The primary objective of this study was to set development policies applicable for the high Andean valleys of Tuname and Burbusay (Venezuela) ; and secondly to develop a quick and inexpensive way to assess development prospects of high Andean valleys similar to the ones studied here. The methodology employed was to classify various agricultural regions with specific development phases using the Thorbecke's classification and policy scheme. Production functions were estimated, fitted and analyzed to determine the parameters pertinent to such a classification for the two valleys where data was available. The analyses and classifications permitted a limited enumeration of policies for the valleys that could logically be expected to bring economic development. However, the study fell short of devising a quick and inexpensive method to assess developmental prospects of similar areas, which would not require some additional data collection and further refinement of the evaluation methodology.

The primary objective of this study was to establish a production function for alfalfa grown in the Sevier Valley using farm survey data. A secondary objective was to point out the analytical difficulties in establishing a production function for alfalfa. A multiple regression model using 12 linear, 12 nonlinear, and 7 interaction terms was employed. A coefficient of determination of .70 was obtained for the model. Intercorrelation problems associated with the model limit its usefulness for economic and predictive purposes. The predictive value of the model was greatly increased by reducing the numb er of correlated variables included in the model. The reduction in the number of variables also reduced the coefficient of determinations. Study results indicate that additional research on the correlation structure associated with multiple regression models is necessary. Study results indicate that optimum moisture days and actual consumptive use of moisture are better measures of water use than gross amounts of irrigation water applied. The use of these indicators reduces the number of problems associated with timing of water application and availability of water to plants. Their use would increase the reliability and significance of the evaluation of increments of irrigation water. The optimum use of irrigation water on alfalfa in the Sevier Valley is 40 inches per acre. At this use the net income to the farmer is $11.61 per acre.

This study was undertaken to determine which factors, if any, are responsible for inter-county variation in the percent of farm operators residing off the farm in California, Iowa, Kansas, Texas, and Utah. These states were selected for this study because of their wide representation of the various types of agricultural and sectional differences. These states vary significantly in type of farm, tenure conditions, off-farm employment opportunities, cultural patterns, remoteness of farms from town, and other variables. Forward step-wise regression analysis was utilized in each of the states to correlate percent of farm operators residing off the farm with type of farm, farm sales, tenancy, non-commercial farms, off-farm employment, remoteness, college education, and average off-farm income. In addition to the above variables, percent of Mormon farm operators and percent of non-white farm operators were used only in the Utah and Texas analyses respectively. Using the results of the regression analyses, it was possible to determine those variables, which a priori, were considered to be important determinants of the trend toward greater off-farm residence of farm families.

Privately owned forestland accounts for the majority of forested land in the US and provides numerous ecological, economic and social benefits to its owners and society at large. However, numerous issues ranging from fragmentation and parcelization, to pressure from the forest products industry, to increasing land values for development and real estate interests threaten to “unravel” the forest landscape. Active management of forestland is seen as one way to combat such threats. Active management of private forestland has been linked to numerous factors such as private forest landowners’ (PFLs’) general education level and familiarity with forest management, their goals, interests, objectives, attitudes, values, beliefs, and socio-cultural identity and the size and tenure of their ownership, among others. However, despite numerous efforts to understand private forest landowners (PFLs) and their interests, goals and objectives in owning private forestland, and to educate them about, and provide assistance for, private forest management, most privately owned forestland is not managed and most landowners remain unaware of the assistance and information available to them. In addition, the primarily quantitative studies investigating how these factors relate to private forestland management have been criticized for producing diminishing returns and insufficiently updating survey instruments. Using a mixed methods study design, including both quantitative and qualitative approaches, this study, conducted in the Emory-Obed watershed of East Tennessee, examined how the meaning of PFLs’ experience of their forestland and their conceptualization of forest management, two variables previously unaddressed in the literature, relate to PFL management behavior. Based on their experiences with their land, PFLs were found to form strong personal attachments to their land. Both the strength and the nature of these attachments varied relative to the degree to which PFLs actively engaged in forest management practices. The experience of those who actively engage in forest management activities is focused on the land and its condition, while the experience of those who do not actively engage in forest management activities is focused on themselves and how the experience makes them feel. Private forestland was also experienced as place. When these ways of experiencing forestland were quantified, a set of five components characteristic of the experience of forestland were identified: emotional connection to forestland, connection to nature via forestland, connection to family via forestland, forestland provision of PFL personal and financial gain, and forestland provision of financial investment. The more actively engaged with private forest land management PFLs were, the more strongly they agreed that each of these components was both meaningful and important to them. Landowners also varied in the ways in which they understood the forest management concept. Landowners simultaneously conceptualized forest management as property maintenance, as creating and enhancing forest habitat and as making money. As with the meaning of PFLs experience of their forestland, the more actively engaged in forest management activities PFLs were, the more strongly they agreed each of these components defined forest management. Lastly, the vast majority of PFLs participating in this study stated they believe they manage their forestland. This is in stark contrast to conclusions reported in the literature concerning the percentage of PFLs actually managing their forestland and is attributed in part to lack of standardization in the operationalization of forest management participation measures reported in the literature. Several implications of the findings for professional forestry practice, research, outreach and education are made based on recognizing the importance of the meaning of landowners’ experience of their forestland and their conceptualization of forest management to their interest in and engagement in forest management activities. For example, as the findings indicate PFLs may not see a relationship between the ways their forestland is meaningful to them and their understanding of what it means to manage their forestland, forest landowner educational opportunities and events capitalizing on the strong personal attachments PFLs feel to their land and utilizing language similar to their own ways of speaking about these attachments such as, “Getting to Know Your Woods”, “The Woods in Your Backyard: What’s There and Why You Should Care” and “Having Your Cake and Eating It Too: Enjoying and Profiting From Your Forestland” may prove more effective than traditional programs.

