Map of Watauga Reservoir Properties published in October 1959 by the Tennessee Valley Authority, Division of Reservoir Properties. Compiled from Maps and Surveys "C" stage reservation maps.The Watauga Reservoir Property Map series is divided into 3 sheets, this is sheet 2 of 3. The legend denotes retained, surplus, or transferred land. The box on the lower half includes information such as approximate acreage of tracts and sale or transfer designation. Lake front property owners (as of 1959) are listed on the top left quadrant as well included on the map itself. Physical copy resides in the Government Information, Law and Maps Department of East Tennessee State University’s Sherrod Library. Scale: 1" = 2000' / https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1025/thumbnail.jpg

Published by the Tennessee Valley Authority- Department of Forestry Relations in 1941, this map displays areas characterized by principal forest types in the Tennessee Valley. The legend denotes specific species of trees as well a description of each. Handwritten numbers were added to the legend at an unspecified date post publication. Cartography provided by Maps and Surveys Division. Minimum area classified by field survey - 100 acres. Minimum area delimited on this maps - 750 acres. Cleared lands are not delineated. Physical copy resides in the Government Information, Law and Maps Department of East Tennessee State University’s Sherrod Library. Scale - 1" = 10 miles / https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1041/thumbnail.jpg

The United States Farm Bill is a multi-billion-dollar federal legislation reenacted every five years to provide funding towards crop protection, nutrition, environmental protection, and other important focuses. The largest conservation program within the Farm Bill is the Conservation Reserve Program, which encompasses many conservation practices such as CP-33: habitat buffers for upland birds. Conservation implementation through the Farm Bill relies on voluntary producer enrollment in exchange for a rental fee to not farm enrolled land for a set time. I used yield data collected across six years from 36 agricultural fields in Humphreys and Holmes counties, Mississippi, USA, and a range of commodity prices to compare the change in economic and environmental opportunities available through economically targeted conservation enrollment between the 2014 Farm Bill and the 2018 Farm Bill. I found the 2014 Farm Bill was consistently higher in economic revenue and conservation opportunity compared to the 2018 Farm Bill

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Imidacloprid is a neonicotinoid pesticide used to protect against biting and sucking insects. Land managers rely on its systemic properties, however long-term studies investigating imidacloprid effects on ecosystem function are limited. This study investigated imidacloprid applications to Tsuga caroliniana and Tsuga canadensis over time and compared concentrations to measures of ecosystem function including soil respiration, microbial function, and invertebrate density. Results indicate that imidacloprid is persistent (p0.5). Microbial function and invertebrate density were not significantly different between control and treatment locations nor did imidacloprid concentrations correlate with ecosystem functional indicator activity (p>0.05). It is evident that imidacloprid does not affect ecosystem function over time, however care should be taken when applying it in sensitive locations where endemic, threatened, and endangered organisms reside.

Using an instrumented water quality network in Morro Bay Estuary, California from 2007 to 2010 (15 min sampling frequency), this study addressed the two objectives of constructing a nitrate budget and assessing the influence of sampling frequency on water quality parameters. These two objectives led to the submission of an original report of research (Appendix A) and a note (Appendix B) to peer-reviewed journals. The first objective was to characterize the high spatial and temporal variation in physical parameters and nitrate concentrations and to construct a nitrate budget quantifying sources and sinks of nitrate from the ocean, streams, and groundwater, as well as biological processes in the Estuary. Morro Bay Estuary was found to be a non-eutrophic system and a mean net exporter of nitrate, 327.15 t yr-1. Fifty-four percent of the nitrate export was attributed to nitrate sources and internal biological processing. Nitrate loading from streams contributed 37 % to the export of nitrate (124.01 t yr-1), while groundwater nitrate loading supplied a conservative estimate of 46 % of the exported nitrate (153.92 t yr-1), with a neap tide enhancement of the discharge. Denitrification, Zostera marina, and benthic macroalgae assimilation of nitrate were the dominant internal biological processes for removal and retention, but were only 35% of the total nitrate budget. The second objective was to investigate the impact of sampling frequency and sampling location on understanding dynamics in water quality by degrading a year time series of seven parameters from three water quality monitoring stations to sampling frequencies ranging from 15 minutes to 28 days. In Morro Bay Estuary, the semi-diurnal tidal cycle was the maximum component frequency driving the variability of temperature, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen concentrations. For these parameters, asymptotes were reached and sampling frequencies greater than six hours did not explain the additional variation in the parameters sampled. Whereas, salinity, turbidity, and nitrate concentrations lacked an asymptote, and decreased sampling frequencies led to increased estimated error. Sampling water quality parameters every 28 days can lead to mean annual difference of 30 – 140 % from 15 minute sample annual mean. We recommend sampling frequencies should be selected to oversample the tidal signal to at least hourly frequencies to capture diel cycles and episodic events that contribute significantly to understanding the variability in the estuarine physical and biological dynamics.

