Environmental Management and the New Politics of Western Water: The Animas-La Plata Project and Implementation of the Endangered Species Act

/ This paper explores the new politics of western water policy through an examination of the Animas-La Plata water project and implementation of the Endangered Species Act. It is suggested that the focus of western water programming has shifted from the source of distributed funds, the United States Congress, to the agencies originally created to deliver federal benefits because funding for new project construction has not been forthcoming. Under this new system, members of Congress continue to excite their constituents with promises of money for new project starts, while the administrative agencies perform the myriad duties needed to keep these projects alive. The result is that political objectives have replaced operational/management objectives in administrative processes. In this case, the author demonstrates how resource managers in the Bureau of Reclamation manipulated hydrological analysis to control administrative process, why their manipulation was unfair, and perhaps illegal, and why biologists from the US Fish and Wildlife Service accepted the analysis. While ostensibly protecting all interests, the result is that none of the objectives of federal water programming are achieved. KEY WORDS: Environmental management; Administrative politics; Water policy; Endangered Species Act; Animas-La Plata, Bureau of Reclamation     

江苏两栖脊椎（蛙类）物种保护的问题和对策建议

生物多样性保护是“强富美高”新江苏建设的重要内容。近几十年来,受城镇化、工业化的快速发展,以及农用化学品的广泛使用等因素影响,江苏境内适宜蛙类生存的栖息地面积明显缩小,无斑雨蛙等我国特有蛙类物种数量明显下降,前景令人担忧。针对目前蛙类物种保护中存在的问题,建议从社会公众教育,物种本底调查,样地监测观测,科学研究投入等方面采取强有力的措施,切实扭转蛙类物种种群数量减少的不利局面。     

长株潭城市生态绿心生物多样性调查——以陆生维管植物为例

生物多样性是生态系统健康的关键决定因素,是地球生命共同体的血脉和根基。以长株潭绿心区域陆生维管植物生物多样性调查数据为基础,将43个森林样方划分为6种植被类型17个群系,统计了各植被类型和群系物种数量;以重要值（IV）为依据,分析了乔木、灌木、草本植物的空间结构和优势度。结果表明,调查的43个森林样方中共记录有乔木种类80种;常绿阔叶林和常绿针叶林是调查样方中占比较大的2种植被型;马尾松、檵木、杨桐、杉木、苦槠、毛竹是样方中的常见种;不同样方树种数量、空间结构和重要值均有较明显的差别,不同群系空间结构有较明显的差别。乔木层树高为3~20 m,其中毛竹林群系树高差别较小,米槠林群系树高差别较大;乔木层胸径为3~40 cm,其中栓皮栎林群系的乔木胸径差别最小,米槠林群系差别最大。     

Threatened and Endangered Species: At What Cost? The Corps of Engineers Looks at Expenditures and Priorities

Current political conditions, primarily budgetary uncertainty, and the related reluctance to make funding commitments for future generations, have raised questions about the costs of conservation and environmental protection that have not previously been asked. As Federal investments are scrutinized and budgets become ever more constrained, the costs associated with environmental requirements could begin to be of greater importance and to influence decisions on Federal projects. In response to concerns about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) spending under the Endangered Species Act (P.L. 93-205) (ESA), a limited investigation was performed to determine the accuracy of reported Corps expenditures. The investigation showed that, for particular groups of species, actual conservation costs for threatened and endangered species may be twice the amounts previously reported in the annual ESA expenditure reporting to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In light of this finding, the Corps has sought a means to provide more accurate and consistent reporting of expenditures for addressing threatened and endangered species. A Species Costs Template (template) has been developed to identify the types and magnitude of costs related to the ESA and to counteract the impediments (legal, institutional, and practical) to underreporting costs. The template will be used by the Corps for reporting ESA costs beginning with Fiscal Year 2005 (FY05) (reported in January 2006). Five broad categories of expenditures (effects determination costs, ESA protection and conservation costs, equipment costs, opportunity costs, and other species costs) are identified by the template.     

Decline in Endangered Species as an Indication of Anthropic Pressures: The Case of European Mink Mustela lutreola Western Population

Populations of threatened species, especially predators at the top of the food chain, may be affected by anthropic pressures. The endangered western population of European mink Mustela lutreola has shown a large decline over 50% of its natural range. M. lutreola disappeared from northwestern France between 1984 and 1997, and the decline was associated with an increase in mustelid trapping, changes in watercourse quality, and habitat modifications due to agricultural practices. The pattern of decline showed a fragmentation restricting the minks into very small areas. Trapping was the first known cause of mortality. Although feral American mink Mustela vison may compete with autochthonous carnivores, M. lutreola had disappeared from streams before the introduction of the American species, suggesting that competitive interactions were not responsible. Furthermore, American mink has never been found or has remained rare in 62.4% of the area from which M. lutreola has disappeared. During the past 25 years, permanent grassland surfaces were reduced by 40%, whereas fodder culture increased by 470%, causing considerable habitat changes. Furthermore, 55.7% of water courses were classified as being of bad quality or polluted. Therefore, our data suggests that a conjunction of intensive trapping, alterations in water quality and habitat modification was critical for the European mink's decline. Although there are difficulties in ascribing specific cause to distribution changes in a top predator, this decline can be regarded as an indication for anthropic pressures on natural habitats.     

Mine-drainage treatment wetland as habitat for herptofaunal wildlife

Land reclamation techniques that incorporate habitat features for herptofaunal wildlife have received little attention. We assessed the suitability of a wetland, constructed for the treatment of mine-water drainage, for supporting herptofaunal wildlife from 1988 through 1990 using diurnal and nocturnal surveys. Natural wetlands within the surrounding watershed were also monitored for comparison. The treatment wetland supported the greatest abundance and species richness of herptofauna among the sites surveyed. Abundance was a function of the frog density, particularly green frogs (Rana clamitans) and pickerel frogs (R. palustris), while species richness was due to the number of snake species found. The rich mix of snake species present at the treatment wetland was believed due to a combination of an abundant frog prey base and an amply supply of den sites in rock debris left behind from earlier surface-mining activities. Nocturnal surveys of breeding male frogs demonstrated highest breeding activity at the treatment wetland, particularly for spring peepers (Hyla crucifer). Whole-body assays of green frog and bullfrog (R. catesbeiana) tissues showed no differences among sites in uptake of iron, aluminum, and zinc; managanese levels in samples from the treatment wetland were significantly lower than those from natural wetlands. These results suggest that wetlands established for water quality improvement can provide habitat for reptiles and amphibians, with the species composition dependent on the construction design, the proximity to source populations, and the degree of acidity and heavy-metal concentrations in drainage waters.     

Human impact on beach and foredune vegetation of North Padre Island,Texas

Vehicular and pedestrian traffic decreased top and root production, percent cover, and diversity of vegetation, and modified species composition on beach and foredune areas of Padre Island National Seashore and Nueces County Park. Degradation of vegetal cover was directly related to the type and intensity of traffic; species in heavily trafficked areas represented earlier successional stages than those in comparable undisturbed areas.