Title 16 united states code §55 and its implications for management of concession facilities in Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park is one of the nation's most scenic and ecologically/geologically important parks. Unfortunately, the park is subject to extensive development of concession facilities and associated high levels of visitor use. Those concerned with preservation of the park's resources have attempted to limit the types and extent of such facilities to reduce adverse impacts. Strictly speaking, resolution of the preservation versus use controversy must be based on whether the National Park Service is adhering to its legislative mandate to regulate development and use in the parks. The common interpretation of legislative mandates for national parks, including Yosemite, is that they call for a difficult balancing between the conflicting goals of preservation and use. Accordingly, although concession developments cause significant impacts, they usually have been interpreted to be within the legal discretion allowed the secretary of the interior. However, the usual interpretations of the meanings of legislative mandates for Yosemite National Park have not considered Title 16 United States Code §55, which is a very restrictive statute limiting concession facilities. Many of the limitations imposed on concession facilities by the plain language of the statute have been exceeded. If it can be shown that 16 United States Code §55 is a valid statute, the policy implications for park management in Yosemite National Park would be considerable — namely, that significant reductions in concession facilities could be required. This article examines whether the statute can reasonably be thought to be valid and encourages others to conduct further examination of this question.     

The Appropriateness of Snowmobiling in National Parks: An Investigation of the Meanings of Snowmobiling Experiences in Yellowstone National Park

The debate over snowmobiling and other types of motorized recreation in US national parks signals the need for a better understanding of the meanings of these experiences. The fundamental issue facing many parks is whether snowmobiling is an appropriate activity. The matter of appropriateness is anchored in two questions: (1) Does snowmobiling in national parks cause unacceptable biophysical and social impacts? (2) Are snowmobiling experiences consistent with the fundamental purposes of national parks? This article particularly addresses the appropriateness issue and presents the findings of an interpretive study of the meanings of snowmobiling experiences in Yellowstone National Park (YNP). Sixty-five semistructured interviews were conducted with winter visitors who used snowmobiles in the park during the winter season of 1999. Overall, the study findings reveal that visitors on snowmobiles view YNP as a place to experience its wildland attributes, such as natural scenery, geothermal features, and, especially, wildlife. Snowmobiling is perceived as a mode of transportation rather than the experience in and of itself. The results challenge the popular image of snowmobiles as thrill-craft and snowmobilers as thrill-seekers. The study demonstrates that snowmobiling in YNP affords highly meaningful recreational experiences, grounded in appreciating the park’s unique natural features and attributes.     

National parks legislative mandate in the United States of America

Natural areas of national parks constitute unique ecological and aesthetic resources. Since the inception of national parks, it has been apparent that they are susceptible to threats that result in significant change and damage. Today, major issues concerning management of parks relate to questions of expanded visitor use and what types of facilities are to be deemed appropriate, that is, the dilemma of preservation versus use. In the United States of America, resolution of this dilemma must, strictly speaking, be based upon intent and meaning of Congressional legislation. The traditional interpretation of legislation in the U.S. has been to provide for a balance of use and preservation. However, extensive review of the literature of national park policy reveals a remarkable lack of elaboration and clarification of legislative meaning. Based upon a critical analysis of pertinent legislation, which has heretofore been ignored, we provide an interpretation of legislative meaning which strongly supports a policy of preservation of park resources.     

Perceptions of a Nearby Exurban Protected Area in South Carolina,United States

To address the dearth of literature on the relations between local residents in urban areas and nearby higher-order exurban protected areas, this study examined the perceptions of Columbia (South Carolina) residents toward Congaree National Park. Mail-out survey results from a random sample of 455 adult residents showed positive overall attitudes toward the park, although this did not extend to a desire to personally volunteer in park activities. Cluster analysis on the basis of seven perceptual statements produced three groups: “very enthusiastic park supporters” (VEPS), accounting for one fourth of the sample; “less enthusiastic park supporters” (LEPS), accounting for approximately one half of the sample; and “ambivalents” (AMBS), accounting for the rest. The AMBS tend to be younger than members of the other clusters and have higher income, but enthusiasm was more clearly related to high levels of interaction and awareness relative to the park. Managerial implications of the study are considered, including the need to encourage higher levels of park awareness and visitation, as well as more ecologically responsible behavior, among residents of the greater Columbia urban area.     

