Environmental Policy Commons^™

Unconventional Energy, Fall/Winter 2015, Issue 31

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Carbon Neutral, Spring/Summer 2018, Issue 38

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Political Will, Fall/Winter 2018, Issue 37

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Health Preferences And Culturally Appropriate Strategies To Reduce Bear Bile Demand In Northern Vietnam, Shannon Randolph, Laura Zhang, Lena Tran, Mai Nguyen, Kimberley Ha

EnviroLab Asia

Animal products, such as pangolin scales, rhinoceros horns, tiger bones, and bear bile have been used in East Asian traditional medicine (TM) for more than 2,000 years. However, markets for medicinal wildlife products have expanded dramatically in countries like China and Vietnam in recent decades where economic prosperity has enabled a larger proportion of the population to afford wildlife products (Olmedo et al. 2017). Related new farming and commercialization practices to meet growing international demand pose environmental and human health risks. Animal products also symbolize shared cultural and historical medical practices that are distinct from the dominant Western medical model.

Nonlinear Reaction–Diffusion Process Models Improve Inference For Population Dynamics, Xinyi Lu, Perry J. Williams, Mevin B. Hooten, James A. Powell, Jamie N. Womble, Michael R. Bower

United States National Park Service: Publications

Partial differential equations (PDEs) are a useful tool for modeling spatiotemporal dynamics of ecological processes. However, as an ecological process evolves, we need statistical models that can adapt to changing dynamics as new data are collected. We developed a model that combines an ecological diffusion equation and logistic growth to characterize colonization processes of a population that establishes long-term equilibrium over a heterogeneous environment. We also developed a homogenization strategy to statistically upscale the PDE for faster computation and adopted a hierarchical framework to accommodate multiple data sources collected at different spatial scales. We highlighted the advantages of using a …

Federal Forest Working Group: Retrospective Of Accomplishments And Ongoing Considerations 2009–2018, Pete Dalke

National Policy Consensus Center Publications and Reports

The collaborative efforts of the Federal Forest Working Group to address issues, challenges, and opportunities facing the health of Oregon's federal public forests and that of neighboring human communities has spanned three Oregon governors over more than a decade. The engagement and related direct efforts of each of these gubernatorial administrations and the state’s executive branch agencies, federal management agencies, including the US Forest Service, and many diverse partners have been essential to the advancement of this work. This report attempts to capture the underpinnings of the Federal Forest Working Group, the accomplishments over time, and considerations for future focus. …

Permafrost Hydrology Drives The Assimilation Of Old Carbon By Stream Food Webs In The Arctic, Jonathan A. O’Donnell, Michael P. Carey, Joshua C. Koch, Xiaomei Xu, Brett A. Poulin, Jennifer Walker, Christian E. Zimmerman

United States National Park Service: Publications

Permafrost thaw in the Arctic is mobilizing old carbon (C) from soils to aquatic ecosystems and the atmosphere. Little is known, however, about the assimilation of old C by aquatic food webs in Arctic watersheds. Here, we used C isotopes (d13C, D14C) to quantify C assimilation by biota across 12 streams in arctic Alaska. Streams spanned watersheds with varying permafrost hydrology, from ice-poor bedrock to ice-rich loess (that is, yedoma). We measured isotopic content of (1) C sources including dissolved organic C (DOC), dissolved inorganic C (DIC), and soil C, and (2) stream biota, including benthic biofilm and macroinvertebrates, and …

Living Shorelines: Barriers And Promotion: Accomack County, Va, Amy Belcher, Rhiannon Bezore, Michelle Covi, Wie Yusuf

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

Living shorelines can offer shoreline protection for low energy shorelines as well as providing ecoservices such as purifying water, buffering against floods, and attracting wildlife. This report highlights key benefits, possible barriers and solutions, and ideas for their promotion. Recommendations for implementing living shorelines are included for Accomack County, Virginia to aid in increasing awareness and utilization of living shorelines.

