Why create parks, reserves, and wildlands ?

1. Why create parks, reserves, and wildlands?

2. Forests • National Parks- established to preserve scenic views and unusual landforms. • National wildlife refuges- managed for the purpose of protecting wildlife • National wilderness areas- set aside to preserve large tracts of intact ecosystems or landscapes.

3. Why create parks, reserves, and wildlands? “Monumentalism”: • 19th-century landscape painters raised great interest in the American West’s scenery—and its new national parks. • Here, Bridalveil Falls in Yosemite, by Albert Bierstadt

4. 1872 – Yellowstone National Park becomes the world’s first national park: “a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.” Today, the U.S. national park system includes 388 sites and receives 277 million visits each year. It is managed by the National Park Service. U.S. national parks

5. Case Study: Stresses on U.S. Public Parks (1) • 58 Major national parks in the U.S. • Biggest problem may be popularity • Noise • Congestion • Pollution • Damage or destruction to vegetation and wildlife

6. Case Study: Stresses on U.S. Public Parks (2) • Damage from nonnative species • Boars and mountain goats • Introduced plants, insects, worms • Native species sometimes killed or removed • Threatened islands of biodiversity • Air pollution • Need billions in trail and infrastructure repairs

7. Grand Teton National Park Fig. 10-22, p. 237

8. Science Focus: Reintroducing the Gray Wolf to Yellowstone National Park • Keystone species • 1995: reintroduced; 2009: 116 wolves in park • Prey on elk and push them to a higher elevation • Regrowth of aspen, cottonwoods, and willows • More beaver dams, more wetlands, more aspens • Reduced the number of coyotes • Fewer attacks on cattle • More smaller mammals

9. Natural Capital Restoration: Gray Wolf Natural capital restoration. After becoming almost extinct in much of the western United States, the gray wolf was listed and protected as an endangered species in 1974. Despite intense opposition from ranchers, hunters, miners, and loggers, 31 members of this keystone species were reintroduced to their former habitat in Yellowstone National Park in 1995 and 1996. By the end of 2009, there were 116 gray wolves in 12 packs in the park. Fig. 10-B, p. 238 Miller

10. At the end of 2011, at least 98 wolves in 10 packs plus 2 loners occupied Yellowstone National Park. The population size (97 wolves) and number of breeding pairs (8) is the same as at the end of 2010. But hunting outside park continues to stress pop’n Yellowstone wolf totals in National Park and greater Yellowstone ecosystem as well as Wolf Hunt info http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/wolves.htm

11. Wilderness areas “To assure that an increasing population…does not occupy and modify all areas … leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition.” —U.S. Congress

12. Wilderness areas • 1964 – Congress passes Wilderness Act • Wilderness areas can be designated within existing federal lands. • They are open to public recreation, but not exploitative development. • Controversial…

13. Case Study: Controversy over Wilderness Protection in the United States • Wilderness Act of 1964 • Protect undeveloped lands • 2% of lower 48 protected, mostly in West • 10-fold increase from 1970 to 2010 • 2009 • 2 million more acres get wilderness protection • 50% increase in length of wild and scenic rivers Comprised 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of national forest wilderness areas in the United States of America Current amount of areas designated by the NWPS as wilderness totals 757 areas encompassing 109.5 million acres of federally owned land in 44 states and Puerto Rico (5% of the land in the United States).

14. Natural Capital Degradation: Damage From Off-Road Vehicles Figure 10.23:Natural capital degradation. This photo shows the damage caused by off-road vehicles in a proposed wilderness area near the U.S. city of Moab, Utah. Such vehicles pollute the air, damage soils and vegetation, disturb and threaten wildlife, and degrade wetlands and streams. Fig. 10-23, p. 237

15. U.S. national wildlife refuges • 1903 – President Theodore Roosevelt begins system of national wildlife refuges. • Today, 541 sites are managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service: “from preservation to active manipulation ofhabitats and populations.” • Hunting, fishing, and other recreation and allowed; policies vary from refuge to refuge.

