Transcript Chapter 17 Land Resources

Chapter 17
Land Resources
Overview of Chapter 17
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Land Use
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Wilderness Park and Wildlife Refuges
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National Parks
Wildlife Refuge
Forests
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World land use
US land use
Forest management
Deforestation
Rangeland and Agricultural Land
Wetlands and Coastal Areas
Conservation of Land Resources
Land Use- Worldwide
Land Use- United States
Local areas
National Parks
o http://www.nps.gov/applications/parksearc
h/state.cfm?st=PA
National Wildlife Refuge- Erie and Tinicum
(John Heinz, close to Philadelphia)
http://www.fws.gov/heinz/index.html
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Allegheny National Forest – only one in PA
http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/alleghen
y/
John Heinz National Wildlife
Refuge
Allegheny National Forest
Land Use- United States
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55% of US land is privately owned
Remainder of land is owned by government
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Most federally owned land is in Alaska and 11
western states
Managing Public and Private Land
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Public Planning and Land Use
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Land use decisions are complex and have
multiple effects
Must take into account all repercussions of
proposed land use
Management of Federal Land
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Wide-Use Movement
Environmental Movement
Wilderness Areas
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Wilderness
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Wilderness Act (1964)
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A protected area of land in which no human
development is permitted
Set aside federally owned land as part of
National Wilderness Preservation System
No development permitted (including roads),
trails left alone, not maintained. Maybe
difficult to visit
Managed by NPS, USFS, FWS & BLM
Wilderness
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Some areas have a limited number of
permitted human guests to reduce impact
Other problems include invasive species
PA Wilderness areas
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http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse
=NWPS&sec=wildView&WID=7
http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/alleghen
y/recreation/hiking/hickory_creek/
Within Allegheny National Forest
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National Park System
Yosemite National Park
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Created in 1916
Currently includes 58
parks (not including other
designations like monument,
historic site etc.)
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Primary goal
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Teach people about the
natural environment,
management of natural
resources and history
of a site
National Park System
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Threats to U.S. Parks
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Crime & Vandalism
Traffic jams
Pollution of the soil, water and air
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Originating both inside and outside the park
Resource violations
Natural Regulation
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Policy to let nature take it course
No culling wildlife (no hunting)
No suppressing wildfire
Ken Burn’s National Parks
documentary
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Antiquities Act
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http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/watchvideo/#658
Teddy Roosevelt – A Progressive
Republican of his day
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Park scandal of the day:
http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/watchvideo/#807
Wildlife Refuges
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National Wildlife Refuge System (1903)
Represent all major ecosystems founds in
the US
Mission
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To preserve lands and waters for the
conservation of fishes, wildlife and plants of
the US
Recreation (including hunting and fishing)
are permitted
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Cannot impede conservation efforts
Forests
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Role in Hydrologic
Cycle (right)
Forest Management
Deforestation
Forest Trends in
the US
Trends in Tropical
Forests
Boreal Forests
Succession
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How has succession played a role in
Okehocking?
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Describe the historical change in
Okehocking’s land use?
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What stage of succession is Okehocking?
Think of trees that indicate stage.
Forest Management
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Traditional Forest
Management
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Low diversity- monocultures
(right)
Managed for timber production
Ecological Sustainable Forest
Management
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Environmentally balanced
Diverse trees
Prevent soil erosion
Preserve watersheds
Wildlife corridors- unlogged
Harvesting Trees
Harvesting Trees - Clearcutting
Deforestation
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Temporary or permanent clearance of
large expanses of forest for agriculture or
other use
World forests shrank 90 million acres
from 2000–2005
Causes
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Fire
Expansion of agriculture
Construction of roads
Tree harvest
Insect and disease
Deforestation
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Results
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Decreased soil fertility
Uncontrolled soil erosion
Production of hydroelectric power (silt build up
behind dams)
Increased sedimentation of waterways
Formation of deserts
Extinction of species
Global climate changes
Forest Trends in US
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Most temperature
forest are steady or
expanding
Returning stands lack
biodiversity of original
forests
More than half of US
forest are privately
owned (right)
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Forest Legacy Program
Conservation easement
Local Efforts
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http://www.wctrust.org/Conservation/Rus
htonWoodsPreserve/RushtonWoodsPreser
ve.html
US National Forests
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Managed for multiple uses
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Road building is an issue
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Timber harvest
Livestock forage
Water resource and watershed protection
Mining, hunting, fishing, etc.