U.S. energy security and the need for greater energy independence is one of the most important issues facing the United States today. Failure to address the U.S.’s energy dependence has undermined foreign policy, increased threats to national security, and created an inflexible hydrocarbon dependent economy. In 2010 the Energy Information Administration reported that U.S petroleum consumption had reached an average of 19.15 million barrels per day.[1] More importantly, 49 percent of daily consumption is imported and this creates an energy dependency that cannot be presently avoided. Dependence on foreign oil imports has resulted in America’s politics, economic vitality, environmental sustainability, and social culture being directly influenced by the countries that control our oil supply. [1] "Petroleum Statistics," Energy Information Administration, Updated July 2011

In order to protect the biodiversity and the depleted marine resources, we should reserve them for future generations.Therefore, try to introduce the concept of Marine Protected Areas ( MPAs) which are based on ecosystem. It is divided into different kinds of protected areas to reserve the resources and protect the biodiversity and the completeness of natural habitats. MPAs offer the foundation of natural Sustainable Development. According to this research, and use the theory of resource economics basis to discuss the effective of MPAs. Then, it continued to discuss the effective of MPAs which is under negative uncertainty. According to the evidence of results, MPAs indeed can reap the benefit of our ecological at the same time , it also can maintain the effectiveness of MPAs.

Arizona like many other semi-arid regions in the world is facing a suite of policy issues that stem from water scarcity and security of supply issues intersecting with growing and competing water demands. A vexing issue in southern Arizona has been the preservation of riparian habitat. The study of environmental economics provides researchers with techniques to estimate the value of natural resources, such as riparian habitat, to level the playing field in policy discussions on development and water management. In Appendices B-D results from two hedonic property analyses suggest that homebuyers, one of the main consumers of riparian habitat in urban areas, have preferences for greener and higher condition riparian habitat and furthermore that they are willing to pay property premiums to benefit from this resource. There is also some evidence that riparian habitat conservation and restoration can be self-financing. The economics of another water using sector in the state, the recreation sector, specifically winter-based recreation, is assessed in Appendix E. The analysis finds that although ski areas in Arizona are subject to large inter-year variability in terms of snowfall and season length that snowmaking adaptations, a technology that is water-intensive, is financially feasible in the medium term as a climate variability and climate change adaptation. Nevertheless, ski areas in the state are likely to face increased financial pressures if climate change scenarios are realized and will have to implement other adaptation strategies to remain viable. Finally, water competition in the state between Indian and non-Indian users and the techniques used to dispel such tensions, namely water settlements, are discussed in Appendix F. The research finds that settlements offer opportunities for win-win agreements between the settling tribe and other water users in the same watersheds and for the introduction of new water supply management tools that benefit signatory and non-signatory parties alike.

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