Perceptions, preferences, and reactions of local inhabitants in Vikos-Aoos National Park, Greece

Local inhabitants' perceptions, preferences, and reactions were investigated in Vikos-Aoos National Park, 25 years after its designation. Knowledge of aims of the park and source of information about them, necessity for infrastructure, reactions to certain policies, and effectiveness of administration and management scheme were studied by means of a questionnaire survey. Personal interviews were performed by systematic sampling, which resulted in 203 cases for analysis. Most respondents said that they had knowledge of the aims of the national park, and this was positively associated with education; protection of flora and fauna was identified by most as the main aim, and the management authority (the Forest Service) ranked first in order as source of information. Tourism development of the area was seen as a positive change, and recreation facilities and improvement in accessibility were considered of high priority for development. The investigation into peoples' reactions to several possible alternative management policies revealed willingness to accept certain restrictions on their agricultural use of the land. A policy of nonintensive agriculture with compensation for loss of income, if the ecosystems of the park were in danger, seems the most acceptable. Long-term leasing of farms by the Forest Service was another policy with a high degree of acceptance, especially for certain occupational groups; those working in the secondary and tertiary sectors of economy would accept such a policy more easily than those working in the primary sector. Finally, a very large majority of the respondents expressed a preference for a new administration and management scheme with the participation of local communities in the decision-making process.     

The Relationship Between Environmental Concern and Acceptability of Environmental Impacts among Visitors to Two U.S. National Park Settings

This study examined the relationship between environmental concern and ratings of acceptability of environmental impacts among visitors at two national park settings. Based on the concept of a social ecological paradigm shift, it was hypothesized that individuals with greater levels of environmental concern are less accepting of environmental impacts in national parks than individuals with lesser degrees of concern. Sample data came from Cape Lookout National Seashore (N=392) and Moores Creek National Battlefield (N=236), two national park units in the south-eastern U.S.A. Environmental concern was measured by the New Ecological Paradigm scale. Acceptability was measured by visitor responses to 25 items covering different types of environmental park impacts. Analysis of variance and Tukey's means comparison procedure were used to test for differences between groups defined by levels of environmental concern on impact acceptability. Significant relationships were found between environmental concern and 15 of the 25 specific impacts in the Cape Lookout sample and 13 significant relationships were found in the Moores Creek sample. However, the relationships between environmental concern and acceptability varied somewhat across the two samples. These findings suggested that individuals with greater environmental concern were less accepting (or tolerant) of certain types of park impacts, while individuals with lesser degrees of environmental concern were more accepting of certain park impacts. Differences across the study settings were attributed to the different orientations of park visitors between the two national park units and recency effects. While the data reported are preliminary, they should be informative for park management purposes, particularly in the determination of standards for park impacts.     

Drivers of illegal resource extraction: An analysis of Bardia National Park,Nepal