Cyborgs For Environmental Justice: East Asian American Stories From The 1991 People Of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, Lisa Ng

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The goal of this paper is threefold: to serve as an oral history archive of the East Asian American experience at the 1991 People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, to analyze the role of East Asian Americans in the Environmental Justice Movement (EJM), and to fill an ideological and political vacuum that exists in East Asian American communities. This work analyses the experiences of East Asian Americans who were present at the 1991 People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit--an event scholars have attributed to igniting the EJM. The paper argues that East Asian Americans act as “Cyborgs”—both as their ascribed …

Nonrandom Territory Occupancy By Nesting Gyrfalcons (Falco Rusticolus), David L. Anderson, Peter J. Bente, Travis L. Booms, Leah Dunn, Christopher J.W. Mcclure

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

We know little regarding how specific aspects of habitat influence spatial variation in site occupancy by Arctic wildlife, yet this information is fundamental to effective conservation. To address this information gap, we assessed occupancy of 84 Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus Linnaeus, 1758) breeding territories observed annually between 2004 and 2013 in western Alaska. In line with the theory of population regulation by site dependence, we asked whether Gyrfalcons exhibited a nonrandom pattern of site selection and if heterogeneous landscape attributes correlated with observed occupancy patterns. We characterized high- and low-occupancy breeding territories as those occupied more or less often than …

Key Elements Of Environmental Justice In The Geothermal Power Plant Resistance Movement, Priyo Fajar Santoso, Bevaola Kusumasari

Jurnal Politik

Geothermal energy is currently considered as an environmentally friendly, renewable energy source. However, based on empirical data from various countries, geothermal energy production often results socioecological losses for the host community. Various environmental justice movements have emerged to protect environment by protestesting and providing a counter discourse against the dominant perception that geothermal energy is renewable and environmentally friendly. As Indonesian government put more effort to develop more geothermal power thermal across the country, more reactions also emerge and surprisingly include the critical one. This article aims to look at one of the critical reaction from community to counter the …

Our Envirome, Spring/Summer 2019, Issue 40

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Plastic Pollution, Fall/Winter 2019, Issue 39.3

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Plastic Pollution, Fall/Winter 2019, Issue 39.2

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Plastic Pollution, Fall/Winter 2019, Issue 39

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

An Integrated Climate Science-Economic Model For Evaluating Adaptations To Sea Level Rise: A Prototype Model For Monterey, California, Charles S. Colgan, Fernando Depaolis, Philip King

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

Preparing for flooding that will be exacerbated by climate change and sea level rise must take place in the context of "deep uncertainty". One strategy for dealing with that uncertainty is to convert unknown probabilities into know probabilities using techniques such as Monte Carlo analysis. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of creating a cost-benefit model for sea level rise adaptation options using an integrated climate change/sea level rise-weather-economic model. The model tests the probability of benefits exceeding costs for shoreline protection such as beach nourishment and armoring under multiple iterations of possible climate futures. It uses shoreline segments in Monterey, …

Social Interactions Do Not Drive Territory Aggregation In A Grassland Songbird, S.K. Winnicki, S.M. Munguia, E.J. Williams, W.A. Boyle

United States National Park Service: Publications

Understanding the drivers of animal distributions is a fundamental goal of ecology and informs habitat management. The costs and benefits of colonial aggregations in animals are well established, but the factors leading to aggregation in territorial animals remain unclear. Territorial animals might aggregate to facilitate social behavior such as (1) group defense from predators and/or parasites, (2) cooperative care of offspring, (3) extra-pair mating, and/or (4) mitigating costs of extra-pair mating through kin selection. Using experimental and observational methods, we tested predictions of all four hypotheses in a tallgrass prairie in northeast Kansas, United States. Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) males …

Vegetation Monitoring At Homestead National Monument Of America, Nebraska, 1998–2017, Sherry A. Leis

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network has sampled permanent monitoring sites in three vegetation community types (restored prairie, successional forest, and bur oak forest) at Homestead National Monument of America since 1998 (includes nine sample years). Network scientists record each species, aerial cover estimates of ground flora, diameter at breast height of midstory and overstory trees, and tree regeneration frequency (tree seedlings and saplings) within these permanent sites.

