Land, Public
and Private
Chapter 10
Human Activities Affecting Land and
Environment
 Extensive
logging – mudslides
 Deforestation – climate change
 Paving – water runoff, “heat islands”
 Overuse of farmland – soil degradation, water pollution
Tragedy of the Commons

Land viewed as a common resource

Garrett Hardin
a. Tragedy of the Commons
- shared, limited resource becomes depleted
due
to people acting on self-interest for short-term
gain

More common when there’s no land use
agreement or regulation
http://www.hdwpapers.com/dr__seuss_the_lorax_wallpaper_2-wallpapers.html

Result of negative externality
- can lead to serious environmental problems
- no one be held legally or financially responsible
•
Solution
- private ownership
- regulation
http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/examples-externalities-market-7577.html

Maximum Sustainable Yield (MYP)
a. maximum amount that can be harvested without
compromising the future availability of that resource
b. keeps the resource population at ~1/2 carrying
capacity of environment
c. permits an indefinite use without depletion of
resource
Public Land Use

~ 11% of Earth’s land area is protected

International Categories of Public Lands
a. National Parks
b. Managed Resource Protected Areas
c. Habitat/Species Management Areas
d. Strict Nature Reserves and Wilderness Areas
e. Protected Landscapes and Seascapes
f. National Monuments
 National
Parks
a. 3,400 in the world
b. managed for scientific, educational,
and recreational use
c. not used for extraction of resources
http://parks.mapquest.com/national-parks/rocky-mountain-national-park/
 Managed
Resource Protected Areas
a. 4,100 sites
b. allows for sustained use of biological,
mineral and recreational uses
c. ex) national forests
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallatin_National_Forest
 Habitat/Species
Management Areas
a. 27,600 sites
b. actively managed to maintain
biological communities
c. done through predator prevention, etc.
http://data.prbo.org/partners/mwadc/index.php?page=habitat-mgmt
 Strict
Nature Reserves and Wilderness
Areas
a. 6,000 sites
b. established to protect species and
ecosystems
http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/151030/
 Protected
Landscapes and Seascapes
a. 6,500 sites
b. nondestructive use of natural resources
with opportunities for tourism and
recreation
c. ex) orchards, beaches, etc
/
http://batanesryan.blogspot.com
 National
Monuments
a. 20,000
b. protect unique sites of natural and
cultural interest
http://www.shedexpedition.com/arc-de-triomphe/
Public Land in the US
 Owned
by federal, state, or local govnt’s
 Federal is the largest (~25% of country)
 Classification
a. include
- rangelands, national forests,
national parks, wildlife refuges, and
wilderness areas
 Multiple-Use
Lands
a. used for recreation, grazing, timber,
and mineral extraction

Federal Agencies
a. Bureau of Land Management
- grazing, mining, recreation, timber
b. United States Forest Service
- timber, grazing, mining
c. National Park Service
- recreation and conservation
d. Fish and Wildlife Service
- wildlife conservation, hunting, recreation
Land Management
Practices
 Rangelands
a. dry, open grasslands
b. primarily used for cattle grazing
c. Grazing
1. benefit
- uses less fossil fuel then feedlots
2. consequence
- leaves land exposed to erosion
http://ecotope.org/anthromes/v1/guide/rangelands/
 Forests
a. dominated by trees
b. used for commercial logging
- pulp and wood
c. harvesting techniques
1. clear-cutting
- removing all trees in an area
- forests are replanted all at once
- steep slopes: loss of soil and nutrients
- increases sunlight reaching water
- replanting
* use of herbicides and fire
* reduces soil quality, contaminates water,
reduces biodiversity
http://www.nerrs.noaa.gov/doc/siteprofile/acebasin/html/modules/landuse/lmclcut.htm
2. selective-cutting
- removes single tree among many
- creates small openings
- trees of different ages
- shade-tolerant
3. Impacts of both types of harvesting
- logging roads to carry equipment
* destruction of habitats
* compaction of soil  loss of
nutrients and ability to infiltrate
water
http://allthingsconnect.wordpress.com/2013/03/02
/blog-post-3-environmental-history-and-worldviews/
d. Fire Management
- natural process for nutrient cycling
- provides openings for early-successional species
- prescribed burn
* fire set under controlled conditions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_fires_of_1988
 National
Parks
a. 58 in US
b. Goal
1. based on multiple-use principle
2. set aside to protect ecosystems
c. human activities
1. air and water pollution
2. lead to destruction of habitats
 Wildlife
Refuges and Wilderness Areas
a. protecting wildlife
b. limited human use and are roadless
 Federal
Regulation
a. National Environmental Policy Act
- assesses all projects
b. Environmental Impact Statement
- analyzes environmental impact
c. Environmental Mitigation Plan
- how will the impact be addressed
d. Endangered Species Act
- designed to protect species
Expanding Residential Land
Use
 Suburban
v. Exurban
a. suburban
1. surrounds metropolitan areas
2. low population densities
b. exurban
1. unconnected to any central city
2. low population densities
 Urban
Sprawl
a. urbanized areas that have spread into rural areas
b. removes clear boundaries between the two
c. causes
1. automobiles and highways
2. living costs
3. urban blight
4. government policies
- highway trust fund
- zoning
 Smart
Growth
a. strategies that encourage development of
sustainable, healthy communities
1. 10 basic principles
- mixed land uses
- range of housing choices
- walkable neighborhoods
- collaboration in development decisions
- compact building design
- attractive communities with a sense of place
- preserve open space
- variety of transportation
- direct development towards existing
communities
- cost-effective decisions