While park-people conflicts have received worldwide attention, the extent of illegal resource extraction and the relationship with communities’ livelihoods has gained little attention in the literature. Thus this paper investigates the impact of socio-economic factors involved in illegal fuel wood and fodder extraction at Bardia National Park in Nepal. Household questionnaires, key-informant interviews and focus groups were conducted to identify different plant species used by households and explore the causes and mode of resource extraction in three buffer zone villages in the park. Altogether 50 different plants were identified by villagers that were used regularly for different livelihood purposes. Almost half of the respondents met their needs by illegally and regularly extracting resources from the park. Incentive schemes in the form of development projects were important but not sufficient in meeting the basic needs of households’ especially for such daily items such as fuel wood and fodder. The results described in this paper showed that proximity and access to resources either in the national park, the buffer zone community forest or the government forest, and impact on the livelihoods significantly influenced the likelihood of illegal resource extraction activities. Villages that differed in terms of their location to the resource base, the provision of alternative resources and influence of these on their livelihoods showed significant differences in terms of their patterns of resource extraction and use of these resources. As resource use options, resource interest, and resource extraction patterns were different between villages and dependent on circumstances specific to villages, site-specific management strategies were necessary and more influential than the enforcement of ‘one-size fits all’ policies. It is suggested that park management plans should be flexible and adaptive enough to meet site-specific contexts and to endear wider support from local communities.     

National parks south of the border

This paper appraises, in the context of the current debate concerning national parks for Scotland, factors that may have contributed to the achievement of national park purposes in England and Wales. Voluntary support, presumptions and resources are seen as crucial to the achievement of those purposes; while the few extra powers available to the national park authorities and the plan making process are seen to be of some importance. In contrast, it is argued that the much‐debated nature of the administrative authority has had little effect on the extent to which park purposes are achieved.     

Structuring cooperative behavior under the National Environmental Policy Act of the United States

A trend is presently under way to streamline the compliance requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of the United States through cooperative assessment procedures. Since the law was enacted in 1970, however, participants in the assessment process have tended to settle disagreements by adversarial rather than cooperative means. This study focuses on a highly acclaimed environmental assessment procedure undertaken by the U.S. Steel Corporation for its proposed $4.0 billion Lakefront Steel Plant. Survey research data were gathered to measure the underlying management philosophy perceived by interorganizational representatives, who attended a series of Technical Team meetings designed to coordinate the assessment effort and to open communication channels. A social psychological scale of behavioral dimensions was adapted from Likert to define the composition and the extent of cooperation at these meetings. A newly constructed scale was used to measure the quantity and quality of representation by each of the major organizations involved. Informal interviews were conducted with project participants to obtain further insight into member interaction. Results indicate that democratic problem solving was in evidence but also suggest a preference by respondents for improved procedures. The paper outlines areas of concern voiced by respondents and offers the means for improving the operating procedures of similar interorganizational environmental assessments.     

Governance assessment of a protected area: the case of the Alde Feanen National Park

This paper addresses the challenge of appropriate governance of complexity and diversity in the Dutch national park of Alde Feanen. The issue is how to enhance ecosystem resilience. Our focus relates to a navigable waterway within the park that affects the natural values of the area. The governance assessment tool is used to assess the governance context of the waterway and ecosystem resilience in the area. The study shows that a lack of a long-term integrated vision makes the governance context less supportive. Such a vision could maximize the focus on the resilience of the park's nature and motivate actors to work towards a common future for a concerned area. However, institutional complexity, combined with institutional inertia, is revealed as a hindrance to the quality of governance and shapes a weak ability to adapt the current situation to move towards resilience.     

Seasonal food use by white-tailed deer at Valley Forge National Historical Park,Pennsylvania, USA

Food habits of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were examined from January to November 1984 via fecal-pellet analysis at Valley Forge National Historical Park (VFNHP), which represents an island habitat for deer surrounded by extensive urbanization, in southeastern Pennsylvania. In addition, use of fields by deer was compared to food habits. Herbaceous vegetation (forbs, leaves of woody plants, and conifer needles) was the predominant food type in all seasons except fall. Acorns and graminoids (grasses and sedges) were important food resources in fall and spring, respectively. Use of woody browse (twigs) was similar among seasons. Field use was relatively high during fall, winter without snow cover (<20 cm), and spring when food resources in fields were readily available. In contrast, use of fields was lowest in summer when preferred woodland foods were available and in winter with snow cover when food in fields was not readily accessible. Patterns of food-type use by deer at VFNHP indicate the year-round importance of nonwoody foods and field habitats to deer populations on public lands such as national parks in the northeastern United States.     

