Environmental Studies Commons^™

Creating Protected Areas On Public Lands: Is There Room For Additional Conservation?, Rodrigo A. Arriagada, Cristian M. Echeverria, Danisa E. Moya

Forest Collaborative Research

Most evaluations of the effectiveness of PAs have relied on indirect estimates based on comparisons between protected and unprotected areas. Such methods can be biased when protection is not randomly assigned. We add to the growing literature on the impact of PAs by answering the following research questions: What is the impact of Chilean PAs on deforestation which occurred between 1986 and 2011? How do estimates of the impact of PAs vary when using only public land as control units? We show that the characteristics of the areas in which protected and unprotected lands are located differ significantly. To satisfactorily …

State Of The U.S. Ocean And Coastal Economies: Coastal States Summaries - 2016 Update, Kildow, Charles S. Colgan

Publications

This publication contains two-page ocean and coastal economic summary reports for each of the 30 coastal states with data complementing the Center for the Blue Economy/National Ocean Economics Program latest State of the U.S. Ocean and Coastal Economies - Update 2016 report.

State Of The U.S. Ocean And Coastal Economies 2016 Update, Dr. Judith T. Kildow, Charles S. Colgan, Pat Johnston

Publications

Relative to the landmass of coastal regions, America’s coasts and oceans contribute a disproportionately high value to the United States economy. For the past fifteen years, the National Ocean Economics Program (NOEP) has compiled time-series data that track multiple indicators for economic activities, demographics, natural resource production and values, non-market values, and federal expenditures in the U.S. coastal zone on land and in the water. On our website (www.oceaneconomics.org), government agencies, academia, industry, advocacy groups and the general public representing more than 40 nations— have had interactive access to this information and used it widely for many different purposes.

This …

Proposing A Sustainable Tourism Framework For The Philippines, Michael Angelo A. Cortez, John Paolo R. Rivera

Center for Business Research and Development

The travel and tourism (T&T) industry has become a major contributor to growth and development in most economies across the globe (World Travel & Tourism Council [WTTC], 2014). The industry has significantly increased its gross value added (GVA) to the well-being of stakeholders through its direct economic impacts; and indirect and induced impacts to its forward and backward linkages. As such, according to Roe (2001), the T&T evolved into the world’s largest industries, generating approximately 11 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), providing 200 million job opportunities, and transporting nearly 700 million international travellers annually.

The Conflicts Of Coexistence: Contested Meanings Of Carnivore Management And Conservation In The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Hannah F. Jaicks

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) encompasses urbanizing areas adjacent to essential conservation habitat with an inimitable capacity to support carnivore populations, including grizzly bears, wolves, and cougars. This geography has resulted in divisive social conflicts about these animals’ management as well as physical conflicts when they come into contact with people over the course of daily life in the region. Employing a qualitative methodology with semi-structured interviews, participant observation, wilderness treks, and archival work, this study examines the context, social processes, and decision-making processes that underlie the predator conflicts and produce management challenges in the GYE. This approach integrates theory …

Millets From The Margins: Value, Knowledge And The Subaltern Practice Of Biodiversity In Uttarakhand, India, Priya R. Chandrasekaran

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Millets from the Margins: Value, Knowledge and the Subaltern Practice of Biodiversity in Uttarakhand, India analyzes what is at stake for small-scale, predominantly women, farmers as local varieties of rainfed food grains such as finger millet are being newly commodified and valued as a biodiversity resource. With support from a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation, I conducted seventeen months of ethnographic research with farmers, activists, scientists, NGO leaders, government officials, transnational functionaries and agribusiness representatives in segregated yet interconnected realms ranging from a village in the Himalayan foothills to transnational institutions in Rome.

This work demonstrates …

Calpoly 2015 Transportation Survey Report, William Riggs

City and Regional Planning Studios and Projects

In the spring of 2015, City & Regional Planning faculty conducted a campus-wide transportation survey as part of work on the campus Climate Action Plan. The survey represented spring 2014 commutes and was issued to a sample of full and part-time CalPoly faculty, staff, students and auxiliaries with assistance from Facilities Services and the Vice President for Administration and Finance.

