Yellowstone Management Model - Essay Example

Yellowstone Management Model The management model used in Yellowstone is a great starting point for managing National Parks. This does not mean that the model is perfect by any means. But what Yellowstone does is it gives us an example of what a park looks like that has been managed for well over a century. In this way, we can learn from and improve upon the Yellowstone management model in several ways. One thing a newly developed park, especially in the developing world, would want to learn from the Yellowstone model is to keep the amount of anthropogenic energy necessary for maintaining the ecosystem at a minimum. Yellowstone could almost be viewed as concentric rings of varying “naturalness”. In the park there are wilderness areas that require almost no energy inputs from humans. Then there are more managed areas, where forest products are occasionally harvested. The roads, drainage schemes and hydrological disruption that come with these types of activities require more energy to maintain. The final circle is the highly transformed and maintained landscape of agricultural activity with the requisite chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and petroleum powered machinery needed to both sow and harvest crops. While the Yellowstone model does a good job preserving many thousands of hectares of land in wilderness, a developing National Park would want to note the ecological impact of hemming in these most natural areas with less natural areas. In the case of Yellowstone, it has been determined that the ecological needs of the largest fauna in the wilderness areas can not be met by the amount of land set aside. Park planners and developers in the developing world will want to learn from Yellowstone and be sure to plan an appropriate range of habitats within the ecosystem. Question 2 The future implications for the current Yellowstone management model are many. Because the model is based upon ecology and the ranges of the species that the park is intended to protect, much more study should be done before setting the boundaries of the park. This can be seen as the evolution of Yellowstone’s management model has been revealed. Originally the park was just to encompass the unique geologic features. But later, this constricting boundary was determined to be hurting the species that had come to represent the park, namely the grizzly bear, elk and pronghorn sheep. What then occurred was the recognition that the ecology necessary to support these species should be the determinant of the extent of protection. This will affect future parks much by forcing planners and conservationists to take a long-term approach to their practices. A good example of this is the individuals that are working to restore the bison to much of its original habitat in North America. They have decided that their approach needs to be a long-term approach that includes all of the relevant stake holders. Indigenous people, landowners and government entities need to work together to establish the rules for reintroduction and expansion of herds. Money interests need to be included as well or adversarial relationships with industry may weaken the possibility of cooperation. Future park management will be less dictatorial as a result of the evolving Yellowstone model. No longer will a government be able to simply draw a line on a map to demarcate a boundary for a park. An understanding of the ecology necessary to support the mega fauna within the park is both healthy for the ecosystem and for any visitors seeking to connect with the natural world in the park. Question 3 Key words that I feel should be associated with the journey-to-work are first and foremost time and money. After reading the article, I would have to add to the list gender, independence and speed. The urban growth in south-east Queensland will surely affect the journey-to-work, but possibly in ways other than expected. The first thought most commuters and environmentalists have when you combine the terms urban growth and commuting is of grid locked highways with thousands of commuters trapped in their metal boxes, honking with rage at real and perceived indiscretions. But the reading makes it clear that history shows this need not be the case. True, commuting distance has greatly increased over the past century. But commuting time has leveled off over the years. This is due to increases in technology and changing attitudes about public vs. private transportation. The increasing urbanization of south-east Queensland could bring with it an increase in public transportation options. The study in the reading showed that the more transportation options available, the less time people spend commuting. This is true for both men and women. Gender does play a role in the journey-to-work as well. Women tend to select more communal means of transportation while men showed a propensity towards more independent methods of transportation. The increasing urbanization of south-east Queensland would affect men and women differently depending on what sorts of transportation are available. If commuters opt for independent travel modes, then travel times will expand due to congestion. If others are used, the urbanization may actually offer better choices for some commuters and travel times could reduce. Question 4 The first urban service that is necessary has been keeping urban planners busy since the days of the Harappans at Mohenjo-Daro. The greatest service is to dispose safely and efficiently of the human waste that accumulates causing great harm to the environment, specifically the supply of potable water. This is the first service necessary for all to have in an urban setting. The second is like unto it. A supply of potable water that is convenient and cheap is important. This has always been true, but is even of greater importance in an industrialized society because the water is necessary for many industries such as food processing and tourism. The third most important service that needs to be provided in an urban setting is a good transportation network. The planning should include easy access to many types of public transportation that allows for maximum movement of commuters while minimizing the crowding and lack of choice that makes public transportation so unappealing to many commuters. A fourth service provided would be the necessary power infrastructure. Rapid growth can outpace the ability to provide powers for homes and workplaces. Outpacing of the electrical grid, for instance, has lead to some developers being shocked at needing to delay completion of their projects because the energy they require is not currently available on the grid. Power infrastructure is the fourth necessary service. Finally, educational services need to be expanded to meet with a growing population. School construction and the hiring of qualified teachers and administrators can be challenging if growth is too rapid. Question 5 The first key facet associated