Natural Resource Economics Commons^™

To Know The Land With Hands And Minds: Negotiating Agricultural Knowledge In Late-Nineteenth-Century New England And Westphalia, Justus Hillebrand

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ever since the eighteenth century, experts have tried to tell farmers how to farm. The agricultural enlightenment in Europe marked the beginning of a long arc of new experts aiming to change agricultural knowledge and practice. This dissertation analyzes the pivotal period in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in Germany and the United States when scientists, improvers, and market agents began to develop comprehensive ways to communicate agricultural innovation to farmers. In a functional approach to analyzing the negotiation of agricultural knowledge through its communication in things, words, and practices, this dissertation argues that the process of change …

Exploring The Determinants Of Aspects Of Rotational Grazing In The U.S. Great Plains, Iftekhar Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pasture and rangeland make up about 45 percent of the agricultural land in the U.S. Great Plains and one of the most common form of mismanagement of this pasture is overgrazing. Which results in many detrimental effects on environment. Many practitioners endorsed Rotational grazing (RG) as an improved grazing management practice over season-long continuous grazing. The overall goal of the current study is to assess the certain aspects of using RG in the U.S. Great Plains. Using mail survey data of the of 874 beef cattle producers of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Texas, the study found that neighborhood practice, …

We All Want To Change The World: How Behavioral Insights Can Help Reduce Carbon Emissions, Thomas C. Gifford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The world is in the midst of an unprecedented environmental crisis driven primarily by human behavior. As the world has globalized, countries have developed, and standards of living have improved, global pollution has skyrocketed and has resulted in a wide range of environmentally destructive outcomes. All paths to environmentally sustainable development involve a dramatic cut in carbon emissions from current day levels. In this thesis, I explore how the omission of behavioral factors from mainstream neoclassical models has contributed to, and can aid in reducing unsustainably high levels of carbon emissions. Throughout the history of economic thought, classical economists such …

Evaluating Nuclear Energy As A Component Of U.S. Energy Innovation Systems, Bryce Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nuclear energy is contentious in policy discussions that evaluate its role in the current U.S. clean energy innovation system. OECD nations, on average, have begun to reduce their dependence on nuclear energy. However, the United States has remained invested in its nuclear energy infrastructure and the role that it plays within federal research and development. This thesis examines the Neo-Schumpeterian perspective and the National Innovation System’s approach, the economic history of nuclear energy in the United States, and given insight from these factors, discusses the current role of nuclear energy in the U.S. energy innovation system. The objective is to …

Valuing The Economic Benefits Of Conservation Lands In Downeast Maine, Lesley Lichko

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Natural ecosystems provide numerous benefits that contribute to humans and the economy, including market goods such as timber and forest products, as well as benefits that are not directly measured in the marketplace, such as wildlife habitat provision and recreational provision. These benefits are collectively known as ecosystem services. Natural ecosystems are under significant pressure to be converted to other uses from factors such as shifts in ownership, land use change, fragmentation and climate change. To counter these effects, and to protect ecosystem services, public and private entities have worked to place land in conservation; however, conservation is often controversial …

Ecological And Economic Implications Of Increased Storm Frequency And Severity For Boreal Lakes, Kathryn Warner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In boreal regions, increased precipitation events have been linked to increased concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), however less is known about the extent and implications of these events on lakes. We assessed the effects of precipitation events on six drinking water lakes in Maine, USA to better understand how DOC concentration and quality change in response to precipitation events. Our results revealed three types of responses: (1) an initial spike in DOC concentrations and quality metrics; (2) a sustained increase in DOC concentrations and quality metrics and; (3) no change during all sampling periods. Lake residence time was a …

The Economic And Social Values Associated With Small South Dakota Lakes, Aaron Patrick Sundmark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The valuation of small fishing lakes is a vital component in understanding the importance of fishing and of recreational resources, in general. Knowing the values associated with such lakes is essential when prioritizing management activities. The overall value of a lake as a resource for human benefit is estimated as the summation of both instrumental and non-instrumental values. Instrumental values consist of economic and utilitarian values, as well as the values that a lake provides from ecosystem services. Non-instrumental values consider what the lake is worth as a good of its own, such as aesthetic, moral, and spiritual values gained …

Economics Of Managing Loblolly Pine Plantations For Increased Wildlife Biodiversity, Melissa Griffith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis was to identify the differences between the costs incurred and revenues gained from managing loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantations in East Texas for strictly timber production or a combination of timber production and wildlife biodiversity. Management regimes evaluated had varying planting densities, thinning frequency and intensities, prescribed burn intervals, and site indices. Economic analyses used to evaluate management regimes over a range of nonindustrial private landowner (NIPF) alternative rates of return (ARRs) and site indexes were net present worth, land expectation value, and equal annual annuity. These economic analyses demonstrated that altering management …

The Ecology Of Land Managers In Riparian Restoration, Lisa Buie Clark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While previous studies in restoration ecology have focused on the efficacy of direct management actions, the driving forces on management decisions (e.g., managers' characteristics or attitudes, environmental conditions) and the indirect impacts on restoration outcomes from management decisions (such as whether to collaborate) are quantified here for the first time. As a case study, I used data from 244 sites across the riparian Southwest US where the invasive shrubby tree Tamarix sp. was removed using various different methods. I surveyed and interviewed the 45 land managers who were responsible for the removal projects to determine their characteristics, attitudes, and …