Water quality standards: Everglades National Park

Water quality criteria were developed for delivery waters to Everglades National Park. The park receives a minimum of 12.34 m³/sec (315,000 acre-ft/yr) of water from controlled sources external to its boundary. These waters often originate from areas that are or potentially are impacted from urban and agricultural developments. When, in 1970, the U.S. Congress guaranteed minimum water deliveries to Everglades National Park, it also required that these waters be of good quality.The Everglades National Park water quality data base was analyzed from 1970 to 1978 at both in-park and water delivery sites to determine the current level of delivery water quality and to select representative delivery sites. It was found that current delivery water quality was sufficiently high to be adopted as criteria against which future water quality could be compared. From the delivery sites S-12C and L-67A all data were combined from 1970–1978 for 36 parameters including macronutrients, heavy metals, and field parameters such as DO, pH, and specific conductance. Mean concentrations and upper limits were computed and tabulated for comparison during future monitoring programs. These criteria were subsequently adopted through a joint memorandum of agreement between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. National Park Service.     

非诉讼环境纠纷解决机制之重构

在环境纠纷的非诉讼解决方面,我国虽然已有运用各种非诉讼纠纷解决方式来处理环境纠纷的实践,但在立法方面以及运作方式上仍然不完善,通过对该机制的各种程序进行分析和阐述,提出我国在环境纠纷解决中运用非诉讼解决机制进行重构.     

The dilemma of flood control in the United States

In spite of increasing annual expenditures for flood control, losses from flooding continue to rise in the United States. This seeming contradiction arises from overdependence on federally supported structural solutions to flood problems. Nonstructural controls are initiated reluctantly at local levels of government because of constitutional questions, restrictions of local tax bases, lack of federal subsidies for nonstructural solutions, and the high costs of delineating flood hazard areas. The success of the National Flood Insurance Program is doubtful since only about five percent of the flood-prone communities in the United States have qualified for the regular program. Future reduction of flood losses is dependent upon increasing popular awareness of flood hazards and altering federal subsidy policies to reduce the impact of local land-use regulations.     

美国环境应急管理制度简析

美国作为工业发达国家,经过百余年的发展,建立了世界领先的环境应急管理制度。自2005年松花江水污染事件爆发至今,我国的环境应急管理需求迫切,管理水平也在飞速提升。对美国的环境应急管理制度的分析能为我国环境应急管理工作提供借鉴。首先,美国设立了以宪法为根基,以应急管理法律法规为主要枝干,以针对突发性环境事件的专门性立法为具体内容的管理体系。其次,美国建立了包括总统、联邦应急管理署、美国国家环境保护局,以及州、县和地方政府中的管理机构在内的多层级应急管理系统。再次,美国基于国家应急系统(NRS)及其核心国家应急计划(NCP),为环境应急响应工作制定了清晰的工作流程。此外,美国还设立了超级基金,有助于有效解决应对环境突发事件的资金来源问题。2014年1月,美国西弗吉尼亚州发生埃尔克河化学品泄漏污染水源事件,通过将该污染事故作为案例进行分析,本文详细梳理了美国各层级政府对该污染事故的应急响应处理流程,体现出其具有的流程规范、分工清晰、属地处理、联邦支持等特点。     

Use of Descriptors of Ecosystem Functioning for Monitoring a National Park Network: A Remote Sensing Approach

