Module 30 Land Management

  • management issues differ for rangelands, forests, and parks

Rangelands

rangelands: A dry open grassland primarily used to graze cattle

  • grasslands

  • many of these areas are already semi-arid

  • Grazing too many animals too quickly can remove all vegetation

  • this makes the soil susceptible to wind and water erosion or even a dustbowl

  • can lead to the tragedy of the commons so the rangelands must be regulated

    possible strategies to reduce negative impacts:

    • rotate the cattle among different pastures

    • limit the amount of cattle

    • Taylor Grazing Act (required a permit to graze cattle)

mooooooo

Forests

forest: Land dominated by trees and other woody vegetation and sometimes used for commercial logging

  • more precipitation than a grassland which supports plant life

  • 73% of the forests used for commercial timber operations are privately owned in the US

    clear cutting: a method of harvesting trees that involes removing all or almost all of the trees within an area

    • safer

    • cheaper

    • more efficient

    • less diverse forest

    • create more erosion and effects on water quality on a slope or watershed

    selective cutting: the method of harvesting trees that involves the removal of single trees or a relatively small number of trees from the larger forest

    • less efficient

    • more expensive

    • better for the forest

    Ecological sustainable forestry: an approach to remove trees from forests in ways that do not unduly affect the viability of other noncommercial tree species

    • not efficient at all

Tree plantation: a large area typically planted with a single rapidly growing tree species

  • all logging disrupts habitat

  • logging ofter replaces complex forest ecosystems with tree plantations

  • tree plantations are great!!!

  • trees don”t compete

Fire management

  • fire is a natural process for recycling nutrients

  • reduces the dead biomass in the fire

    prescribed burn: a fire deliberately set under controlled conditions in order to reduce the accumulation of dead biomass on a forest floor

  • prescribed burns helps reduce the risk of uncontrolled natural fires

  • do not have intentional burns when it is dry and windy

National Parks

  • are managed for scientific, educational, aesthetic, and recreational use

  • human overuse of national parks can harm its environment

Wildlife refuges and Wilderness Areas

National wildlife refuge: A federal public land managed for the purpose of protecting wildlife

National wilderness area: An area set aside with the intent of preserving a large tract of an intact ecosystem or landscape

  • the most primitive

Federal Regulation of Land use

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): A 1969 US federal act that mandates an environmental assessment of all projects involving federal money or federal permits

Environmental impact statement (EIS): A document outlining the scope and purpose of a developing project, describing the environmental context, suggesting alternative approaches to the project, and analyzing the environmental impact of each alternative

Environmental mitigation plan: A plan that outlines how a developer will address concerns raised by a project’s impact on the environment

Endangered Species Act: A 1973 US act designed to protect species from extinction

Residential Land Use is Expanding

Suburb: An area surrounding a metropolitan center, with a comparatively low population density

Exurb: An area similar to a suburb, but unconnected to any central city or densely populated area

  • Since 1950 more than 90% of population growth in metropolitan areas has occurred in suburbs

  • two out of three people live in suburban or exurban communities

Causes and Consequences of Urban Sprawl

urban sprawl: Urbanized areas that spread into rural area, removing clear boundaries between the two

Urban sprawl has four main sources:

  1. Automobiles and highway construction

  2. Living costs

  3. Urban Blight

  4. Government policies

    Urban Blight: The degradation of the build and social environments of the city that often accompanies and accelerates migration to the suburb

Urban Sprawl

  • Urban sprawl has been enhanced by federal and local laws and policies

    Highway trust fund: A US federal fund that pays for the construction and maintenance of roads and highways

    Induced Demand: The phenomenon in which an increases in the supply of a good causes demand to grow

    Zoning: a planning tool used to separate industry and business from residential neighborhoods

    Multi-use Zoning: A zoning classification that allows retail and high-density residential development to coexists in the same area