Geophysical Delineation Of Megaporosity And Fluid Migration Pathways For Geohazard Characterization Within The Delaware Basin, Culberson County, Texas, Jonathan David Woodard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Differential dissolution of gypsum karst within the Delaware Basin poses a significant threat to infrastructure that society depends on. The study area is located in Culberson County, Texas and traverses a distance of approximately 54 kilometers along RM 652 within the Gypsum Plain which is situated on the northern margin of the Chihuahua Desert and includes outcrops of Castile and Rustler strata that host karst geohazards. Regions of karst geohazard potential have been physically surveyed proximal to the study area in evaporites throughout the Castile Formation outcrop; minimal hazards, in comparison to the Castile Formation, have been documented in …

Spatiotemporal Analyses Of Recycled Water Production, Jana E. Archer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increased demands on water supplies caused by population expansion, saltwater intrusion, and drought have led to water shortages which may be addressed by use of recycled water as recycled water products. Study I investigated recycled water production in Florida and California during 2009 to detect gaps in distribution and identify areas for expansion. Gaps were detected along the panhandle and Miami, Florida, as well as the northern and southwestern regions in California. Study II examined gaps in distribution, identified temporal change, and located areas for expansion for Florida in 2009 and 2015. Production increased in the northern and southern regions …

Social Ecological Food Systems: Sustainability Lessons From Maine Dairy Networks, Julia B. Mcguire

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Milk production has played an integral role in the culture, landscape, and economy of Maine’s agriculture. Maine dairy farmers have faced numerous sustainability challenges to economic, environmental, and social aspects of their industry. Like many other complex social ecological systems, the Maine dairy industry faces a gap between scientific knowledge and actionable management or policy. A cultural dichotomy exists between conventional and organic farming. Shifting the focus from this binary, metrics such as social capital may play a key role in solving sustainability issues. Difficulties arise in the governance of complex social ecological systems when the scales of assessment, management, …

Drivers Of Agricultural Land Use Change And Management Decisions In The Dakotas: The Influence Of Climate Change And Other Factors, Moses Luri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis conducts a general assessment of the: main drivers of land use change; recent and projected land use patterns; and the evolution of agriculture in the Dakotas. Specifically, it determines the main motives of land use change in the Dakotas by investigating individual and joint effects of external drivers of land use change on farm operators’ decisions and also examines recent and projected agricultural land use patterns in the Dakotas. Farm operators’ perceptions about the evolution of agriculture in the Dakotas based on observed changes in their local area were also analyzed. The study region consists of 37 counties …

Tackling Tax Evasion: Transfer Price Manipulation, Extractive Natural Resources And A Strategy For The Southern African Customs Union, Patrick Grant Mclennan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An increase in the number of multinational enterprises (MNEs) has increased the attention on cross-border challenges, such as transfer price manipulation (TPM). TPM is a development issue - it undermines institutions as well as siphons money from government revenues that could be directed towards programs for human development. Pervasive corruption in the natural resource sector supports an environment where TPM can flourish. This paper develops a strategy for combating TPM within the countries of the Southern African Customs Union. It does this by 1) defining the terrain of illicit flows, both generally and specifically to the abuse of transfer pricing …

Sharing A Landscape: The Construction Of Sense Of Place On The Maine Coast, Andrea Jane Ednie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Motivated by interest and concern over the changing coastline in Maine, this study uses the concept of sense of place to develop an understanding of how a range of users share the resource, and to explore how place meanings are associated with their social experiences and perceptions. The site for this study was the Stonington region archipelago, an area that has not yet experienced the same amount of development as seen on the southern Maine coast, yet one that has witnessed a boom in recreational use and an influx of people from other areas. Using a mixed methodology, two groups …

Economic Approaches To Public And Private Land Conservation In The United States, Amy Claire Hudnor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research is composed of two essays, both using economic approaches to evaluate land conservation in the United States. Essay I uses econometric methods to evaluate public lands, and Essay II uses New Institutional Economics to gain insight into private land conservation. Essay I is titled "The Relationship Between Public Conservation Lands and Tourism Employment in the United States." This research examines the relationship between public conservation lands and the importance of tourism in United States counties. A spatial error model is used on three categories of conservation land: general public land, recreational land, and wilderness areas. A positive, significant …

Development And Assessment Of A Spatial Decision Support System For Conservation Planning, Sean Murphy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Land conservation is frequently cited as the most effective means of limiting the detrimental effects of anthropogenic forces on natural resources. Because governmental entities can be hampered by fiscal and political concerns, land trusts are increasing relied on to protect habitat. However, these groups often lack the analysis and research tools necessary to meet their mission. Geographic Information System (GIs) technologies such as Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSS) offer the promise of allowing decision makers to explore their decision space at a landscape level of analysis. But critics have charged that research in this arena is largely anecdotal in nature. …

An Engineering, Economic, And Political Approach To Beach Erosion Mitigation And Harbor Development: A Review Of The Beach Communities Of Camp Ellis, Maine, Wells, Maine, And Cape May, New Jersey, Edmund Cervone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The history of coastal engineering projects is fraught with problems. In this thesis I examine the federal navigation project at Wells, Maine. In Wells, an incomplete understanding of the coastal setting led to a faulty engineering design responsible for a poorly functioning inlet and harbor and damage to neighboring beaches and wildlife habitat. Project planners and designers did not account for all unforeseen problems that arose. Reviewing the history of Wells Harbor demonstrates how proper attention to the natural setting, economics, and the political environment is essential to a successful project and enables agencies and stakeholders better to address contingencies …