Early Development of Systems Analysis in Natural Resources Management from Man and Nature to the Miami Conservancy District |
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Authors: | K John Holmes M Gordon Wolman |
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Institution: | (1) Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, National Research Council, 2001 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA, US;(2) Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Ames Hall, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA, US |
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Abstract: | Contemporary approaches to natural resources and environmental decision-making typically draw on a “systems” perspective to
assess and improve management strategies. This paper describes the early genesis of the systems analysis approach. It concentrates
on a period between the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. During the early part of this period, George Marsh's Man and Nature and related works laid out an approach to problem-solving that recognized the relationship among physically disperse elements
in the environment, the need to balance benefits against costs, the potential for using quantitative modeling to understand
management options, and the importance of integrating human and natural components into solutions. In the early 20th century,
the Miami Conservancy District project brought this approach to fruition with its use of complex simulation and optimization
modeling, detailed cost–benefit analysis, and its linking of economics, engineering, science, and law into a far-reaching
solution to a complex water resources problem. The objective of this paper is to describe the early development and application
of this conceptual approach to problem-solving. An examination of the origins of natural resources systems analysis can broaden
one's perspective of the contemporary field to understand its roots as a philosophy for environmental problem-solving. |
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Keywords: | : Systems analysis Natural resources management US environmental history Environmental decision-making |
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