CHAPTER 1

MANAGING

HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT

INTERACTIONS

Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species – Man – acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world

Rachel Carson

(author: Silent Spring)

At some point we must draw a line across the ground of our home and our being, drive a spear into the land, and say to the bulldozers, earthmovers, and corporations,

“this far and no farther”

Edward Abby

(center figure, “Earth First”)

From the time of Man as a species, we have been dependent on the components (resources) and feedback processes (cycles) of the natural environment

With the passage of time, society and the nature of natural resources / natural forces has changed--- ex: “Man is unique”

… Judeo-Christian Tradition

… teleology

… cosmologic civilizations

“Man is not unique”

… Eastern Religious Tradition

[controls but is part of]

“Man is control”

… Australian Aboriginal Tradition / Aztec Myth

… Man’s attitudes to environment

….. intentional modification

“Man is control”, cont … to be feared – to – we can ultimately

control..… wilderness vs. development….. Frederick Jackson Turner

… attitudes to conservation of natural resources (next)

“resources are unlimited” – to – “stewardship principle”

- Pioneer Ethic

- Democracy in Action

- Something’s Being Done, or Nothing Can be Done

- Science as a Demi-God

- Environment as Catastrophe

- Stewardship Principle

As society advanced, populations altered – often separated themselves – their relationship to nature and the physical environment

(1) religion – teleology(2) natural forces

predictionmodificationcontrol

(3) conservation

Paradoxically, as societies / cultures have become more advanced, not only do humans remain dependent on their natural environments, but their dependence has become greater … and conflicts have grown

ECONOMY

Property Conflict Resource Conflict

SOCIAL Development Conflict ENVIRONMENT

We are consummately adaptable, able to switch from one resource base… to another as each is exploited or used up. Like other successful species we have learned to adapt ourselves to new environments. But, unlike other animals, we made a jump from being successful to being a run away success.

C. TickellGeographical Journal, 1993

Managing society-environment relationships have been both continual and evolutionary--- how society / culture does so is dependent on

technology ingenuity geopoliticseconomics values norms… all of which are variable across time and

between societies… therefore, man-environment relationships

vary across time and space

In a related observation, humans have an amazing ability to deny responsibility for causing environmental problems

As a species, we have been creating environmental change for at least 10,000 yrsex: Mesopotamian soil salination

Mediterranean basin deforestation and erosion Mayan loss of soil fertility

(see all in Historical Perspectives on Sustainable Development)

- Present environmental problems differ from those of our ancestors mainly in magnitude and speed at which they arise

- Nature of our problems are remarkably similar; involving the attainment of living space from which we can grow crops and extract natural and mineral resources

- “Conflicts” and disruptive environmental changes should not be viewed as restrictions or limits on our development, but as presenting opportunities and challenges for managers of the environment, for politicians and for the society to evolve

- At this point the author turns to the themes of the text/course:

1. Defining concepts of management

2. Values and perspectives of management

3. Emerging approaches to environmental management

Without the presence of humans, environmental problems would not exist as there would be no one to experience the impact of the problem

G. Jones (2004)

What is Environmental Management?

Environmental Management – “… the means of controlling or guiding human-environment interactions(*) to protect and enhance human health and welfare and environmental quality(**)”

(*) people, place and resources, each acting in feedback relationships with the others to define “use”

(**) Each “use” carries with it opportunity costs both monetary and conceptual

What is Environmental Management?, cont

This type of management can be thought of as two types of planning:

(1) comprehensive planning – general coordination of diverse activities

(2) functional planning – targeted; usually confined to one major topic or use

What is Environmental Management?, cont

Management involves controlling the interaction of people and the environment and seeks to involve itself in the interaction of people and institutions. (p. 4)

--- it melds science, technology, politics and sociology

--- it creates a grey zone between concepts of “management” and “assessment”

--- inevitably gives rise to clashes between ecocentric development and technocentric development

What is Environmental Management?, cont

These interactions can affect human welfare and the environment in four ways:(1) environment poses certain natural hazards to human society and man accentuates these hazards(2) society-generated pollution impacts human health through the environment (3) society exploits economically important natural resources at unsustainable rates(4) pollution and overuse undermine productive natural systems and ecosystems

What is Environmental Management?, cont

Both perspectives argue a positive feedback loop

Consumption (Economic)

