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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Cnh: Fine-Scale Dynamics Of Human Adaptation In Coupled Natural And Social Systems: An Integrated Computational Approach Applied To Three Fisheries, James A. Wilson, James Acheson, Robert Steneck, Yong Chen, Teresa R. Johnson Dec 2014

Cnh: Fine-Scale Dynamics Of Human Adaptation In Coupled Natural And Social Systems: An Integrated Computational Approach Applied To Three Fisheries, James A. Wilson, James Acheson, Robert Steneck, Yong Chen, Teresa R. Johnson

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

The purpose of this project is to gain a better understanding of the way competition between individual fishermen lead to the emergence of private incentives and informal social arrangements that are (or are not) consistent with conservation of the resource. These informal arrangements and incentives are important because they help us understand the extent to which private interests might strengthen or weaken on-going resource management and, consequently, the sustainability of coupled human and natural systems. The broad hypothesis driving the study is that the informal social structure that emerges from competitive interactions among fishermen reflects the particular circumstances of the …


Development Of A Stakeholder-Driven Spatial Modeling Framework For Strategic Landscape Planning Using Bayesian Networks Across Two Urban-Rural Gradients In Maine, Usa, Spencer Meyer, Michelle Johnson, Robert Lilieholm, Christopher Cronan Nov 2014

Development Of A Stakeholder-Driven Spatial Modeling Framework For Strategic Landscape Planning Using Bayesian Networks Across Two Urban-Rural Gradients In Maine, Usa, Spencer Meyer, Michelle Johnson, Robert Lilieholm, Christopher Cronan

Publications

Land use change results from frequent, independent actions by decision-makers working in isolation, often with a focus on a single land use. In order to develop integrated land use policies that encourage sustainable outcomes, scientists and practitioners must understand the specific drivers of land use change across mixed land use types and ownerships, and must consider the combined influences of biophysical, economic, and social factors that affect land use decisions. In this analysis of two large watersheds covering a total of 1.9 million hectares in Maine, USA, we co-developed with groups of stakeholders land use suitability models that integrated four …


Trading Fat For Forests: On Palm Oil, Tropical Forest Conservation, And Rational Consumption, Cindy Isenhour Nov 2014

Trading Fat For Forests: On Palm Oil, Tropical Forest Conservation, And Rational Consumption, Cindy Isenhour

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

The longstanding butter vs margarine debate has recently become more complex as the links between margarine, industrial palm oil plantations, and tropical deforestation are made increasingly clear. Yet despite calls for consumers to get informed and take responsibility for tropical deforestation by boycotting margarine or purchasing buttery spreads made with sustainably-sourced palm oil, research in multiple contexts demonstrates that even the most aware, engaged, and rational consumers run into significant barriers when trying to reduce their environmental impacts. This paper supplements important critiques of neoliberal conservation at the site of extraction or intended conservation (Carrier and West 2009; Igoe and …


The Maine Woods: A Legacy Of Controversy, Richard W. Judd Jan 2007

The Maine Woods: A Legacy Of Controversy, Richard W. Judd

Maine Policy Review

In the Margaret Chase Smith Essay, Richard Judd reflects on the history of Maine’s North Woods. He discusses the divergent interests with a stake on the North Woods over the centuries, but notes that there has been a long-standing interest in conservation and in the heritage represented by this vast region.


The Importance Of Maine For Ecoregional Conservation Planning, Robert F. Baldwin, Stephen C. Trombulak, Karen Beazley, Conrad Reining, Gillian Woolmer, John R. Nordgren, Mark Anderson Jan 2007

The Importance Of Maine For Ecoregional Conservation Planning, Robert F. Baldwin, Stephen C. Trombulak, Karen Beazley, Conrad Reining, Gillian Woolmer, John R. Nordgren, Mark Anderson

Maine Policy Review

Ecoregional conservation planning aims at protecting biodiversity within a realistic social and economic framework. The authors of this article suggest that Maine’s forests are the ecological core of the entire Northern Appalachian/Acadian ecoregion, which spans four states and five Canadian provinces. Using mapping and mathematical models of the “human footprint,” they note that Maine has a large, contiguous, undeveloped and unfragmented forest compared with neighboring states and provinces. However, compared with its neighbors Maine also has the largest proportion of unprotected forest. The authors conclude with the hope that land use policy and planning can be better informed through the …


Gasoline Consumption Attributable To Atvs In Maine, Jonathan Rubin, Charles Morrris Jun 2001

Gasoline Consumption Attributable To Atvs In Maine, Jonathan Rubin, Charles Morrris

Economic Development

This study was conducted by the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy (MCSC) of the University of Maine at the request of the Maine Legislature’s Commission to Study Equity in the Distribution of Gas Tax Revenues Attributable to Snowmobiles, All-Terrain Vehicles and Watercraft. The Commission was created by the Legislature with a charge to collect and analyze information to determine an equitable distribution of gas tax revenues used in the enforcement and enhancement of programs supporting off-road vehicle use in Maine. The Commission concluded that snowmobiling, boating and ATV use has increased significantly over recent years and now constitutes …


Easements And Conservation Policy In The North Maine Woods, David J. Lewis Jan 2001

Easements And Conservation Policy In The North Maine Woods, David J. Lewis

Maine Policy Review

Recently Maine has embarked on a new policy direction in its use of conservation easements to protect large tracts of commercial timberland. David Lewis argues that the effectiveness of using easements as a long-term conservation policy depends on many factors that may not be fully considered in the decision-making process currently used in choosing easements for landscape-scale conservation. Lewis indicates that the root of the problem lies in the fact that the state lacks a comprehensive policy describing the conservation goals desired in the North Woods. Before progressing further, Lewis suggests that the ultimate goals of conservation need to be …


Best Practices In Endangered Species Recovery Planning: Lessons For The Conservation Of Maine’S Atlantic Salmon, Raymond J. O’Connor, Ray B. Owen, Judith Rhymer Jan 2000

Best Practices In Endangered Species Recovery Planning: Lessons For The Conservation Of Maine’S Atlantic Salmon, Raymond J. O’Connor, Ray B. Owen, Judith Rhymer

Maine Policy Review

The call for federal listing of Atlantic salmon as endangered implies that such action will result in a recovery plan for the species that is superior to Maine ’s Atlantic Salmon Conservation Plan. In this article the authors compare the Maine plan against the findings of a recent review of Endangered Species Act recovery plans. The review, conducted by the Society for Conservation Biology in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, assessed the quality of a national sample of Endangered Species Act recovery plans with the intention of identifying “best practice.” By comparing the Maine plan to the …


Why Conservation Matters And What We Can Do About It, John C. Sawhill Jan 1995

Why Conservation Matters And What We Can Do About It, John C. Sawhill

Maine Policy Review

While environmental and economic needs have long been considered to be in direct opposition to one another, a new approach to environmental conservation is emerging. Called the "ecosystem" approach, it focuses not only on protecting the environment and its species, but also seeks new ways of balancing these interests with human needs. The article is drawn from a speech delivered by John C. Sawhill at the Summer Lecture Series of the College of the Atlantic,Bar Harbor,Maine, on August 2, 1994. Sawhill outlines the conservation principles that guide The Nature Conservancy and provides examples of how the ecosystem approach has led …