Agricultural producers are invested in managing the impacts of crop damage on their yields and profit. When damage occurs early enough in an agricultural growing season, farmers have the option to replant their corn stand in an effort to recoup some of the lost profits. In this thesis two different types of naturally occurring damage, wildlife depredation and persistent weed or insect patches, were simulated on two representative regions of Mississippi. These data were then used to assess the financial viability of a range of damage mitigation methods, including partial replanting, enrollment into a government conservation buffer, and no action. Replanting was demonstrated to be generally the most economically viable method of management across all simulation scenarios. This analysis showed a lower return on conservation enrollment than expected, indicating that an increase in financial benefits for some conservation programs may be warranted.

Forests provide immense goods and services to both local and regional communities. The USDA Forest Service’s, State and Private Forestry program administer multiple landowner assistance programs aimed at helping private forest owners while supporting the continued supply of ecosystem services (e.g., timber harvesting, recreation, carbon sequestration and storage). The two landowner assistance programs assessed in this study are the Forest Legacy Program (FLP) and the Forest Stewardship Program (FSP). A majority of the nation’s forests are privately owned, many of which are facing deleterious impacts like wildfires, invasive species, development pressures, and other adverse effects from climate change. The goal of this project is to (1) quantify the economic contributions emanating from lands participating in FLP and FSP in the conterminous US and (2) quantify and value the carbon sequestration on lands participating in FLP and FSP in New England. IMPLAN is an input-output modeling system, used in Chapter 1, that estimates how money flows through a regional economy. The results from the IMPLAN analysis suggest that FLP lands in the conterminous US contribute an estimated 4,560 jobs and $306.8 million in value-added from timber harvesting and recreation. Further, FSP lands contribute an estimated 27,700 jobs and $1.8 billion in value added from timber harvesting and recreation. Using Forest Inventory and Analysis carbon sequestration data and the social cost of carbon, the results of chapter 2 suggest that, in New England, FLP lands sequester 147,000 metric tons of CO2, or $7.5 million in aboveground CO2, per year. FSP lands in New England are estimated to sequester 82,000 metric tons of CO2, or $4.1 million in CO2, per year. Quantifying and estimating the economic and ecosystem service contributions emanating from lands participating in FLP and FSP provide a framework for understanding the total benefits associated with these programs (e.g., supporting rural economies, impacting climate change and the global carbon network, etc.).

