Legal considerations in challenging external threats to Glacier National Park,Montana, USA

External threats to the environmental integrity of Glacier National Park, Montana, USA, fit into three categories: adverse land use practices adjacent to the Park, air pollution, and water pollution. This article identifies and evaluates the laws that Glacier National Park officials might rely upon to protect the Park against these external threats. The article also assesses the available scientific information relating to external threats, and it identifies additional information needed to establish a legal basis for challenging the threats.     

Measuring for success in communications for permits

Today, U.S. corporations are discovering the merit of combining the principles of total quality environmental management (TQEM) into their measurement and communications programs. This approach has been particularly productive in the permitting process that is necessary for starting, expanding, or sustaining plant operations—a procedure that can easily be thwarted in the absence of a prominent and aggressive communications component. The need to benchmark and measure such a communication program'S progress is critical both for internal management and for environmental regulators concerned that an applicant demonstrate a high degree of public involvement.     

Hydrograph Separation by Incorporating Climatological Factors: Application to Small Experimental Watersheds 1

Abstract: Evaluating the relative amounts of water moving through the different components of the hydrological cycle is required for precise management and planning of water resources. An important aspect of this evaluation is the partitioning of streamflow into surface (quick flow) and base‐flow components. A prior study evaluated 40 different approaches for hydrograph‐partitioning on a field scale watershed in the Coastal Plain of the Southeastern United States and concluded that the Boughton’s method produced the most consistent and accurate results. However, its accuracy depends upon the proper estimation of: (1) the end of surface runoff, and (2) the fraction factor (α) that is function of many physical and hydrologic characteristics of a watershed. Proper identification of the end of surface runoff was accomplished by using a second derivative approach. Applying this approach to 12 years of separately measured surface and subsurface flow data from a field scale watershed (study area) proved to be accurate for 87% of the time. Estimation of the α value was accomplished in this study using two steps: (1) alpha was fitted to individual hydrographs: and, (2) a regression equation that determines these alpha values based on climatological factors (e.g., rainfall, evapotranspiration) was developed. Using these strategies improved the streamflow partitioning method’s performance significantly.     

Ausbildung und wissenschaftsstandort deutschland

In the ongoing discussions about the qualities of Germany regarding economic activities and especially industrial production in a unifying Europe and with respect to worldwide economic competition, it is important to carefully consider the conditions for innovative and competitive scientific research. Germany as a site for science is dependent not only on the resources of public research institutes, on available research funds and on industrial R&D investment, but just as decisively on the existing framework of conditions for scientific-technological progress. Thus, the whole educational system is of utmost importance since it must form and develop the coming generations of researchers. Their knowledge and their attitudes, as acquired in this educational process, determine not only their future scientific productivity, but also the public acceptance of high-tech production in Germany.