ecosystem
YANGYANG
TheLivingWorldinPolicyandLaw.pptProtecting the Living World
ECS 111
26 March 2018
A Debate on Tuna
Types of Movements
- Environmental Protection and Preservation
- National Wildlife Federation
- Audubon Society
- Sierra Club
- World Wildlife Fund
- Green Peace
- Earth Alert
- Resource conservation groups
Types of Movements
- Environmental Protection and Preservation
- Resource conservation groups
- National Cattlemen’s Association
- American Farm Bureau Federation
- National Rifle Association
- Heritage Foundation
Industry Groups
- American Petroleum Institute
- National Home Builders
- Forest Products Association
- Coal Association
- American Mining Congress
- Global Climate Coalition
Up in Washington
“If you can’t shoot it, hook it, or @xX#! It, it’s not worth conserving.” G. Ray Arnett (Former Interior Department Official and NRA executive president)
“ If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” President Harry Truman
1994
John Muir (1838-1914)
How do perceptions vary?
- Oil transport industry
- Sport diver
- Dive operator
- Discovery Channel viewer
- Artesianal fisherman
- Stock market executive
Industry Groups
- American Petroleum Institute
- National Home Builders
- Forest Products Association
- Coal Association
- American Mining Congress
- Global Climate Coalition
How do these groups view global climate change and the CO2 problem?
Those lost in the shuffle?
- How do we protect our icons?
- Legislation in 1940s to protect eagles.
- International issues: The Canadian connection.
What is ownership?
- Property rights and private property (Chapter 4 in Ruhl et al.)
- Property Rights: How is this defined?
- Set of interests in the property
- A system the enforces interests
- Means for divesting these interests
Social systems = Politics
- How do different systems view property?
- When does the state own something?
- How do we protect private property?
Social systems = Politics
- How do different systems view property?
- When does the state own something?
- How do we protect private property?
- What defines the power of the state?
- How are these rights protected?
Who owns the west?
Types of jurisdiction:
- National Parks (NPS)
- National Forests (NFS)
- Managed Lands (BLM)
Historical Protection of Forests
- Forests as property of monarchs: Henry VIII, German landholders, …
- Yellowstone Park Act of 1872.
- Forest Service Organic Act of 1897
- National Forest Acts: 1976, 2003
- UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (World Heritage Convention) 1972
Who controls forests?
- Federal: NPS and NFS
- Private ownership
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
“The Park”
NFS, BLM, state, and private
How big does a park or other conservation area have to be?
Meeting of Minds:
Wyoming Wildllife 2012
Who is responsible for bears?
- Nationally we have decided to protect bears and encourage their population growth.
- But, bears eat things and can kill hikers… Who is responsible?
Who is responsible for bears?
- Nationally we have decided to protect bears and encourage their population growth.
- But, bears eat things and can kill hikers… Who is responsible?
- U.S. government owns the bear?
- However, it also sets the rules
Who is responsible for bears?
- Nationally we have decided to protect bears and encourage their population growth.
- But, bears eat things and can kill hikers… Who is responsible?
- U.S. government owns the bear?
- However, it also sets the rules
What is the ecosystem function and service or bears?
Adding Animals Back to Ecosystems?
- Humans remove animals and plants from ecosystems when they can.
- Example: Wolves – Gray wolf (Canis lupus) reintroduced to Yellowstone.
- Restoration of predator/prey balance.
A Legal Approach to Conservation
- Endangered Species Act of 1973 (U.S. C. A. 1531-1599)
- Congressional findings:
1) various species of fish, wildlife, and plants in the United States have been rendered extinct….
2) other species …. Have been so depleted in numbers that they are in danger of or threatened with extinction.
3) these species … are of esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, scientific value to the Nation and its people.
Endangered Species Act (Cont.)
4) the United States has pledged itself as a sovereign state in the international community to conserve to the extent practicable the various species of fish or wildlife and plants facing extinction, …
5) encouraging the States and other interested parties, through …. To develop and maintain conservation standards is the key to meeting the Nation’s international commitments and to better safeguarding …
Returning to section 1531 a) (5);
- What are the implications for states under the ESA?
- Who are the other interested parties listed in the act?
- Who sets the standards mentioned?
Endangered Species Act (Cont.)