Prosperity Resource Use

Government,Research,Regulation,Management

What is Environmental Management?, cont

If we created a hypothetical continuum of attitude to development / management it might look like:

Pessimistic ---------------------------------------------Optimistic

ecocentric----ecojustice-----social justice----technocentric

What is Environmental Management?, cont

Nevertheless, management seeks to:

(1) stimulate the health and welfare of Man

(2) create and maintain conditions under which Man & nature can exist in productive harmony

(3) utilize a systematic interdisciplinary approach which will insure integrated use of natural & social sciences and the environmental design arts in planning and decision

making

(4) assure safe, healthful, productive & aesthetically pleasing surroundings

What is Environmental Management?, cont

management seeks to:

(5) attain the widest range of beneficial uses of the environment without degradation, risk to health or safety, or other undesirable or unintended consequences

(6) preserve important historical, cultural & natural aspects of our national heritage

(7) achieve a balance between population & resource use to permit high standards of living & sharing of life amenities

An independent observation on resource management

“More than once it has shortened itself thirty miles in a single jump! These cutoffs have has curious effects: they have thrown several river towns out into the rural districts and built up sand bars and forests in front of them. The town of Delta used to be three miles below Vicksburg… Delta is now two miles above Vicksburg”

An independent observation on resource management, cont

“A cutoff plays havoc with boundary lines and jurisdictions; for instance, a man living in the state of Mississippi today, a cutoff occurs tonight, and tomorrow the man finds himself and his land over on the other side of the river, within and subject to the laws of the State of Louisiana! Such a thing, happening in the upper river in the old times, could have transferred a slave from Missouri to Illinois and make a free man of him. (M. Twain, Life on the Mississippi, 1904)

Participants and Roles in Environmental Management

- What forces drive management… who is responsible, who is running things?

I. The Market

like it or not, most of the decisions we make (personal or otherwise) are driven by economics

--- supply / demand

--- consuming public

Participants and Roles in Environmental Management, cont

- What forces drive management… who is responsible, who is running things?, contII. The Government and the Regulator

we cannot actually run the environment as a “free market” operation… too many intangibles

--- govt and its agents are assigned oversight responsibilities pro bono publico --- govt and its agents at all levels exercise

“police powers”

… having multiple levels and agencies policing frequently conflicts

Participants and Roles in Environmental Management, cont

- What forces drive management… who is responsible, who is running things?, cont

II. The Government and the Regulator, cont

environmental management can be a conflicting

oversight assignment … ex: growth management-growth is necessary, how do you know how to manage it?

Participants and Roles in Environmental Management, cont

- What forces drive management… who is responsible, who is running things?, contII. The Government and the Regulator, cont

(1) legislation - NEPA; Clean Air / Water Act; Endangered Species Act; etc

(2) enforcement – EPA; BLM; U.S. Forest Service; etc

(3) policy – “multiple use”; BMP; “coercive vs cooperative”; concept of “attractive nuisance”

Participants and Roles in Environmental Management, cont

- What forces drive management… who is responsible, who is running things?, cont

III. Public Interest or Advocacy Groups (text calls “Civil Society”)

--- NGOs; environmental groups; citizens organizations; land trusts; private landowners… they participate and pressure or act as

spokesmen for individuals / groups that cannot otherwise be heard

Environmental Management: A Reflection of Social Culture, Values and Ethics

- Environmental management defines a society’s cultural landscape - variable intra-culturally, spatially and temporally

[it says a lot about the culture and its continued evolution… Fig 1.1 summarizes “the Players” and the “landscape” linkages]

- Author says that it is important to understand culture and values for two reasons:

(1) society’s approach to managing the environment is usually a reflection of values, culture and norms

(2) the need to understand and integrate these values into planning and decision making to make management effective

- Author tells us that society’s values are its “ethics”--- American environmental ethics date from such as:

George Catlin – [“George Catlin’s Obsession”, Smithsonian, 12/02]

George Perkins Marsh – [interesting quote next]H.D. ThoreauJohn Wesley PowellJohn MuirAldo LeopoldRachel CarsonThe Congress of Governors

“animal and vegetable life is too complicated a problem for for human intelligence to solve and we can never know how wide a circle of disturbance we produce in the harmonies of nature when we throw the smallest pebble into the ocean of organic life”

G.P. Marsh

- What emerges are a number of identifiable personal perspectives on environmental issues: (1) radical(2) emotional(3) religious(4) feminist(5) political(6) scientific(7) vested interest(8) utilitarian

