas.
• b. Urbanization is progressing more quickly than
  in developing nations.
• c. The rural population is bigger than the urban
  population.
• d. Rural populations are declining.

Figure 16.4
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QUESTION Interpreting Graphs and Data

• In the U.S. national forests?
• a. Trees are growing faster than they are being
  removed.
• b. Trees are being removed faster than they are
  growing.
• c. More trees are being removed than on timber
  industry land.

Figure 16.12
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QUESTION Viewpoints

• Is sprawl a problem?
• a. Yes it degrades quality of life, and we
  should take all actions necessary to slow or stop
  it.
• b. It causes problems, but is difficult to deal
  with because it results from the choices
  individual people make about where and how to
  live.
• c. No it reflects peoples choices and therefore
  is not a problem.