World diamond industry: 1970–2000

The diamond cartel has remained effective in controlling diamond supplies and prices for a longer period than any other major minerals cartel in the twentieth century. This paper examines the diamond pipeline from mine to the jewellery market. Particular attention is given to the characteristics of diamonds and of the industry structure that make the long-term stability of the cartel possible. The strategies of De Beers Consolidated Diamond Mines in controlling rough gem supplies and prices are examined, and projections are made to 2000. The paper shows that in spite of a projected decrease in the share of total diamond production sold through the De Beers' cartel in the 1990s, the cartel is expected to continue effectively to control supplies and prices.     

The International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade in retrospect and implications for the future

In global terms this paper reviews the progress made during the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. There has been considerable progress. In terms of percent receiving water services, the urban areas made good progress: 77% in 1980 to 82% in 1990. In the rural areas progress was even greater, 30% had water services in 1980 versus 63% in 1990. There was also considerable progress in institutional terms. A positive trend towards better linkage betweeen authorities dealing with water supply and sanitation and those dealing with economic development, was one. Another was the awareness of the need for community involvement. In some cases progress was hampered by fragmentation of governmental authorities dealing with water and sanitation at the rural and/or urban level. In the 1990s an important issue will be financing the infrastructure needed to bring water and sanitation services to those not already covered and to an increasing population. Institutional issues will continue to be important as well.     

Drainage Investment and Wetlands Loss: an Analysis of the National Resources Inventory Data

The United States Soil Conservation Service (SCS) conducts a survey for the purpose of establishing an agricultural land use database. This survey is called the National Resources Inventory (NRI) database. The complex NRI land classification system, in conjunction with the quantitative information gathered by the survey, has numerous applications. The current paper uses the wetland area data gathered by the NRI in 1982 and 1987 to examine empirically the factors that generate wetland loss in the United States. The cross-section regression models listed here use the quantity of wetlands, the stock of drainage capital, the realty value of farmland and drainage costs to explain most of the cross-state variation in wetland loss rates. Wetlands preservation efforts by federal agencies assume that pecuniary economic factors play a decisive role in wetland drainage. The empirical models tested in the present paper validate this assumption.     

Case study: Browning-ferris industries' computerized system for managing audit and environment performance

While some companies have established scoring systems within their audit programs, few utilize the full potential for measurement of the information gathered and subsequently produced from audits. In this article, the use of a computerized tracking system developed and used by Browning-Ferris Industries is discussed, along with a data report that details the completion of audit items and helps assure that action plans resulting from environmental audits are completed. This and other summary reports from the computer tracking system have provided meaningful measures of individual facilities' and overall company performance.     

Ecologically derived guidelines for managing two New Zealand lakes

Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau, in Fiordland National Park, became the center of a major controversy after the New Zealand government offered their water resource to an overseas aluminum smelting consortium for electricity generation. Although the scheme proceeded, the lake levels were not raised as originally proposed. Rather, government sought guidelines to optimize hydroelectric potential while maintaining ecological stability of the vulnerable, largely forested, glaciated lakeshores. Guidelines were derived by relating the vegetation zonation to the natural lake-level fluctuations recorded daily for 37 years. Ahigh operating range in the upper third of the lakes' natural ranges, based on flood tolerances of the woody shoreline species, restricts both duration and frequency. Alow operating range (ca. lower third) safeguards stability of shoreline sediments by limiting drawn-down rates, duration, and frequency. Themain operating range (ca. middle third) has few limitations. These guidelines, which allow utilization of ca. 93% of the water resource, have now been verified by instances of flooding and draw-down rates that exceeded the natural rates recorded earlier. The guidelines were officially accepted by the government in 1977 as a basis for managing the valuable multiple resources of these two lakes and their environs, and they were formalized in legislation in 1981. The details and merits of the guideline approach are discussed.     

A framework for understanding the consumptive orientation of recreational fishermen

Fishermen were aggregated into high-, mid-, and low-consumptive groups according to the importance they placed on catching fish. Analysis of variance indicated that each consumptive group was unique in the importance it placed on other fish-related variables. Low-consumptive fishermen rated most other aspects of the fishing experience, such as interacting with nature, relaxation, and escaping the daily routine, more important than did high-consumptive fishermen. Low-consumptive fishermen also fished more frequently and were generally more satisfied with their most recent fishing trip than were high-consumptive-oriented fishermen. The three groups can be viewed as different fishing constituencies. By understanding their characteristics, we can gain additional insights into the impacts of management decisions on recreational fishermen and their experiences.     

Riera de Caldes new town: the restriction of growth

The historical and regional context to the development of a planning strategy for Barcelona is examined, providing an explanation of the obstacles to development of new towns in the region, and that of Riera de Caldes in particular. The paper analyses the reasons for the failure to develop the new town, and its subsequent reversion to rural uses and a place of pilgrimage for environmentalists.     

Occupational stress: Coping of police and their spouses

One hundred seventy-seven police officers and their spouses from two metropolitan areas completed separate questionnaires regarding stress and coping. Both the police and spouses reported using four coping activities in response to their own stressors: problem focused, emotion focused, religiosity, and rugged individualism. Three potential police strains previously noted in non-empirical literature were given special attention; divorce potential, drinking behavior, and suicide thoughts.     

Recreational impacts on Colorado River beaches in Glen Canyon,Arizona

Recreational impact was measured on eight beaches in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and 15 beaches in Grand Canyon National Park using permanently located transects and plots. Recreational impact indices included densities of human trash and charcoal and a measure of sand discoloration due to charcoal. Significant increases in the indices occurred on several Glen Canyon beaches over a seven-month period. Sand discoloration became significantly higher over all Glen Canyon beaches during the same time period. All indices were significantly higher in Glen Canyon than on similar Grand Canyon beaches. These differences are probably due to differences in: (a) level of impacts tolerated by the respective management regimes and, (b) in the number of user days among the two National Park Service administrative units. Management alternatives are presented for reversing the present trends of recreational impact on Glen Canyon beaches.