16. Opposition to land set-asides • Restriction of activities in wilderness areas has generated opposition from some quarters. • State governments of Western states would like to have control over more land within their borders. • Nevada = 80% of land federally owned • ID, OR, UT = 50%+ federally owned

17. Opposition to land set-asides Wise-use movement = loose confederation of individuals who live off the land and industries that extract resources, who oppose advances of environmental advocacy, and: • Want to protect private property rights • Oppose government regulation • Want federal lands transferred to state, local, or private hands • Want more motorized vehicle recreation on public lands

18. Land trusts Besides federal and state governments, private nonprofit groups called land trusts also set aside land for protection from development. • Local or regional organizations • 900 in U.S. own 437,000 acres and have helped preserve an additional 2.3 million acres

19. Silver Creek Nature Conservancy Preserve near Sun Valley, Idaho Figure 10.25:The Silver Creek Nature Conservancy Preserve, a high-desert ecosystem near Sun Valley in the U.S. state of Idaho, is a project of The Nature Conservancy that is open to the public. Fig. 10-25, p. 240

20. Federal Regulations • National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) • mandates an environmental assessment of all projects involving federal money or permits. • Along with other major laws of the 1960s and 1970s, such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act, NEPA creates an environmental regulatory process designed to ensure protection of the nation’s resources. • Endangered Species Act: A 1973 U.S. act that implements CITES, designed to protect species from extinction

21. Before a project can begin… Members of the public are entitled to give input into the environmental assessment, and decision makers are required to respond. Although developers are not obligated to act in accordance with public wishes, in practice, public concern often improves the project’s outcome. • Environmental impact statement (EIS)- outlines the scope and purpose of the project. • Environmental mitigation plan- outlines how the developer will address concerns raised by the projects impact on the environment. Concerned Citizens CAN make a difference!!!

22. Designing and Connecting Nature Reserves • Large versus small reserves • The buffer zone concept • United Nations: 553 biosphere reserves in 107 countries • Habitat corridors between isolated reserves • Advantages (maintains access, wildlife paths btw reserves, human activities and practices) • Disadvantages (increased predation among “edge”, human activities)

23. Case Study: Costa Rica—A Global Conservation Leader • 1963–1983: cleared much of the forest • 1986–2006: forests grew from 26% to 51% • Goal: net carbon dioxide emissions to zero by 2021 • ¼ of land in nature reserves and natural parks – global leader • Earns $1 billion per year in tourism

24. Solutions: Costa Rica: Parks and Reserves—Eight Megareserves Fig. 10-26, p. 241

25. International parks and reserves • Protected areas have been growing fast in many countries. • The world now has 38,536 protected areas, covering 9.6% of the planet’s land surface. • But many of these are “paper parks”—protected on paper, but subject to illegal exploitation because of lack of funding for enforcement.

26. International parks and reserves • Protected areas have been growing fast in many countries. • The world now has 38,536 protected areas, covering 9.6% of the planet’s land surface. • But many of these are “paper parks”—protected on paper, but subject to illegal exploitation because of lack of funding for enforcement.

27. International parks and reserves (TAKE NOTES ON THESE) • World heritage sites fall under national sovereignty but are partly managed internationally by the United Nations. • Transboundary parks are areas of protected land overlapping national borders. • Some transboundary reserves function as peace parks, acting as buffers between nations with boundary disputes.

28. International parks and reserves Biosphere reserves that straddle international boundaries consist of three zones, combining preservation with sustainable development.

29. Design of protected areas How parks and reserves are designed has consequences. Recall how habitat is fragmented by development: Forest fragmentation at Mt. Hood N.F., Oregon, and in Cadiz Township, Wisconsin (!!), 1831–1950.

30. Design of protected areas • Questions for reserve design: • What is better for biota: single large or several small (“SLOSS dilemma”)? • How important are corridors for wildlife to travel from one reserve to another? • These are key issues in conservation biology.

31. Conclusion • Natural resources can be responsibly and sustainably managed or carelessly exploited and overharvested. • Many countries have established agencies to manage public lands. • In North America, early emphasis on resource extraction evolved into policies on sustained yield and multiple use. • Public forests today are managed for timber, recreation, wildlife habitat, and ecosystem integrity. • Public support has resulted in parks and other reserves in North America and abroad.