with population growth is the incredibly reduced number of years it takes to add a billion people to the planet. It took from the beginning of time until 1850 to reach a global population of 1 billion humans. It has only taken 12 years to add the latest billion. Our world population is currently a bit over 6 billion people. A second important part of population growth is the growing disparity between rich and poor. In 1960 the ratio of wealth between the richest 20% and the poorest 20% in the world was 30 to 1. In 1970, the ratio was nearly unchanged at 32 to 1. By 1991, that disparity had grown to a gap of 60 to 1. This concentration of wealth in the upper 20% of global population is causing serious problems for those in the poorest countries. Among the greatest of these problems is persistent and pervasive hunger. Economists say that now all of the news is bad concerning global population growth. They point to the fact that prices for many commodities have fallen over the past few decades. Food, petroleum and non-food commodities all were cheaper in 1991 than they were in 1975. The problem with this economic analysis of population is market prices do not reflect human well being. They do not capture costs associated with environmental degradation or the fact that the poorest 1 billion people in the world do not participate in market economies in any volume enough to affect their results. Another facet of population growth is the rapid urbanization of the earth’s population, especially in the developing world. In 1800 about 1 in 50 people lived in cities. Now roughly 1 in 2 people do. Urbanized population concentrates pollutants and demand greater services than a dispersed population. Question 6 Overexploitation of the Earth’s resources is the greatest factor associated with global environmental issues in the 21st century. Consumption driven by excessive consumerism is the real threat to ecosystems and the environment. By comparing consumption in China to the United States, the article shows that the Chinese consume about 53 times less than the Americans. But because their population is so much more than that of the United States, more environmental degradation is possible. That is why the government of China has implemented strict one child per family policies. Globally, it can be seen that the once rapid expansion of population is leveling off and will actually begin to decrease if current projections are correct. The rate of expansion is creating a curve that will eventually trend down. So the real concern is not to worry about an infinitely increasing global population, or even a growing population in the United States. The real concern is for this population to adopt lifestyles that do not degrade the environment. In short, the key to a sustainable future is accepting the fact that individuals need to consume less. By decreasing consumption now to levels currently maintained by the Chinese, the United States can avoid the environmental catastrophes associated with a rapidly expanding population. Over time, if current trends hold, the Population of the United States will level off at a sustainable level if consumption is controlled. It is highly unlikely that such a cultural shift will occur any time soon. Americans are not likely to switch to a mainly vegetarian diet, such as the one the Chinese enjoy. One the other hand, the possibility of Americans eating like Chinese is probably more likely than the government of the United States passing one child per family legislation like China. Question 7 One impact 6oC of warming could have on the earth is the increased frequency of weather extremes. A recent case of this was shown in France during the heat wave of 2003. French weather stations recorded record high temperatures during the first 12 days of August in this year. The effect on mortality during this period was astounding. Nearly 14,000 additional deaths were recorded during this period of time or the deaths could be traced to complications resulting from the heat wave. Individuals with respiratory illnesses were affected by the increased ozone in the urban environment during the heat wave. Others died as a direct result of the heat through dehydration or hyperthermia. This is of concern because increased heat waves will mean elevated mortality rates worldwide. It has been determined that more people die from heat waves than from any other type of natural disaster. Another impact of 6oC warmer temperatures is the changes in ocean currents and thermohaline circulation. This cycle helps take warm equatorial water towards the poles and takes cold polar waters towards the equator. This circulation helps to moderate the earth’s temperatures. The growth of polar ice caps has been linked to changes in this circulation. Others are attempting to link a change in this circulation to the shrinking of polar ice. A final recent event that will be exacerbated by a 6oC warmer world will be incidences of destructive wildfires. It is generally accepted that warmer atmospheric temperatures will result in less rainfall in areas that are already arid. This will make places that are currently semiarid susceptible to uncontrolled wildfires that plague more arid areas. Question 8 The policy implications for 6oC of warming are many. One would involve the use and protection of underground freshwater aquifers. As recharge rates decrease in arid areas due to less substantial rainfall, the withdraw from those aquifers will need to be reduced if they are to remain viable. This will be a difficult policy to implement because it will affect the agricultural capacity in many areas that are currently semi-arid but benefit from elaborate irrigation schemes to produce crops. Companies will have invested millions in the development of these irrigation complexes, so policy that limits their use and stands in the way of profit is not going to be an easy sell. Likewise, few nations want to consciously limit or reduce the amount of land they make available for agricultural products, especially if the crops grown are for the export market or lucrative domestic markets. Another policy implication of 6oC of warming is the setting of controls to reduce the anthropogenic greenhouse gasses going into the atmosphere and how to establish carbon sinks to extract excess carbon from the atmosphere for long term storage. The problem with this policy is the obvious economic disadvantage of limiting the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted as a result of industrial or agricultural processes. This creates a competitive disadvantage for firms operating under the restriction and gives an advantage to firms that ignore the policy. Determining the safe levels of greenhouse gasses that can be emitted is another area where policy and science must work together. International agreements are a good framework for outlining broad goals, but the policy work within individual governments of the world is where the real work must be done. Read More