The park has experienced similar periods of drought and wetness through the monitoring record. Ground cover estimates indicate that prairie litter and bare ground are negatively related; prescribed fire cycles …

How Pennsylvanians Define Environmental Justice, Kayla Hofmann

Sociology Summer Fellows

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) defines an environmental justice area as any census tract that partially or wholly includes a 30 percent or greater minority population or 20 percent or more of a population living in poverty. However, little is known about how the average Pennsylvanian defines environmental justice, hindering our ability to determine whether the current definition is adequate. Using transcripts from nine listening sessions on the DEP’s tour of affected counties, I address 3 questions: (1) How do people define environmental justice? (2) What do people think are the most pressing issues in each county? And …

Wpa News 109 (2019), World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Newsletters

WPA News (Summer 2019), number 109

Published by the World Pheasant Association

The Determinants Of Citizens’ Preference Of Policy Instruments For Environmental Policy: Do Social Trust, Government Capacity, And State-Society Relations Matter?, Beomgeun Cho, M. Jae Moon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This study aims to investigate the determinants of citizens’ preferences for policy instruments. In particular, this study examines the impacts of social trust, government capacity, and the state-society relationship on citizens’ preferences for policy instruments. To test the relationships among those variables, the study utilizes data from the ISSP (International Social Survey Program) Environmental III 2010, which includes 32 countries. The results show that regardless of policy target groups, social trust makes citizens prefer market-based policy instruments most, and a high level of government capacity leads citizens to favor indirect policy instruments over regulation. The influence of the state-society relationship …

Evaluating Oyster Aquaculture’S Cost-Effectiveness As A Nitrogen Removal Best Management Practice – A Case Study Of The Delaware Inland Bays, Jefferson F. Flood

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

Disease and overfishing have led to a dramatic decline in wild populations and subsequent harvests of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica over the past few decades in Delaware and other states along the Atlantic Coast. However, in addition to their value as food to consumers, oysters, whether wild populations or cultured stocks, can provide ecosystem services such as nutrient removal, which may result in localized water quality improvements. Consequently, recent policies in Delaware have sought to establish and grow an oyster aquaculture industry. However, a key challenge to achieving efficient levels of industry growth and water quality improvements is that …

Estimating Offsets For Avian Displacement Effects Of Anthropogenic Impacts, Jiill A. Shaffer, Charles R. Loesch, Deborah A. Buhl

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Biodiversity offsetting, or compensatory mitigation, is increasingly being used in temperate grassland ecosystems to compensate for unavoidable environmental damage from anthropogenic developments such as transportation infrastructure, urbanization, and energy development. Pursuit of energy independence in the United States will expand domestic energy production. Concurrent with this increased growth is increased disruption to wildlife habitats, including avian displacement from suitable breeding habitat. Recent studies at energy-extraction and energy-generation facilities have provided evidence for behavioral avoidance and thus reduced use of habitat by breeding waterfowl and grassland birds in the vicinity of energy infrastructure. To quantify and compensate for this loss in …

Wrack Lines Volume 19, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2019, Nancy Balcom, Syma Ebbin, David Gregorio, Richard Telford, Judy Benson

Wrack Lines

Issue theme is: "Making Connections: As the Climate Changes, People and Nature Intertwine in New Ways." Articles include: "As More Roads Become Rivers, Communities Search for Solutions;" "Solving an Engineering Conundrum: As Coastal Homes Get Elevated, New Research Looks at Whether Vulnerability to Wind Damage Is Increasing;" "Along the Coast, Residents Consider How to Heed Sandy's Warning of What's to Come;" "All Rivers, All Lives Run to the Sea," about the intersection of waterways and the world of nature writer Edwin Way Teale; and "Crosscurrents: Connecticut Sea Grant's Retrospective Exhibition Makes Waves," about reaching new audiences and building bridges with …

