There are several points of view concerning the importance of maintaining biological diversity. For example, environmental groups in the Northwest want to restrict logging to save the habitat of an endangered bird. Timber companies insist that the well-being of one bird type is not as important as the well-being of the population who will be affected if the restriction causes the companies to lay off workers. How do you respond to these arguments? Is there a possible compromise?

Logging has turned out to be the most controversial among the oldest industries in American. Environmentalists have sternly attacked the practices of harvesting and they have scored some momentous victories. The conflict between the logging company and the environmental groups ignited when the federal government listed the northwest spotted owl as an endangered bird species in August 1990 and developed laws to ensure its continued existence by protecting the forests of the government in the Pacific Northwest. The result was serious restrictions: logging was averted within 2,000 acres around a well-known spotted nest of an owl; the largest trees in that area had to remain uncut around a five hundred acre zone, and logging was forbidden within a 70 acre zone around any nest. Ever since, the logging company has been engaged in constant court cases, regulatory proceedings and political squabbling so as to retain the rights of logging on the governments lands. The environmental groups have won other latest victories.

Although logging companies have been restricted from cutting trees by the environmental groups, many company’s supporters confirmed that northern spotted owls have increased substantially in the past years and even if they have been endangered, this did not provide an adequate reason to throw millions of workers out of their occupations and also destroy dozens of wood/timber communities. The logging companies have been fighting for their livelihood through the court cases. The disagreements between the logging companies and the environmentalists that stopped the progress of logging in Northwest have been relatively rare in the southern part. These two groups have indeed worked together to balance the economic and the environmental concerns.

While the conflict between the Timber Company/ Industry and environmentalists has centered mostly on the continued existence of the northern spotted owl in current years, movements to protect other different species may possibly affect this industry in the near future. Timber directors are also worried about the result of logging on salmon. For the reason that logging habitually damages the watercourses or streams where salmon spawn, species could in the long run become federally cosseted, an act that would further limit the logging industry/company in the Northwest.

What major environmental threats affect the National Parks? How could the National

Parks in the United States be used more sustainably?

Environmental, human pollution threat: People infect and affect the environment that surrounds them but it’s not too late to make some changes to improve our national parks. The thought of losing these national parks due to these threats are saddening because there will be nothing left for the future generation.

Human disruption of climate threat: This is the greatest threat to the national parks. With this threat these national parks faces risks such as loss of snow and ice, more flooding and downpours, loss of communities of plants, wildlife loss, loss of cultural and historical resources and intolerable heat (Spicer, 2004).

National parks in the United States can be used sustainably by NPS promoting, assisting and cooperating in the efforts of prevention beyond the boundaries of the parks to preserve enough and large ecosystems, migration corridors and crucial habitat so as animals and plants can have opportunities to continue to survive and move in good transformed landscapes (Koziell, 2001).  By NPS officials speaking out publicly regarding how climate change and how this can threaten the national parks and the ecosystem will enable people and visitors to use national parks in a better manner. For national parks to be used sustainably, NPS should utilize their programs of environmental education to inform people about threats of national parks and how to overcome these threats.

Imagine that you are the sustainability guru for the world. Identify the three most important features of your policies for using and managing: Forests; Grasslands; Nature reserves, parks and wildlife refuges; biological hotspots and areas with deteriorating ecosystems

1. Promote the development of human resources and training staff to elevate the role of all these sectors in the local and national economy. (Spicer, 2004)
2. Enhance climate adaptation, reverse and stop the progress of the severe degradation of grassland and establish many types of the fenced regions or zones.
3. Improve biodiversity and the natural heritage, shielding native vegetation and the associated habitats; increasing public participation in the process of decision making where nature reserves, parks and wildlife refuges are involved. Providing technical assistance and funding to non-governmental organizations and other different partners in private sectors to guard biodiversity hotspots. To strengthen co-operation so as to identify exact sites which have the most threatened world species (Schroeder, 2008).  Adopt biodiversity hotspots as a most important target for the efforts of conservation. Eliminate measures of conversation of acres of land; revoke established measures of conservation that prohibit the injuring or the killing of the many  threatened species; oblige the federal government to pay the oil industry, the developers and other exceptional interest groups to keep them from injuring or killing publicly owned wildlife and fish.

Coastal and inland wetlands serve important ecological and economic roles globally. Despite their value, over half of the wetland areas in the United States have been lost in the last 100 years. Discuss two solutions for protecting and restoring wetlands.

Map wetlands: this is a very good way for protecting and restoring wetlands. Many land trusts have prepared these wetland maps that have been very helpful to local government, landowners and other people in protecting and restoring their wetlands. In protecting and restoring wetlands on ought to actively manage these wetlands. Land trusts have increasingly managed their wetlands such as buffers creation, natural hydrology restoration, boardwalks’ construction and exotic species removal.

Provide wetland interpretative programs: They include school children programs, wetland walks and the wetland festivals (Robert, 2005). Work and educate landowners: land trusts are doing a very good job of educating the owners of land concerning the values and the functions of wetland, the benefits of protecting and restoring wetlands and management alternatives techniques. Help the local governments to carry out conservative planning; they are mainly part of watershed efforts of planning.

References

Fischman, Robert (Fall 2005). “The Significance of National Wildlife Refuges in the    Development of U.S. Conservation Policy“. Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law 21:1–?. Indiana Legal Studies Research Paper No. 19. doi:10.2139/ssrn.699482.

Schroeder, R. (2008). “Comprehensive conservation planning and ecological sustainability   within the United States National Wildlife Refuge System“. Sustainability: Science,       Practice, & Policy 4(1):38–44.

Gaston, K.J. and J.I. Spicer (2004). Biodiversity. An introduction. 2nd Edition.Blackwell.ISBN:    1405118571

Groombridge, B. and M.D. Jenkins (2002). World atlas of biodiversity. Earth’s living resources     in the 21st century. University of California Press, Berkeley.ISBN: 0520236688

Purvis, A, and A. Hector. (2000). Getting the measure of biodiversity. Nature 405:212-219.

Izabella Koziell, (2001). Diversity not adversity: sustaining livelihoods with biodiversity: IIED

Martin Herbert, (2003). Typical and atypical development: from conception to adolescence: Wiley-Blackwell

Tomasz Okruszko, Edward Maltby, Jan Szatylowicz. (2007). Balkema-proceedings and    monographs in engineering, water, and earth sciences: Routledge

James G. Gosselink, William J. Mitsch. (2007).Wetlands: John Wiley and Sons, 2007