The total number of responses was 3,961, roughly 17% of the entire campus population of roughly 23,000. Unsurprisingly, the majority of respondents were students, totaling 68.6%, while the rest were made up of faculty, staff, and visitors. Results are significant …

The Real Footprint Of Electric Vehicles, And What That Could Mean For Our Future, Krista Brown

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

This paper looks at the impact of electric vehicles on CO2 emissions specifically based on the type of electricity used in each New England state analyzed. The research looks at the question of whether or not emissions will in fact be lowered as electric cars start to take the majority of vehicles used instead of the conventional cars that take up a much larger percent of the motor vehicles used today. Taking into account the use of electricity and how many sources of electricity also release a substantial amount of emissions, we see how valid the public opinion of electric …

How Soon We Forget: The Luxury Of Disaster Amnesia, Lauren Pongan

Colby Magazine

This is only a portion of a full essay that is about the super Typhoon Haiyan that hit the Philippines and how disaster amnesia functions in the international community.

How The Federal Government Went From Realtor To Landlord In The American West, Randall K. Wilson

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Disputes over public land rights have a long history in the United States. But the past 18 months have seen a growing number of confrontations over Western federal lands, culminating in the current standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. [excerpt]

The Twisted Roots Of U.S. Land Policy In The West, John Freemuth

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

The seizure of a Malheur National Wildlife Refuge building in southeastern Oregon by armed and self-styled “constitutionalists” was disturbing. To many it is viewed as a dangerous escalation in a long, admittedly heated and passionate but rarely violent, discussion of federal or public land management in the western United States.

Agricultural Policy Reform: An Argument For A Soil Erosion Tax, Alex M. Ingulsrud

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

The purpose of this research is to examine the history of soil erosion and US agricultural policy in order to show why a soil erosion tax would be a good policy. Part A of this essay focuses on the dust bowl as an archetype for modern agriculture and ecological limits. Historical lessons are drawn from the dust bowl that illustrate why a soil erosion tax would be more practical than past policies for agricultural policy to coerce farmers into implement soil conversation practices. Part B of this essay examines the current dilemma of soil erosion and agricultural policy, why a …

Archeological Of The Proposed Fm 1626 Pass-Through Toll Project From Ranch-To-Market 967 To Farm-To-Market 2770 In Hays County, Texas, Matthew C. Stotts, Bradford M. Jones, Mason D. Miller, Samantha Walden Champion, Josh Haefner

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Hicks & Company archeologists conducted an intensive, 100-percent linear archeological survey of approximately 3.3 miles of proposed expansions to Farm-to-Market (FM) 1626 west of the city of Buda, Hays County, Texas. The survey was conducted between July 2008 and October 2016 for compliance with the Antiquities Code of Texas and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act on behalf of Hays County, the project engineer Klotz Associates, and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The Area of Potential Effects (APE) for the proposed project is composed of 54.3 acres of existing right of way and 8.08 acres of proposed …

Cultural Resources Monitoring For Brackenridge Park River Wall Replacement Project, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, Stephen Smith, Paul Shawn Marceaux

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

From January through May 2016, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) conducted archaeological monitoring of removal and repair of 30.5 m (100 ft.) of the historic river wall along a section of the San Antonio River within Brackenridge Park. The wall is a contributing resource to Brackenridge Park’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and its designation as a State Antiquities Landmark (SAL). The CAR’s archaeological monitoring was done under contract with Adams Environmental, Inc. Project Archaeologist Stephen Smith monitored contractor’s excavations at the site. Paul Shawn Marceaux served as …

Archaeological Survey Of The Proposed Tomball Tollway Project, Montgomery County, Texas, Matthew Helmer, Jacob Foreman, Steve Cummins