Das Untersuchungsgebiet, die Nha Phu Lagune, weist eine massive Degradation der fischereilichen Ressourcen auf. Die „Rural Livelihoods“ in den Gemeinden dieser Küstenregionen sind durch diese Degradation gefährdet. Da, die Ressourcennutzungsentscheidungen einzelner Haushalte von vielen Faktoren abhängen, bedarf es eines multi-sektoralen Forschungsansatzes. Dieser ermöglicht, die Komplexität und die Diversität des Ressourcennutzungssystems und seine Nutzer, zu erfassen. Das Integrated Natural Resources Management (INRM) ist ein multi-sektoraler Forschungsansatz, der innovative und flexible Managementformen zu entwickeln versucht, um natürliche Ressourcen nachhaltig zu nutzen. Interdisziplinarität und die Betonung von Partizipation sind zentrale Kennzeichen des angewandten INRM-Forschungsansatzes. Diese interdisziplinäre Vorgehensweise berücksichtigt sowohl sozio-ökonomische und institutionelle Einflussfaktoren, z.B. Ressourcennutzer-Gruppen und bestehende Regulierungen und Gesetze, als auch biologische und produktionstechnische Einflussfaktoren, z.B. Aquakultur und Fischfangtechniken. Während eines sechs monatigen Untersuchungszeitraums unter Anwendung Partizipativer Aktionsforschung und des INRM-Ansatzes wurden 12 Dörfer im Umkreis der Nha Phu Lagune besucht. Der innerhalb der Partizipativen Aktionsforschung angesiedelte Lernzyklus generiert Wissen durch die Reflektion von gesammelten Daten, die kontinuierlich an die Beteiligten zurückgeführt werden. Die Erhebung mittels Fragebögen, halbstrukturierter Interviews, Gruppendiskussionen, Observierung, „Resource Mapping“ und Venn Diagrammen identifizierte Ursachen für die Degradation fischereilicher Ressourcen. Diese Informationen wurden dann an die Beteiligten weitergereicht, was zu neuen Erkenntnissen über alternative Ressourcenmanagementstrategien führte. Die Integration biologischer und sozio-ökonomischer Aspekte erfasste die Komplexität des Ressourcensystems Nha Phu Lagune und seiner Nutzer. Dies beinhaltet eine Vielzahl von verschiedenen Ressourcen, Akteuren, Ebenen, Institutionen, Entscheidungsstrukturen, Livelihood Strategien, Trends und assoziierte Probleme des nachhaltigen Managements natürlicher Ressourcen. / The selected study site, Nha Phu Lagoon is characterized by massive degradation of coastal fishery resources. As a result rural livelihoods in coastal communities are threatened. Since household decisions concerning resource use are influenced by several factors, a multi-sectoral approach is necessary. A multi-sectoral approach enables to comprehend the complexity and diversity of the resource system and its users. Integrated natural resources management (INRM) is one multi-sectoral research approach that aims to develop innovative and flexible management forms to manage natural resources in a more sustainable way. The applied INRM-approach is characterized through strong interdisciplinarity and participation. Interdisciplinary means that socioeconomic and institutional aspects, e.g. resource-user groups and existing legal arrangements, are combined with biological as well as production system aspects, e.g. mangrove reforestation as well as aquaculture or gear-fishing techniques. For a period of six months participatory action research following an integrated natural resource management approach was carried out visiting 12 fishing villages around Nha Phu Lagoon. The inherent ‘learning cycle’ in participatory action research generates knowledge in a process of reflecting on the collected data that is continuously fed back to the participants. During questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, group discussions, observations, resource mappings, and Venn diagrams reasons for the degradation of fishery resources were gathered. This information was then shared with participants, which led to new insights as well as alternative resource management strategies. The integration of biological and socioeconomic aspects identified the complexity of the coastal fishery resource system Nha Phu Lagoon and its users. This includes a multitude of different resources, actors, levels, institutions, decision-making structures, livelihood strategies, trends, and associated problems in the sustainable management of the natural resources.

This paper outlines the current state of environmental legislation and administration in Botswana, identifying the various problems with that system. Those problems include fragmented and overlapping administration and out-dated legislation that is not in keeping with modem, holistic approaches to environmental management, ineffective and unreliable enforcement, compounded by rampant non-compliance. The paper then considers some the developments that are being made to improve this situation, including: the conversion of the environmental agency into a department and the introduction of an over-reaching environmental Act, preparation of a wetlands conservation strategy, the introduction of environmental impact assessment legislation. The paper concludes by querying the effectiveness of those developments when unsustainable attitudes continue to predominate in the country / Law / LL.M.