Provides logging companies with access to
forest
Clearcutting is an issue
Sheep grazing in Apache National
Forest, AZ
Case-In-Point Tongass National Park
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One of world’s few
temperate
rainforests
Prime logging area
Modified 1997
Forest Plan
Roadless Area
Conservation Rule
(2000)
Politics rules
government agencies
Trends in Tropical Forests
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Tropical rainforests (below) and tropical
dry forests
Disappearing Tropical Rain Forests
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Population growth
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Immediate causes
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Cannot account for
all of it
Subsistence
agriculture
Commercial logging
Cattle ranching
Other causes
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Mining
Hydroelectric power
Disappearing Tropical Dry Forests
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Primarily destroyed for fuelwood
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Used for heating and cooking
Boreal Forests
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World’s largest biome
Extensive clearcutting
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Primary source of world’s industrial wood and
wood fiber
Rangeland and Agricultural lands
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Rangeland
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Land that is not intensively managed and is used for
grazing livestock
Rangeland Degradation and
Deforestation
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Overgrazing leaves ground barren
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Land degradation
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Animals exceed their carrying capacity
Natural or human-induced process that
decreases future ability of land to support
crops or livestock
Desertification
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Degradation of once fertile land into
nonproductive desert
Rangeland Trends in US
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Make up 30% of total US land area
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Pressure from developers to subdivide
Public rangeland managed by:
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2/3 privately owned
Taylor Grazing Act (1934)
Federal Land Policy and Management Act
(1976)
Conditions of public rangeland are slowly
improving
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Grazing fees is an issue
Agricultural Land
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US has 300 million acres of prime
farmland
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Much is being
overtaken by
suburban sprawl
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Parking lots
Housing
developments
Shopping malls
Wetlands
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Lands that are usually covered with water
for at least part of the year
Have characteristic soils and watertolerant vegetation
Benefits
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Habitat for migratory waterfowl and wildlife
Recharge groundwater
Reduce damage from flooding
Improve water quality
Produce many commercially important products
Hurricane Sandy Impact
Influence of wetlands
http://articles.philly.com/2013-1029/news/43497891_1_wetlands-lossbarnegat-bay-hurricane-sandy
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Influence of oysters
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/20
12/12/oysters-eyed-as-help-for-new-yorkharbor/
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Wetlands
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Human activity that threatens wetlands
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Drainage for agriculture or mosquito control
Dredging for navigation
Construction of dams, dykes or seawalls
Filling in for solid waste disposal
Road building
Mining for gravel, fossil fuels, etc.
Shrinking 58,500 acres per year
Restoring Wetlands
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No Net Loss of
Wetlands:
Development of wetlands
is allowed if
corresponding amount of
previously converted
wetland is restored
Not all wetland
restorations are
successful
Coastlines
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Coastal wetlands
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Provide food and habitat for many aquatic
animals
Historically regarded as wasteland
US starting to see
importance of
protecting this
environment
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Retaining seawalls
(right)
Coastal Demographics
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Many coastal areas overdeveloped
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3.8 billion people live within 150km of coastline
6.4 billion people will likely live there by 2025
United States
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14 of 20 largest US cities along coast
19 of 20 most densely populated countries along coasts
Conservation and Land Resources
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All types of ecosystems must be preserved
Four criteria of importance:
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Areas lost or degraded since European
colonization
Number of present examples of a particular
ecosystem (or the total area)
Estimate of the likelihood that a given
ecosystem will lost a significant area or be
degraded in next 10 years
Number of threatened and endangered species
living in the ecosystem
Conservation and Land Resources