With America’s recent needs for creating jobs, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, and becoming "energy independent" from foreign nations, the large-scale deployment of solar energy projects has been proclaimed a solution for rapidly generating "clean" energy. Federal agencies have been mandated by law to expedite the siting of utility-scale solar energy projects (USSEPs) on public lands. In particular, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has focused on USSEP development by creating a national solar energy program as well as state-specific programs for encouraging USSEP development, and has thus far approved two USSEPs in Arizona. Although operational USSEPs do not emit greenhouse gases, they are not completely benign to the environment. USSEPs incur negative impacts on soils, vegetation, air quality, and other natural and cultural resources. Because USSEPs have the potential to mitigate climate change, yet incur other negative environmental impacts, the reaction of citizen stakeholders such as environmental advocates to public lands USSEP development has been mixed. Environmental advocate groups have both encouraged BLM to build USSEPs, and filed lawsuits discouraging project development. In light of the ability of environmental advocates to influence USSEP development, this study explored the complex opinions of members of environmental organizations, conservation groups, watershed initiatives, and solar industry professionals regarding USSEP development on Arizona public lands. Through a review of relevant literature, a content analysis of BLM environmental review documents, and the distribution and statistical analysis of an opinion survey, the study provides insight into the implications of the current BLM Arizona siting process and specific, up-to-date stakeholder perspectives. The results indicate that while BLM Arizona siting policies do attempt to address environmental concerns, significant concerns about the current USSEP siting process remain, and that environmental advocates' support for public lands USSEPs is lower than their support for renewable energy development in general. Stakeholders reported having low levels of three items: knowledge of current solar technologies, understanding of the current federal USSEP siting process, and confidence that the government will appropriately site solar energy projects. Addressing those items may alleviate tensions between stakeholders and public lands decision-makers, resulting in faster and more environmentally responsible USSEP siting.

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Darbe išsiaiškinus žemės sklypo ribos sampratą ir jos teisinį reglamentavimą nustatoma kas tai yra žemės sklypo riba.Vėliau įsigilinus į žemės sklypo ribos netikslumo sampratą ir palyginus ribų matavimus reglamentuojančių teisės aktų pokyčius laike, nustatoma kas tai yra žemės sklypo ribos netikslumas. Išnagrinėjus žemės valdymo sąvoką, ištyrus galimybę atsirasti nuosavybės teisei per valdymą ir apžvelgus žemės valdymo įrodinėjimo būdus, nustatoma kas tai yra žemės sklypo valdymas ir kokias pasekmes, bei rezultatus jis duoda. Išanalizavus faktinio žemės valdymo reikšmę atidalinant bendraturčių žem�� ir nustatant žemės sklypo ribą, pateikiama išvada ar žemės sklypų ribos gali būti nustatomos pagal faktiškai valdomus sklypus, kai pagal matavimo dokumentus riba nėra tiksli. / Lithuania had been occupied by the Soviet Union. At that time there was no private property in the Soviet Union and in Lithuania either. When Lithuania became independent its nation chose democracy. Private properties recognition in a legal level was very important part of a new independent countries life. This law branch had to be created almost from the very beginning. But this was not really true. Because it was decided in Lithuania to recognize and restore rights for those people whose property, or whose ancestors’ property had been nationalized by the Soviet Union. Also it was decided to regard those people possession who gained it from the Soviet Union, but who in fact hadn’t done anything wrong. Restoring old property rights Lithuanias legislators at the same time had constantly to integrate developing new ownership tendencies in the world into Lithuanias legal system in order not to get much behind the other countries. Adjusting all these goals was not easy. And there have been some mistakes. This is the main reason why property survey documents are often inaccurate in Lithuania now. The problem arose mostly because of changing laws regulating land and surveys too often. A situation when a boundary in the contiguous lands surveys doesn’t match with each other is quite often in Lithuania nowadays. It is declared, in Lithuanias Civil Code Section 4.45, part 1 that, when there is an argument between the owners because of the boundary of the contiguous lands, the court... [to full text]

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This research explores transformative learning occurring through the Farmer Field Schools of the Taita Hills, Kenya using a qualitative, case study approach. The findings reveal that cultural roles and premises profoundly impacted learning and that a mixed-group setting could contribute to closing the gap between gender inequalities, leading to a more just and sustainable type of agriculture.

The Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) was developed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in 1997 in response to controversy and conflict between wildlife conservation agencies and landowners. The incentive was meant to encourage voluntary enhancement or establishment of habitat for rare species in the state, by providing technical assistance and a 75% cost-share. To evaluate the program in its first decade of existence, I gathered feedback from stakeholders via interviews, a mail survey, and case studies of LIP projects that focused on the black-capped vireo. The stakeholders I identified as administrators of the program, field personnel who acted as liaisons between administrators and landowners, and the landowners themselves. I used a qualitative theme analysis for interviews and open-ended survey responses to capture salient topics from the various perspectives. I analyzed closed-ended mail survey responses with descriptive statistics and ANOVA. For the case studies, I conducted vireo and habitat surveys and report the results with descriptive statistics or anecdotes. Stakeholders were generally pleased with the program in its first decade regarding rare species habitat improvements. Most of the 126 projects were completed and resulted in an increase of habitat for a variety of species across the state. The funding sources changed over the decade, bringing with them new directives, but in general LIP investments benefitted rare and declining species, whether listed under the ESA or not. Relations between landowners and conservation agencies also seemed to be improved in some cases and to be created in others. Every program has its difficulties to work through as it evolves, and LIP is no exception. The first 7 years of the program were state-administered and encountered a variety of modifications due to personnel changes and differing opinions on program priorities. In 2002, LIP became a national program, requiring Texas to compete for funds, and also federal clearance requirements that caused many administrative delays. My recommendations for program improvement included improved monitoring of project outcome, immediate evaluation of participants, increased communication and cooperation among various agencies who work with landowners, and dedicated staff to assist all other stakeholders in the LIP process.

Over the last century, much of the United State prairie pothole region has been converted to cultivated cropland. Concerns have been raised on government subsidized crop insurance effect on grassland to cropland conversion in the United States. Most grassland in the United State prairie pothole region are privately owned making a vivid understanding of landowners’ response to crop insurance subsidies important to facilitate effective design of prairie pothole conservation programs. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of land use conversion with the removal of crop insurance subsidies in the United States prairie pothole region. Government subsidies on crop insurance was determined to have a measurable impact on Conservation Reserve Program land acreage within the United States. It was estimated that a 15% reduction in the net returns to cropland resulted in about 274,000 increase in the land acreage of the Conservation Reserve Program. In Conclusion, the removal of crop insurance subsidies was predicted to slow down but not stop the conversion of grassland to cropland in the United States prairie pothole region.

This project provides a method to improve the urban environment of Indianapolis by developing vacant lots currently used for parking lots. Redesigning vacant lots as public open spaces can enrich the downtown environment both culturally and economically.This project is comprised of four sections. The first section is the introduction of the project. The second section addresses the problems caused by vacant lots in cities and the influence of public open spaces on public life and the city environment. The third section consists of developing a plan for public open spaces by redesigning selected vacant lots in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. The third section will present a model of development of public open spaces for the city and will legitimize the necessity for revitalization. The last section will conclude the project.The goal of the project is to present critical aspects regarding existing vacant lots in downtown areas and to develop new types of public open space that can benefit the citizens and environment of Indianapolis, Indiana. The design new types of public open space that can benefit the citizens and environment of Indianapolis, Indiana. The design strategy will integrate reevaluation of vacant lots, creation of new types of public open space, and improvement of the city environment. / Department of Landscape Architecture

The two-dimensional problem of tile drainage on sloping heterogeneous lands was considered. The land surface and the impermeable boundaries of the problem were of a general shape. The flow in both the saturated and unsaturated zones was considered and the system was treated as one composite system. The problem was solved by a finite difference numerical method using the successive over-relaxation iterative (SOR) method for the steady state case with no local recharge, and a combined Newton inner iteration and successive over-relaxation outer iteration for the transient state case with local recharge. Both the rising water table and the falling water table cases were simulated. A computer program was written in Fortrain IV language for this purpose, and a UNIVAC 1108 computer system was used. The results of two runs for a hypothetical problem and one run for a field testing problem are presented. The results were compared with some approximate mathematical solutions for the falling water table.

This research explores transformative learning occurring through the Farmer Field Schools of the Taita Hills, Kenya using a qualitative, case study approach. The findings reveal that cultural roles and premises profoundly impacted learning and that a mixed-group setting could contribute to closing the gap between gender inequalities, leading to a more just and sustainable type of agriculture.