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Will More, Better, Cheaper, And Faster Monitoring Improve Environmental Management?, Ryan P. Kelly
Will More, Better, Cheaper, And Faster Monitoring Improve Environmental Management?, Ryan P. Kelly
Ryan P Kelly
Two critical problems in environmental management are a lack of primary data and the difficulty of assessing the environmental impacts of human activities. Producing the information necessary to address these twin challenges is often difficult and expensive, which impedes decisionmaking in environmental management. I focus here on the possibility of making data collection more powerful and more cost-effective with a suite of analyses made tractable by emerging technology for genetic analysis. More, better, cheaper, and faster information about the planet’s living resources promises to influence a wide range of legal and policy processes—from Clean Water Act compliance and related public …
“Not Supported By Current Science” : The National Forest Management Act And The Lessons Of Environmental Monitoring For The Future Of Public Resources Management, Ryan P. Kelly, Margaret R. Caldwell
“Not Supported By Current Science” : The National Forest Management Act And The Lessons Of Environmental Monitoring For The Future Of Public Resources Management, Ryan P. Kelly, Margaret R. Caldwell
Ryan P Kelly
Environmental monitoring remains a persistent challenge for natural resources management, illustrating the difficulty of incorporating dynamic science into relatively static law and regulation. One such management statute, the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (NFMA), required that “wildlife and fish, and wilderness” be among the multiple uses embodied in the forest land use plans. NFMA’s implementing regulations fulfilled this mandate by requiring forest managers to implement a particular monitoring strategy—Management Indicator Species (MIS)—in making land-use decisions. The regulations’ fundamental assumption was that a small suite of these MIS could and would provide feedback as a kind of ecosystem gauge that …
Ten Ways States Can Combat Ocean Acidification (And Why They Should), Ryan P. Kelly, Margaret R. Caldwell
Ten Ways States Can Combat Ocean Acidification (And Why They Should), Ryan P. Kelly, Margaret R. Caldwell
Ryan P Kelly
The ocean is becoming more acidic worldwide as a result of increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (“CO2”) and other pollutants. This fundamental change is likely to have substantial ecological and economic consequences globally. In this Article, we provide a toolbox for understanding and addressing the drivers of ocean acidification. We begin with an overview of the relevant science, highlighting known causes of chemical change in the coastal ocean. Because of the difficulties associated with controlling diffuse atmospheric pollutants such as CO2, we then focus on controlling smaller-scale agents of acidification, discussing ten legal and policy tools that state government …
Spineless Wonders: How Listing Marine Invertebrates And Their Larvae Challenges The Us Endangered Species Act, Ryan P. Kelly
Spineless Wonders: How Listing Marine Invertebrates And Their Larvae Challenges The Us Endangered Species Act, Ryan P. Kelly
Ryan P Kelly
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) recently determined that 82 species of corals may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This decision highlights a disconnect between the ESA and the biology of many species to which it applies. In particular, marine invertebrates – ocean-dwelling species without a backbone – are an uneasy fit for the Act’s terms, largely as a result of their complex life cycles that can involve swimming larval stages. These species and their larvae challenge the federal agencies to fulfill the protective mandate of the ESA while minimizing disruption to the wide range of economic …
The Use Of Population Genetics In Endangered Species Act Listing Decisions, Ryan P. Kelly
The Use Of Population Genetics In Endangered Species Act Listing Decisions, Ryan P. Kelly
Ryan P Kelly
In recent years the federal agencies that administer the Endangered Species Act have increasingly relied on genetic data to decide which species and populations merit protection. Because the analysis of genetic data is highly technical and unfamiliar to the majority of those concerned with the Act, agency decisions are in danger of becoming less transparent, insulated by the language of genetics and the seeming surety of its associated statistics. In this paper, I attempt to provide a resource for lawyers and other non-biologists faced with understanding the genetics that underlie many modern claims under the Endangered Species Act. I do …