Dr. Thomas M. GehringRoom 181 Brooks Hall

774-2484 tom.gehring@cmich.edu

http://www.cst.cmich.edu/users/gehri1tm

Welcome!BIO 240 – Conservation of

Natural Resources

“In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homosapiens from conqueror of the land-communityto plain member and citizen of it. It impliesrespect for his [her] fellow-members, and alsorespect for the community as such.”

Aldo Leopold

"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic

community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise. ...To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution to intelligent tinkering."

(Aldo Leopold, champion of conservation)

Knowledge Assessment

1) Current human population size?

2) Annual growth rate (%) of human population?

3) Number of species in the World?

4) Daily extinction rate of species?

5) What is biodiversity?

Critical Thinking Skills • First, need to differentiate between beliefs

and knowledge

• Process:

1) Gather complete information

2) Question the methods, conclusions, sources of study or story

3) Tolerate some level of uncertainty

4) Look at the Big Picture

Fail to Reject

Reject

Scientific Method

Importance of Management

• Finite natural resources (land, water, wildlife, fuel, etc…)

Importance of Management

• Healthy Environment = Healthy Human Community

6.7+ Billion

Importance of Management

• Future generations inherit our world

Importance of Management

• Human Land Use – Present Effects

• Extraction of natural resources

• Patterns of development

• Transportation networks

Three Problems• Population –

explosion following Industrial Revolution

• Ultimate cause of environmental problems

• Current population = 6.7+ B (+1.3%/yr)

• By 2050 = 8-9+ B

Three Problems• Prosperity – excessive

consumption (“affluenza”)

• U.S. = 1st place in per capita consumption (30% of world’s resources)

= 5% of world’s population

Prosperity?

• 1 American = 20-40 persons from less developed nation

• Loss of soil > natural replacement rate

• ~1 million A (400,000 ha) farmland converted to subdivision annually

• ~1 million species extinct during 1980-2000 (estimates of 50,000 species/yr

Three Problems

• Prosperity

* Affluenza now for us, next generation

on their own?

Three Problems• Pollution – “There

is no free lunch”

• Air pollution & global impacts

• Global Warming• Acid Deposition

(Rain)• Ozone Depletion

Three Problems

• Pollution – “There is no free lunch”

* Water Pollution leading to:

1) unsafe drinking water

2) regulated fish consumption

3) increased prevalence human disease

Quality of Life

• Future Projections

The Limits of Growth (1972)

Fig. 1.5 – poor prospects with ’72 rates

Unsustainable society (define?)

Updated in 1992 = underestimates

• The Limits of Growth (1972)• Unsustainable society (define?)• Updated in 1992 = underestimates

Differing Viewpoints

• Optimists

Technology will solve our problems

Differing Viewpoints

• Pessimists

Time is too short for “techno-fixes”

Differing Viewpoints

• Moderates

Develop a sustainable society….SOON!

Six Principles of Sustainability

• Conservation: use needed resources wisely• Recycling: reuse materials again

• Renewable Resources: resources that replenish themselves

• Restoration: repair damaged systems

• Population Control & Mgt.

• Adaptability

Do you live sustainably?

• Next time: Calculate your carbon debt• How many tons of CO2 do you produce?

• What actions could you take to reduce this debt?

• Turn in 1-page written assignment

History of Conservation

• 19th Century

– Early history of U.S.

– National Park & National Forests

• 20th Century

-- Four major periods

History of Conservation• Fur trade & near extinction of beaver

(Castor canadensis) • Market hunting

• Near extinction of bison : 60M to ~150

History of Conservation• Market hunting

• Successful extinction of passenger pigeon

History of Conservation• Passenger pigeon

- immense abundance (400 km long, 1800)

- 1878 – 3 months, 1.5 M pigeons from MI to market

Conservation in the 20th CenturyFirst Wave: Early 1900’s

• Theodore Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, John Muir

• White House Conference on Nat. Res.:

1) timber depletion

2) irrigation farming

3) lack of water & resource use

4) mismanagement of resources

Conservation in the 20th CenturyFirst Wave: Early 1900’s

• National Conservation Commission– Result of White House Conference– Completed 1st Natural Resources Inventory– State conservation departments created

(MI DNR)

Conservation in the 20th CenturySecond Wave: 1930’s

• Franklin D. Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold

Conservation in the 20th CenturySecond Wave: 1930’s

• Franklin D. Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold

• Natural Resources Board (2nd Nat. Res. Inventory

• New Programs:

- Prairie States Forestry Project (erosion)

- Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

- Soil Conservation Service (SCS NRCS

Conservation in the 20th CenturySecond Wave: 1930’s

• Wildlife Management & Land Ethic

The Wilderness Society- founded 1935- Leopold = co-founder

Conservation in the 20th CenturyThird Wave: 1960’s – 1970’s

• Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Rachel Carson, Gaylord Nelson

April 22, 1970

Conservation in the 20th CenturyThird Wave: 1960’s – 1970’s

• Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Rachel Carson, Gaylord Nelson

• Important Conservation Legislation:

• 1964 Wilderness Act • 1970 Clean Air Act• 1969 National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA)

Conservation in the 20th CenturyThird Wave: 1960’s – 1970’s

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

• All federal actions significantly affecting environment

• Directs the preparation of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

Conservation in the 20th CenturyThird Wave: 1960’s – 1970’s

• 1973 Endangered Species Act- Sec. Interior & Commerce- Listing species & develop recovery plans

• 1976 National Forest Management Act- Sec. Agriculture- assess forest lands, multiple-use mgt.

program, implement mgt. plan for each unit of the National Forest System.

• Important Conservation Legislation (cont.)

Conservation in the 20th CenturyThird Wave: 1960’s – 1970’s

• 1977 Clean Water Act• 1985 Food Security Act

- Farm Bill Provisions- Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)

• Important Conservation Legislation (cont.)

Conservation in the 20th CenturyFourth Wave: 1990’s 2000

• Bill Clinton, Al Gore, E.O. Wilson

• Earth Summit• Kyoto Treaty• Sustainable Development

Conservation & Wilderness Lands

Years President Acreage (MA)

63-69 Johnson 9.9

69-74 Nixon 1.3

74-77 Ford 3.5

77-81 Carter 66.3

81-89 Reagan 10.6

89-93 Bush 3.9

93-01 Clinton 9.5

01-present Bush 0.5

Conservation in the 21st CenturyFifth Wave?

• BIO 240 Students – What will you leave

for the future generations?

– How will you leave this a better place?

Concepts & Terms

Renewable: - natural processes replenish over finite time- continued use depends on proper mgt.- soil, forests, wildlife, fisheries

Types of Resources

Concepts & Terms Types of Resources

Non-Renewable: - finite resource; near infinite time- fossil fuels, minerals, metals

Concepts & Terms

• Exploitation- maximum use /

maximum $$- limitless resources - great pineries of Great

Lakes States, passenger pigeon, bison

- reoccurrence in developing nations

- USA?

Resource Management Approaches

Concepts & Terms

• Preservation (Muir)- preserve & protect resources- don’t use, ever- establish national parks

& wilderness- Muir & founding of

Sierra Club

Resource Management Approaches

Concepts & Terms

• Utilitarian (Pinchott)- resource use on sustained yield basis

Resource Management Approaches

sustained yield: manage renewable resources for future use by harvest at rate sustained by natural (or human-aided) processes

Concepts & Terms

• Ecological (Sustainable) (Pinchot, Leopold)- multiple use approach of resource use

Resource Management Approaches

- ecosystem-management approachadds component of limit human impacts to multiple-use concept – sustain ecosystems = whole systems

Concepts & Terms

• Ecological (Sustainable)• Course filter• Fine filter

Resource Management Approaches

Concepts & Terms

• Ecological (Sustainable) (cont.)

adaptive management: given current scientific understanding,

1) implement mgt. strategy, but2) monitor effects and adjust

Resource Management Approaches

Adaptive Management

Economics

• market economy: driven by supply/demand

- demand dictates production (> profit = increased production)

• measure success via Gross Domestic Product (GDP) = all goods & services generated (approx. $10 trillion)

Improving Market Economics (ME)

1) ME assumes infinite growth potential, but works in finite system

2) ME time frame is short (< 5 yrs); ecological time frame is long (10’s-millions yrs)

3) ME has input/output flaws – incorporate

environmental impacts, social & cultural

impacts, pollution

Improving Market Economics (ME)

economic externalities: costs associated with ME that are not factored into business costs, rather these are passed onto society as a whole, e.g., air pollution

Improving Market Economics (ME)

4) ME fails to account for “free services”

“Free Services”

• Free pollination services = $4-6 B per year in US (1/3 of our food from pollinated plants)

• Free water purification services, e.g., NYC estimates $6-8 B for an artificial facility + $300 M per year to operate

Ecological Society of America

Improving Market Economics (ME)

5) GDP fails to factor in environmental damage or natural capital

“good” vs. “bad” economic activitiesIndex of Sustainable Economic Welfare

(ISEW)

- alternative measure of success; factors in beneficial gains & negative output (e.g., pollution)