Term
|
Definition
| 28% U.S. land area (mostly in the western states); originally viewed as useless for timber/grazing/farmland; resource value discovered in 20th century |
|
|
Term
| Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) |
|
Definition
| act passed in 1953 extends national domain to include OCS (can reach as far as 200 miles offshore); greatly increased resource value of public lands; managed by BLM |
|
|
Term
| National Wilderness Preservation System |
|
Definition
| must be set aside and undeveloped forever; created in 1964; 105.8 million acres of land; approximately half in Alaskan wilderness (added in ’79) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| created in 1872 with Yellowstone; public recreation; closed to mining, timber, grazing, etc |
|
|
Term
| National Wildlife Refuge System |
|
Definition
| provide habitat for migratory birds, mammals, and fish; also waterfowl hatcheries and research stations; 96 million acres, 2/3 in Alaska but some in all 50 states |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| implemented in 1897 to create forest reserves, furnish timber supply, and for mountain watershed protection; multi-use management balances recreation, timber, grazing, and conservation; principally found in southeastern and far western states and Alaska |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| largest portion of the public domain (found mostly in western states and Alaska); composed of prairie, desert, scrub forest, and other open land; much of this land is barren, but some is suitable for grazing (government issues permits to ranchers) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| “balanced use”; ambiguous definition leads to conflict between states, private interests, environmental interests, congressional committees; conflicts can sometimes require reformulation of land-use policy |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| created in 1905, part of Dept. of Agriculture; reputation for professionalism and good management practices; highly decentralized; forest rangers have discretion to interpret multiple use at local level |
|
|
Term
| Bureau of Land Management |
|
Definition
| 1946; manages more land with less money than Forest Service; predominantly in the West; dominated by top-down management, complicates multiple use interpretation |
|
|
Term
| Confusing and conflicting mandates |
|
Definition
| language of the multiple use mandate is ambiguous, but the theory behind it allows for flexibility on the part of managers |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| refers to the intersection of federal, state, and private interests in public lands, i.e. states receive revenue from timber sales and mineral extraction in lieu of property taxes |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| political manifestation of western states’ resentment of land use policy that was seemingly unsympathetic to their economic interests, i.e. designation of conservation lands that eliminated the potential for economic development in the west |
|
|
Term
| Interest groups and industrial interests |
|
Definition
| oil, ag, recreation, timber, grazing |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| 1988; cousin of Sagebrush rebellion; argued that development of resources on public lands was a “wiser use” than preservationist land policies; used property rights as legal and philosophical basis |
|
|
Term
| Politics of checks and balances |
|
Definition
| taking advantage of system of checks and balances to either promote or hinder policy; in times where president and congress are politically aligned, can be used to smother minority initiatives; in times when congress and President are opposed, system can by a tug of war, a delay tactic |
|
|
Term
| Management problems for national forests |
|
Definition
| interpretation of multiple use especially contentious in the case of timber because it is left up to the Forest Service to determine what is a sustainable yield and whose interests (i.e. private v. public) should drive the multiple use designation |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| controversy over whether timber sales are actually economical when you factor in the infrastructure necessary (i.e. roads); see Jack Ward Thomas reading for more in-depth discussion |
|
|
