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Parks And Protected Areas

AP Environmental Science

Mr. Grant

Lesson 67

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Objectives:

• Define the term Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

• Identify federal land management agencies and the lands they manage.

• Recognize types of parks and protected areas and evaluate issues involved in their design.

• TED - In his home of Namibia, John Kasaona is working on an innovative way to protect endangered animal species: giving nearby villagers (including former poachers) responsibility for caring for the animals. And it's working.

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Bureau of Land Management (BLM): The Federal agency that owns and manages most U.S. rangelands. The BLM is the nation’s single largest landowner; its 106 million ha (261 million acres) are spread across 12 western states.

Define the term Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

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Identify major federal land management agencies and the lands they manage.

• The U.S. Forest service, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Land Management manage U.S. National forests, national parks, national wildlife refuges, and BLM land.

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Federal parks and reserves began in the U.S.

• National parks = public lands protected from resource extraction and development- Open to nature appreciation and recreation- Yellowstone National Park

was established in 1872• The Antiquities Act (1906) lets

the president declare public lands as national monuments- Which may later become

national parks

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The National Park Service (NPS)

• Created in 1916 to administer parks and monuments- 392 sites totaling 34 million ha (84 million acres)- Includes national historic sites, national recreation

areas, national wild and scenic rivers- 285 million visitors in 2009

• These parks are “the best idea we ever had”• There are also 3,700 state parks across the U.S.

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National Wildlife Refuges

• Begun in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt- 39 million ha (96 million acres) in 550 sites- The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National

Monument added 22 million ha (55 million acres)• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)

- Administers wildlife refuges, serving as havens- But allows hunting, fishing, wildlife observation,

photography, education- Managed for waterfowl and non-game species- Restores marshes and grasslands

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Wilderness areas are on federal lands

• For hiking, nature study, etc.- Must have minimal impact

• Grazing and mining were allowed as political compromise

• Established in federal lands- Overseen by the agencies

that administer those areas• 756 areas, 44 million ha (109

million acres)

Wilderness is necessary to ensure that humans don’t occupy and modify all natural areas

Wilderness areas = are off-limits to development

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Not everyone supports land set-asides

• Some western states want resource extraction and development

• The wise-use movement = individuals and industries opposed to environmental protection want:- To protect private property, oppose government

regulation- Federal lands transferred to state or private hands- Motorized recreation on public lands- Farmers, ranchers, loggers, mineral, and fossil fuel

industries

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Opposition to wilderness protection

• President George W. Bush weakened wilderness protection- Federal agencies shifted policies and enforcement

away from preservation and conservation toward recreation and resource extraction

• Indigenous people often oppose land protection- Recreational areas are often sacred to Native cultures

• But protected areas can help indigenous people- In Brazil and other Latin American nations, these areas

protect tribes from miners, farmers, and settlers

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Nonfederal entities also protect land

• Each U.S. state has agencies that manage resources on public lands- So do counties and municipalities

• Land trusts = local or regional organizations that purchase land to protect it- The Nature Conservancy is the world’s largest land

trust- Trusts own 690,000 ha (1.7 million acres) and protect

an additional 4.1 million ha (10.2 million acres)- Jackson Hole, Wyoming is protected by a land trust

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Recognize types of parks and reserves, and evaluate issues involved in their design.

• Public demand for preservation and recreation has led to the creation of parks, reserves, and wilderness areas.

• Biosphere reserves are one of several types of internationally managed protected lands.

• Because habitat fragmentation affects wildlife, conservation biologists are working on how best to design parks and reserves.

• Island biogeography helps inform conservation planning, but climate change is posing threats to protected areas.

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Why create parks and reserves?

• People establish parks and reserves to:- Preserve areas with enormous or unusual scenic

features, such as the Grand Canyon- Offer recreational value: hiking, fishing, hunting, etc. - Generate revenue from ecotourism- Offer peace of mind, health, exploration, wonder, etc. - Protect areas that provide ecosystem services- Use sites that are otherwise economically not valuable

and are therefore easy to protect- Preserve biodiversity

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Parks and reserves are increasing internationally

• Many nations have established national parks- Benefit from ecotourism- Protected areas cover 12% of the world’s land area

• Parks do not always receive necessary funding- Paper parks = areas protected on paper but not in

reality• Biosphere reserves = land with exceptional biodiversity

- Couple preservation with sustainable development- Benefit local people

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Biosphere reserves have several zones

• Are designated by UNESCO (the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization)

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World heritage sites

• Another type of international protected area- 890 sites in 148 countries are listed for their natural or

cultural value• Transboundary parks = protected land overlapping

national borders- Over 100 nations, 10% of protected land

• Peace parks = transboundary parks that ease tensions by acting as buffers between quarreling nations- Costa Rica and Panama- It may work for Israel and its neighbors

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Habitat fragmentation makes preserves vital

• Contiguous habitat is chopped into small pieces- Species suffer

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Effects of habitat fragmentation

• Logging, agriculture, and residential development fragment habitat

• Edge effects = conditions along a fragment’s edge are different than conditions in the interior- Interior bird species can’t reproduce when forced near

the edge of a fragment- Parasites and predators attack nests

• Fragmentation is the main reason populations of North American songbirds are declining

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Islands warn us of habitat fragmentation

• Island biogeography theory = explains how species come to be distributed among oceanic islands- It also applies to “habitat islands” = patches of one

habitat within “seas” of others• The number of island species results from a balance

between species added (immigration) versus lost (extirpation)- Predicted by the island’s size and distance from the

mainland• Area effect = large islands have more species than small

- They have more habitats, environments, and variety

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The theory of island biogeography

• Larger islands have higher immigration rates – they are fatter targets

• Distance effect: the farther an island is from the continent, the fewer species find and colonize it

• Larger islands have lower extinction rates – more space allows for larger populations

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The species-area curve• Species-area curves = the number of species on an island

doubles as island size increases tenfold• Protected parks are small “islands” surrounded by

development (farms, roads, cities)- Many parks are missing species

and are too isolated to berecolonized

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Reserve design has consequences

• With habitat fragmentation, the size and placement of protected areas are key to protecting biodiversity

• The SLOSS dilemma = which is better to protect species: a single large or several small reserves?- Depends on the species: tigers vs. insects

• Corridors = protected land that allows animals to travel between islands of habitat- Animals get more habitat- Enables gene flow between populations

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Climate change threatens protected areas

• Global climate change threatens to undo our efforts to design, establish, and guard protected areas

• Species shift northward with warmer temperatures- Species can’t move in a fragmented habitat

• High-elevation species are most at risk- There is no place for them to go

• Corridors to allow movement become very important- Preserving biodiversity must go beyond parks and

protected areas

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TED Video

John Kasaona is a pioneer of community-based conservation -- working with the people who use and live on fragile land to enlist them in protecting it.

"Our attitude is important. If we pretend to be concerned and helpful but still see the community next to a conservation area as a threat, conservation won't work."

• John Kasaona: How poachers became caretakers (15:46)