Land Use in the World

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Land Use in the World
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Land Use in the United States
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U.S. Public Lands
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Managing U.S. Public Lands

• Management ethics

• Economic

• Balanced multiple use

• Ecological

• Preservationist

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Changing Management

• Through late-1800s economic

• Developed to maximize use and profit

• Sold to homesteaders, railroads,
• timber and mining companies

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Changing Management

• Late-1800s balanced multiple use

• Use in several ways, but manage
• properly so resource is not damaged

• Maximum sustained yield

• Set aside forest reserves to ensure
• adequate timber supply, protect
• river watersheds

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Changing Management

• Also late-1800s ecological

• Use it, but emphasize maintaining
• natural aspects (plants, animals)

• 1872 lands set aside for eventual 1st
• national park - Yellowstone

• Ethic supported greatly by U.S.
• President Theodore Roosevelt

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Changing Management

• Throughout 1900s preservationist

• No development, leave as is for future

• Aldo Leopold, WI conservationist

• 1964 National Wilderness Act (4)
• - lands set aside, retained in natural
• state, no development unless for the
• national good

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Todays Management

• Most lands managed according to
• balanced multiple use or ecological
• ethics
• - e.g. U.S. Forest Service
• Bureau of Land Management

• Public lands still facing many problems

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Conflicting Demands
Mineral Resources
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Wilderness Problems

• Suffering from overuse

• Limited entry in many areas

• Timber, mining companies want
• access to resources

• For the national good

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Park Problems

• Severe overuse

• Billions of visitors each year

• Cars, noise, pollution, litter, crime

• Conflicts between providing for
• visitor enjoyment and still
• conserving resources

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Managing and Sustaining National Parks

• Most parks are too small to maintain biodiversity

• Invasion by exotic species

• Popularity a major problem

• Traffic jams and air pollution

• Visitor impact (noise)

• Natural regulation

• Better pay for park staff

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Forest Problems

• Conflicting demands

• Timber, grazing, recreation, mining,
• ecology

• Ecological benefits air cleaning,
• erosion control, oxygen, soil fertility,
• water recycling, wildlife shelter

• Exceeding maximum sustained yield
• in many areas

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Types of Forests

• Old-growth (frontier) forests

• Second-growth forests

• Tree farms/plantations

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Rangeland Problems

• Overgrazing

• Too many on too little for too long

• Kills grass root systems

• When combined with drought,
• overgrazing can cause desertification
• - conversion to desert

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The Fuelwood Crisis

• Planting fast-growing fuelwood plants

• Burning wood more efficiently

• Switching to other fuels

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Degradation of Tropical Forests
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Logging Roads

• Increased erosion and runoff

• Habitat fragmentation

• Pathways for exotic species

• Accessibility to humans

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Tropical Deforestation

• Rapid and increasing

• Loss of biodiversity

• Cultural extinction

• Unsustainable agriculture and ranching

• Clearing for cash crop plantations

• Commercial logging

• Fuelwood

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Reducing Tropical Deforestation

• Identification of critical ecosystems

• Reducing poverty and population growth

• Sustainable tropical agriculture

• Encourage protection of large tracts

• Debt-for-nature swaps

• Less destructive harvesting methods