Baseline assessments and monitoring of protected areas are essential for making management decisions, evaluating the effectiveness of management practices, and tracking the effects of global changes. For these purposes, the analysis of functional attributes of ecosystems (i.e., different aspects of the exchange of matter and energy) has advantages over the traditional use of structural attributes, like a quicker response to disturbances and the fact that they are easily monitored through remote sensing. In this study, we described the spatiotemporal patterns of different aspects of the ecosystem functioning of the Spanish national parks and their response to environmental changes between 1982 and 2006. To do so, we used the NOAA/AVHRR-GIMMS dataset of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a linear estimator of the fraction of photosynthetic active radiation intercepted by vegetation, which is the main control of carbon gains. Nearly all parks have significantly changed during the last 25 years: The radiation interception has increased, the contrast between the growing and nongrowing seasons has diminished, and the dates of maximum and minimum interception have advanced. Some parks concentrated more changes than others and the degree of change varied depending on their different environmental conditions, management, and conservation histories. Our approach identified reference conditions and temporal changes for different aspects of ecosystem functioning, which can be used for management purposes of protected areas in response to global changes.     

The National Park Service: DOI or independent status?

Over the course of the last two decades there has been a recurring theme among proponents of the National Park Service mission that politics has undermined the day-to-day goals of the Service. With the increased politization of the Park Service, two recent proposals have called for removal of the NPS from the Department of the Interior and call for it to become an independent body along the lines of other government entities such as the Smithsonian Institution. This article reviews these proposals and suggests that in the long run removal from the Department of the Interior will not solve the problems of the NPS and may well accelerate them.     

Inventory of Interbasin Transfers in the United States

Interbasin transfers (IBTs) are man‐made transfers of water that cross basin boundaries. These transfers are used to distribute water resources according to supply and demand. The objectives of this work were to quantify the number of IBTs that exist in the United States (U.S.) and to examine the distribution of IBTs and potential causes associated with any observed clustering of IBTs. Defining “basin” was important to enable determination of which transfers qualify as “interbasin.” A variety of definitions are employed by states, with no federal definition. The most recent national studies of IBTs were conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 1985 and 1986 using USGS Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) definitions of basins. To build a 2016 inventory of IBTs in the U.S., and to identify where they most commonly occur, the USGS National Hydrography Database (NHD) was utilized in conjunction with the Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD). Transfers across HUC6 basin boundaries were considered interbasin. Geographical information analysis with the NHD and WBD databases revealed that there are a total of 2,161 man‐made waterways crossing HUC6 basin boundaries in the U.S. IBTs are somewhat concentrated: Florida, Texas, and North Carolina account for over 50% of the total identified IBTs. For some states, identified IBTs are locally clustered. Analysis of these clusters suggests a variety of reasons that IBTs have been built, including population, drainage, and agricultural factors.     

国家公园分区管控的实践总结与制度进阶

分区管控是实现国家公园严格保护与合理利用双重目的的基础制度,也是保障原住居民发展权益的有效途径。梳理总结各试点公园的分区管控制度,本文发现存在实体规范各行其是、程序规范先天不足、责任规范流于形式的问题,难以实现保护优先、兼顾利用之间的关系。国家公园法应统一分区标准,采取二阶结构的分区管控制度,首先以世界自然保护联盟提出的"三圈层"模式划分严格保护区、缓冲区、一般控制区,进而将一般控制区划分为游憩展示区和传统利用区,并将生态保育修复区作为特别的"动态分区"。同时,提高国家公园规划及变更的审批权限并完善分区管控的法律责任,以实现实质的差别化管控和严格规范的管理。     

Simulated grazing responses on the proposed prairies National Park

The tallgrass prairie version of the ELM Grassland Model was used to evaluate the potential impact of establishing a tallgrass prairie National Park in the Flint Hills region of Kansas. This total ecosystem model simulates (a) the flow of water, heat, nitrogen, and phosphorus through the ecosystem and(b) the biomass dynamics of plants and consumers. It was specifically developed to study the effects of levels and types of herbivory, climatic variation, and fertilization upon grassland ecosystems. The model was used to simulate the impact of building up herds of bison, elk, antelope, and wolves on a tallgrass prairie. The results show that the grazing levels in the park should not be decreased below the prepark grazing levels (moderate grazing with cattle) and that the final grazing levels in the park could be maintained at a slightly higher level than the prepark grazing levels.