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

On behalf of Halff Associates, Inc., and the Montgomery County Toll Road Authority (MCTRA), SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) conducted an investigation of the proposed Tomball Tollway project located in Montgomery County, Texas. The proposed project area follows the existing Tomball Tollway (State Highway [SH] 249) northward approximately 3.3 miles from Spring Creek to the FM 1774 junction in Pinehurst. The proposed project involves the widening of SH 249 between existing feeders, as well as the construction of on-ramps. The project also involves the construction of three detention basins totaling approximately 22 acres utilizing a combination of floodplain fill mitigation and …

Archeological Investigations 12.3 Acres Of The High Pointe Apartments Hud Development Project Tarrant County, Texas, Judy Hennessee Cooper

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

C Dimensions was contracted by Dougherty Mortgage, LLC to conduct an intensive archeological survey of a proposed property development with a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) component. Background research and archival investigations for the vicinity did not indicate the presence of previously recorded sites in or adjacent to the project area.

An intensive archeological survey including extensive surface examination and seven subsurface shovel tests resulted in no discoveries of historic cultural or archeological sites, materials, or deposits.

Structures adjacent to the project area are all modern school and baseball field structures and do not merit consideration as historic properties. No …

An Archeological Survey Of The City Of Arlington's Proposed Bowman Branch Hike-And-Bike Trail, Tarrant County, Texas, Jesse Todd

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The City of Arlington in Tarrant County, Texas proposes to construct the Bowman Branch Hike-and-Bike trail in southeastern Arlington. In addition, portions of the trail will be constructed within the floodplain of the Bowman Branch which falls under the purvey of the Fort Worth District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Since the City of Arlington is a political entity of the State of Texas and land controlled by an entity of the State of Texas is involved, a Texas Antiquities Permit is required. In addition, the Archeology Division of the Texas Historical Commission acts as the Section …

Cultural Resources Monitoring: Archaeological Montioring Of Hand Excavated Trenches San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, David M. Yelacic

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

To assist and support the installation of fiber-optic cable in the particularly sensitive and historic Downtown San Antonio, Texas, Terracon carried out archaeological monitoring of two small, hand-excavated trenches in City of San Antonio sidewalk easements. The undertaking is subject to compliance with the Antiquities Code of Texas and oversight from the Texas Historical Commission. Archaeological monitoring was carried out by David Yelacic, Principal Investigator, under Texas Antiquities Permit Number 7203.

Through the course of monitored excavation, very few cultural materials were encountered, and these materials (i.e., clear glass fragment, brown bottle glass fragment, wood, and rusted metal) were not …

Archeological And Historical Investigations For The Proposed 323.0-Acre City Of Pflugerville Community Park And Athletic Complex, Pflugerville, Travis County, Texas, Jeffrey D. Owens, Kathryn St. Clair

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Horizon Environmental Services, Inc. (Horizon) was selected by Schrickel, Rollins and Associates, Inc. (SRA) on behalf of the City of Pflugerville to conduct an intensive cultural resources inventory and assessment of an approximately 130.7-hectare (323.0-acre) tract in Pflugerville, Travis County, Texas. This tract represents the proposed location of the City of Pflugerville Community Park and Athletic Complex, and it is located off the northeast side of Cameron Road approximately 1.9 miles (3.1 kilometers) southeast of its intersection with State Highway (SH) 130. For purposes of the cultural resources investigations, the project area was considered to consist of the entire 130.7-hectare …

Phase I Archaeological Survey Of The Proposed West Of The Pecos Solar Project, Reeves County, Texas, Damon Burden, Karl W. Kibler

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

In November and December 2015, personnel with Prewitt and Associates, Inc., conducted a Phase I archeological survey of the proposed 716-acre West of the Pecos Solar Project area in northern Reeves County, Texas. The survey resulted in the identification of six previously unrecorded archeological sites. The four Native American sites are an open campsite (41RV87) and three open campsites and lithic procurement localities (41RV89, 41RV90, and 41RV91) characterized by stone hearth remnants and sparse scatters of chipped stone and occasional ground or battered stone artifacts. No temporally diagnostic artifacts were identified at these sites. The two twentieth-century historic sites are …