Enhancing Rural Economies Through Agroforestry, Gary Bentrup, Dean Current, Christopher Hartley, Marlen Eve, Tricia Kovacs, Kate Mcfarland, Eric Norland, David Smith, Susan Stein, Richard Straight

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Executive Summary

Accelerating the adoption of agroforestry will require a better understanding of the economic opportunities and financial benefits to society, says a recent assessment of United States agroforestry.1 Providing this understanding is critical for agroforestry to reach its full potential, whereby it enhances rural economies and provides ecological services that people need, such as clean drinking water. To assess emerging opportunities, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) convened more than 60 people in March 2018 to learn, network, and, above all, generate ideas for raising the economic profile and viability of agroforestry in the United States.

The effort …

Bird Monitoring At Homestead National Monument Of America, Nebraska, Status Report 2009–2017, David G. Peitz, Lloyd W. Morrison, Kristen L. Mecke

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

In 2009, the Heartland Inventory Monitoring Network initiated breeding bird surveys on Homestead National Monument of America, Nebraska, to address two objectives: (1) to monitor changes in bird community composition and abundance, and (2) to improve our understanding of relationships between breeding birds and habitat, and the effects of management actions on those relationships. This report evaluates trends in the park’s breeding bird populations in the context of trends observed within the North American Bird Conservation Initiative’s (NABCI) Central Mixed Grass Prairie Bird Conservation Region, the region in which the park is located. By doing so, we can …

Bird Monitoring At Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, Iowa, Status Report 2005–2017, David G. Peitz, Lloyd W. Morrison, Kristen L. Mecke

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

In 2005, the Heartland Inventory & Monitoring Network initiated breeding bird surveys on Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, Iowa, to address two objectives: (1) to monitor changes in bird community composition and abundance, and (2) to improve our understanding of relationships between breeding birds and habitat, and the effects of management actions on those relationships. This report evaluates trends in the park’s breeding bird populations in the context of trends observed within the North American Bird Conservation Initiative’s (NABCI) Eastern Tallgrass Prairie Bird Conservation Region , the region in which the park is located. By doing so, we …

Aligning Endangered Species Management With Fire-Dependent Ecosystem Restoration: Manager Perspectives On Red-Cockaded Woodpecker And Longleaf Pine Management Actions, Shelby A. Weiss, Eric L. Toman, R. Gregory Corace Iii

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Endangered species management has been criticized as emphasizing a single-species approach to conservation and, in some cases, diverting resources from broad-based, land management objectives important for overall biodiversity maintenance. Herein we examine perceptions on management for an endangered species whose habitat requirements largely depend on frequent fire, the red-cockaded woodpecker (Leuconotopicus borealis Vieillot). In doing so, we consider the alignment between species-specific population recovery actions and broader ecosystem restoration goals. Through semi-structured interviews with natural resource professionals (n = 32) in the Southeast Coastal Plain of the United States, we examined manager perspectives on the evolution of recovery …

Asset, Property Rights And Forest Dependency: Evidence From Machine Learning Analysis - June 2019, Dambala Gelo, Daniela Lamparelli

Forest Collaborative Research

In many poor regions, the poor heavily depend on the income derived from the natural resource base. This presentation tests the forest-dependency-asset poverty hypotheses; looks at the impacts of credit constraint on forest dependency; and using machine learning approach resolves the problems of model selection uncertainty and structural parameters identification.

The Nepal Community Forestry Program And Member Mental Health - June 2019, Randall Bluffstone

Forest Collaborative Research

This presentation asks - Do Community Forestry's (CFs) and better forest quality yield mental health benefits?