T. Beatley (1994) Ethical Land Use: Principles of Policy and Planning, writes that natural objects have three types of value (Text , p. 7):(1) instrumental value (anthropocentric) what can be done with an object (2) intrinsic value (anthropocentric) appreciation of an

object; aesthetic value; perceptual value(3) inherent value (non-anthropocentric) value by its existence

Visions of Paradise: Contemporary Perspectives on Managing the Environment

- What is the “American” perspective on managing the environment?--- the author (circa 1970s) offered five points-of-view on environmental issues

(1) the Optimist (2) the Concerned Optimist(3) the Hopeful Pessimist(4) the Pessimist(5) the the Self-Absorbed

Color Coded Environmental Perspectives?

Interesting: It seems that we can also color code our environmental perspectives (see Sidebar 1.1, p. 8-9))(1) Blues – free market thinkers(2) Reds – various forms of socialism(3) Greens – define world in terms of ecosystems(4) Whites – not necessarily in opposition to the others; optimistic in attitude, believes in the good intention of the population if not their technologies; free market an uneven playing field

Historical Paradigms of Environmental Management and the Evolution Toward

SustainabilityParadigmColby, in Ecological Economics (1991), offers five paradigms of

evolving environmental management… based on ethics, politics, economics, policy, technology and methodological direction (Table 1.1)(1) frontier economics (FE) – Man-centered; premise of limitless resources; “frontier ethics”; the writings of Frederick Jackson Turner (2) environmental protection (EP) – text calls characteristic of 1970s U.S. policy; stewardship Principle; Business as usual, plus a treatment plant; Command and Control Regulation

Colby, Ecological Economics. cont(3) resource management (RM) – more characteristic of the 1980s; recognizes long-term sustainability as constraint to economic growth; seeks to modify traditional accounting by incorporating full-cost pricing of economic procedures(4) ecodevelopment (ED) – still in development, not fully formulated; an ecocentric perspective to resource use and economic development(5) deep ecology (DE) – back to nature “bio-centric” view; reverence for all forms of nature and the natural environment even versus development; eco-justice

Colby, Ecological Economics. cont- In one way or another each of these perspectives is

present on the Earth to varying degrees- Text quotes Colby on two points that I do not

subscribe to:(1) that all these points can about as a result of the conflict

between FE and DE(2) that FE and DE as perspectives have both existed since

the mid-1980s

Toward Sustainable Development

- Author notes that Colby’s ecodevelopment is very similar to sustainable development as it has been defined (p. 12):

“… paths of economic, social, environmental, and political progress that aim to meet the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”

… and a close parallel to the definition of conservation that I used in graduate school… maximum utilization with minimum negative impact

- The author talks about sustainability as the integration of five E’s”:

Economy Environment Equity (social)Engagement Eternity

- Additionally, for real sustainability to be achieved:(1) Must move from short-term to long-term thinking

[proactive-not-reactive](2) Have pluralistic participation in planning process

[no environmental racism / economic racism]

ECONOMY

Property Conflict Resource Conflict

SOCIAL Development Conflict ENVIRONMENT

* Given current perspective / conflict areas, there is some question how sustainable development can be created / carried out *

From Conservation to the Ecological Way

Text: we have not achieved sustainable development or a eco-development mind set, but planning has

made shifts over time in that direction

I do not necessarily subscribe to the section’s perspective on our progress / lack of progress on sustainability – but his “waves” of environmental management “progress” are workable[and have frequently been applied to the conservation movement]

Wave I - ? “the conservation movement”?; 19th C.- emergence of environmental / resource philosophies;

G. P. Marsh H. D. Thoreau J. MuirG. Pinchot A. Leopold

- government resource attention:acts of Congress federal / state conservation

agencies- citizen conservation movement

Wave II – focus on public and environmental health and protection of commonly held resources--- product of 20th C. public health movement and identification of relationships of environmental conditions and human health--- characterized by:

Rachel Carson Garrett Hardin NEPAEPA CEQ EIScontinued growth grassroots movements

Wave III – characterized as the “ecological way”; continued extension of Waves I & II;

seeks greater integration of human habitation and use of resources with the long-term protection of natural systems;

seeks proactive partnership building

Multiple Use concept EIS requirements

Nature Conservancy land trusts / wills