Welcome!
BIO 240 – Conservation of
Natural Resources
Dr. Thomas M. Gehring
Room 181 Brooks Hall
774-2484
tom.gehring@cmich.edu
http://www.cst.cmich.edu/users/gehri1tm
“In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo
sapiens from conqueror of the land-community
to plain member and citizen of it. It implies
respect for his [her] fellow-members, and also
respect 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
Scientific Method
Reject
Fail to Reject
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 19802000 (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 Century
First 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 Century
First 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 Century
Second Wave: 1930’s
• Franklin D. Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold
Conservation in the 20th Century
Second 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 Century
Second Wave: 1930’s
• Wildlife Management & Land Ethic
The Wilderness Society
- founded 1935
- Leopold = co-founder
Conservation in the 20th Century
Third Wave: 1960’s – 1970’s
• Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Rachel Carson,
Gaylord Nelson
April 22, 1970
Conservation in the 20th Century
Third 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 Century
Third 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 Century
Third Wave: 1960’s – 1970’s
• Important Conservation Legislation (cont.)
• 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.
Conservation in the 20th Century
Third Wave: 1960’s – 1970’s
• Important Conservation Legislation (cont.)
• 1977 Clean Water Act
• 1985 Food Security Act
- Farm Bill Provisions
- Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
Conservation in the 20th Century
Fourth Wave: 1990’s
2000
• Bill Clinton, Al Gore, E.O. Wilson
• Earth Summit
• Kyoto Treaty
• Sustainable Development
Conservation & Wilderness
Lands
Years
63-69
President
Johnson
Acreage (MA)
9.9
69-74
74-77
77-81
81-89
89-93
93-01
01-present
Nixon
Ford
Carter
Reagan
Bush
Clinton
Bush
1.3
3.5
66.3
10.6
3.9
9.5
0.5
Conservation in the 21st Century
Fifth Wave?
• BIO 240 Students
– What will you leave
for the future
generations?
– How will you leave
this a better place?
Concepts & Terms
Types of Resources
Renewable:
- natural processes replenish over finite time
- continued use depends on proper mgt.
- soil, forests, wildlife, fisheries
Concepts & Terms
Types of Resources
Non-Renewable:
- finite resource; near infinite time
- fossil fuels, minerals, metals
Concepts & Terms
Resource Management Approaches
• Exploitation
- maximum use /
maximum $$
- limitless resources
- great pineries of Great
Lakes States, passenger
pigeon, bison
- reoccurrence in
developing nations
- USA?
Concepts & Terms
Resource Management Approaches
• Preservation (Muir)
- preserve & protect resources
- don’t use, ever
- establish national parks
& wilderness
- Muir & founding of
Sierra Club
Concepts & Terms
Resource Management Approaches
• Utilitarian (Pinchott)
- resource use on sustained yield basis
sustained yield: manage renewable
resources for future use by harvest at
rate sustained by natural (or
human-aided) processes
Concepts & Terms
Resource Management Approaches
• Ecological (Sustainable) (Pinchot, Leopold)
- multiple use approach of resource use
- ecosystem-management approach
adds component of limit human
impacts to multiple-use concept –
sustain ecosystems = whole systems
Concepts & Terms
Resource Management
Approaches
• Ecological
(Sustainable)
• Course filter
• Fine filter
Concepts & Terms
Resource Management Approaches
• Ecological (Sustainable) (cont.)
adaptive management: given current
scientific understanding,
1) implement mgt. strategy, but
2) monitor effects and adjust
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 activities
Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare
(ISEW)
- alternative measure of success; factors in
beneficial gains & negative output (e.g.,
pollution)