Land Resources

1. Land Resources Chapter 18

2. Land Use • World Land Use

3. Land Use • Land Use in the US: ownership

4. Land Use • Federally managed land

5. Land Use • National: • Parks & Preserves – natural regulation • Wildlife Refuges – limited hunting (established by Teddy Roosevelt, 1903) • Forests – sustainable forestry • Marine sanctuaries – coastal, restricted use • State – similar to above: VHS State Park, Ringing Rocks State Park • County/Municipal – local funding • Private

6. Wilderness, Parks, and Wildlife Refuges • National Parks • Most popular

7. Land Use • Administration of Federal Lands: Department of the Interior Bureaucracy

8. Land Use • Wise-Use Movement: • Manage all national forests for timber • Mining and commercial development • Unrestricted development of wetlands • Change ESA to include economics • Sell some fed. lands to private companies Managing Public (commons) and Private Land

9. Land Use • Environmental movement: • Favor preservation or conservation • Public lands to protect biodiversity, ecosystem integrity • Resource extraction should be paid for by private companies, not taxes • Use of public lands should include accountability

10. Wilderness, Parks, and Wildlife Refuges • National Parks • Threats to US Parks

11. Laws, Laws, Laws • Wilderness Act 1964 – retains primeval character, no human habitation • Land & Water Conservation Fund Act 1965 – money to purchase/establish new parks • Farm Bill 1990 – conservation easements (similar to Highlands) • Federal Land Policy & Management Act 1976 – BLM manages rangelands

12. Forests Clearcutting • Forest Management • Harvesting Trees

13. Forests Shelterwood cutting Selective cutting • Forest Management • Harvesting Trees

14. Forests • Forest Management • Harvesting Trees Seed tree cutting

15. Wilderness, Parks, and Wildlife Refuges • Wilderness • Land completely set aside; no development permitted (no roads)

16. Wilderness, Parks, and Wildlife Refuges • National Parks • Land set aside for recreation and preservation • (limited development permitted, such as roads)

17. Wilderness, Parks, and Wildlife Refuges • National Parks: Natural Regulation: Letting nature take its course Fires not controlled (unless buildings threatened) Animals not culled (except invasive)

18. Wilderness, Parks, and Wildlife Refuges • National Parks • A Representative National Park in Africa World Wildlife Fund, Cameroon government, and other agencies managing Korup National Park

19. Wilderness, Parks, and Wildlife Refuges • Wildlife Refuges: • Lands managed for conservation of fish, wildlife, and plants • Recreation (including hunting and fishing) are permitted if such activities do not impede conservation efforts

20. Forests • Role of forests in the hydrologic cycle:

21. Forests • Forest Management • Traditional forest management vs.Ecologically sustainable forest management • Typical tree plantation • Monoculture • Heavy use of pesticides • Very low biological diversity

22. Forests • Deforestation • World forests shrinking by 22 million acres each year • Many causes (drought, agricultural expansion, construction, tree harvest, etc.) • Results in soil infertility, warmer climates, disrupted hydrologic cycle

23. Forests • Forest Trends in the US • US National Forests Managed for multiple uses (hunting, mining, recreation, timber harvesting, etc.)

24. Forests • Why Are Tropical Forests Disappearing?

25. Forests • Why Are Tropical Forests Disappearing? • Subsistence Agriculture • Commercial Logging • Cattle Ranching and Agriculture for Export

26. Forests • Boreal Forests and Deforestation

27. Rangelands and Agricultural Lands • Rangelands – open pastures

28. Rangelands and Agricultural Lands • Rangeland Degradation and Desertification: • Many rangelands consistently overgrazed • Overgrazing coupled with extended droughts = desertification • Worldwide desertification rate = 1,374 mi2 per year

29. Rangelands and Agricultural Lands • Rangeland Trends in the US: • Rangelands comprise 30% of land in US • 1/3rd public, 2/3rd private • Issues Involving Public Rangelands: • Grazing permit fees • Wild horses and burros

30. Rangelands and Agricultural Lands • Agricultural Lands: • US has 300 million acres of prime farmland • Main problem: suburban spread onto agricultural land

31. Wetlands and Coastal Areas • Wetlands – valuable ecosystem services

32. Wetlands and Coastal Areas • Human activities that threaten wetlands: • Draining for agriculture or mosquito control • Dredging for navigation • Channelization • Construction of dams, sea walls, dykes • Filling in for solid waste disposal, roads, residential / industrial development • Conversion to aquaculture

33. Wetlands and Coastal Areas • Coastlines: • Severely degraded or destroyed in US by filling and draining • Residential and industrial development common (as in NJ) • Resulting problems:

34. Wetlands and Coastal Areas • Coastlines • Coastal Demographics • In US, 19 of 20 most densely populated areas along coast. • Worldwide, coastal management plans rarely integrate land and offshore water concerns • Results in overdevelopment and pollution

35. Wetlands and Coastal Areas • Coastlines: • National Marine Sanctuaries: • US has 12 • Managed for multiple uses, including conservation, recreation, education, etc. • Commercial fishing permitted, though there are “no take” zones

36. Conservation of Land Resources • Most endangered ecosystems in the US

37. Forests Forest Legacy Program in 1990 Farm Bill assists . . . • Forest Trends in the US

38. Forests • Forest Trends in the US • US National Forests • Case-in-Point: Tongass National Forest

39. Forests • Why Are Tropical Dry Forests Disappearing?

40. Forests • Trends in Tropical Forests

41. Wetlands and Coastal Areas • US legislation has attempted to maintain a “no net loss” of wetlands Reconstructed wetland in San Diego

42. Land Use • Managing Public and Private Land • Public Planning of Land Use • Development planning should be comprehensive – who decides?? • Consider housing, businesses, agricultural, undeveloped, etc.