4) the United States has pledged itself as a sovereign state in the international community to conserve to the extent practicable the various species of fish or wildlife and plants facing extinction, …
5) encouraging the States and other interested parties, through …. To develop and maintain conservation standards is the key to meeting the Nation’s international commitments and to better safeguarding …
Listing a species?
- Prairie chickens: A bird in the sights
- Severe habitat loss: Land use change; drought; impacts of grazing
Rethinking ES Act?
The snail darter controversy
- August 12, 1973 David Etnier (Uni. Tennessee) discovers snail darters in the Little Tennessee River while working on a lawsuit over the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) over the Tellico Dam.
- The sure extinction of the darter immediately invokes the ESA
Snail Darter (Percina tanasi)
The darter vs the Tellico dam
- Court actions: Supreme court action – Is Congress breaking its own laws by appropriations for the dam? Congressional rules states that they can not break the law. Work on the dam is enjoined.
- Congressional action: Senator Baker sponsors and amendment to the ESA to create a cabinet level committee (“God Committee”) with the power of exempting entities from the ESA.
Endangered Species Committee
- Secretary of Agriculture
- Secretary of the Army
- Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors
- Administrator of the EPA
- Secretary of the Interior
- Administrator of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Who won?
- Baker bill passes (September 10, 1979); Carter, who opposes the dam, signs the law putting the dam in operation (September 25, 1979) and dam goes into operation in November.
- Snail darters are transplanted, but are also found elsewhere in the Tennessee river basin. They are removed from the endangered species list in the 1980s.
What about the endless sea?
28 March 2018
International Fish
- How do we govern the larger commons?
- United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982
- Deliberations start in late 1960s
- Convention reached in 1982
- Came into force in 1994.
- “the strongest comprehensive environmental treaty now in existence” [submittal letter from Sec. State to President of United States, 1994]
Protecting the Seas
Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis)
The oceans as an aspect of defense and commerce.
How do we make sure that this picture, a sub and orca can both safely coexist in the marine environment?
The problem of whales:
- Marine mammals are protected and they rely very much on acoustics.
- Heard Island was almost shut down by worries about whales.
- Current Navy sonars are being questioned because of their impact of marine mammals.
How do international and U.S. law merge on these issues?
- UNCLOS; Antarctic Treaty (1959; agmeas 1964; 1991); various ocean specific conventions; CITES; Conv. Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR, 1980); International Convention for the regulation of whaling (ICRW, 1946)
How do international and U.S. law merge on these issues?
- U.S. laws: Fish and Wildlife Act (1956); ESA (1973); Magnusan Fisheries Act (1976,1996,2006); Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972)
More Recent Concerns
- 2005 Millennium Ecosystems Assessment (MA) program. U.N. program
- 2/3rds of Ecosystem services globally
where found to be in decline.
- 6 million hectares of primary tropical
rain forest are being lost annually
since 2000.
- Convention on Biological Diversity (2007)
More Recent Concerns
- 2005 Millennium Ecosystems Assessment (MA) program. U.N. program
- Convention on Biological Diversity (2007)
- Diversity (three different measures of
how many species live in an area) is
important to ecosystem function
(Wilson, 1992).
- Therefore there should be an international
effort to promote the maintenance of
biodiversity.
Biodiversity Hotspots
60% of the biodiversity is located on
just 1.4% of the Earth’s land surface.
Can we manage the world?
- Manipulation of ecosystems to maintain biodiversity and species of interest
- Restoration of ecosystems: Rewilding
- Handling invasive species or living with them.
- What are the ways and means involved?
But the grasses have changed!
Role of Insects in Ecosystems
Pine Bark Beatles
Other issues:
- Relation of forest loss to global warming and atmospheric CO2 and methane.
- Equity and resource transfers
- Sustainable Development (Conservation and sustainable use)
- Genetic resources; biotechnology and technology transfer
- Transboundary airpollution: NOx and H2SO4 (acid rains)
Bee – ware!
- Crucial part of ecosystem function
- Provide important pollination services to agriculture
- Are seeing precipitous declines in the northern hemisphere
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)
- Parasites; mites and diseases
- Increased pathogen loads
- Decreased nutrition (GMOs?)
- Low genetic diversity ; inbreeding in domestic bees
- Pesticide resduals
Ants Can they stop global warming?
