Perlman - Practical Ecology for Planners, Developers and Citizens - Chapter 7 pot

Conservationists work to protect native species and ecosystems at many ent scales, under many different conditions, and for many different reasons.differ-“Pure” conservation planning is

Conservation biologist D A Falk once remarked: “The dailypractice of conservation is as different from the world of theoryand scholarly research as is the blackboard at a military academyfrom the battlefield.”1He went on to note that actual conserva-tion decisions are often influenced by economic, legal, real estate,regulatory, political, and public opinion considerations as much

as, if not more than, by conservation science These remarks aretruisms to anyone who has worked in the land use professions,but it is telling that they appear in a book of scholarly scientificpapers—a resource that few planners, designers, or developerswould have the time or inclination to read and incorporate intotheir work Throughout this book, we have tried to bridge thisgap between scholarship and practice

In this spirit, the next five chapters move from the classroom

to the “battlefield,” examining the ways that conservation ence is, and could be, applied to land use planning and designprojects We begin in Chapter 7 with a discussion of conservationplanning—the design of nature reserves and buffer areas—andthen broaden the focus in Chapter 8 to include other types ofnatural and seminatural areas serving a range of needs, bothnatural and human Chapter 9 introduces the burgeoning field ofrestoration ecology and discusses how planners and designerscan reintroduce natural habitats and processes on degraded lands.This chapter also addresses the flip side of restoration: land man-agement, or preventing degradation in the first place by incor-porating ecological understanding into land stewardship.Chapter 10 focuses on specific planning and design tech-niques that can improve project outcomes The book concludeswith an opportunity to practice applying the lessons of ecologyand conservation biology to a two-part planning and design ex-ercise, replete with much of the messiness of real-life profes-sional practice

sci-A P P L I C sci-AT I O N S

Conservationists work to protect native species and ecosystems at many ent scales, under many different conditions, and for many different reasons.

differ-“Pure” conservation planning is often conducted by groups such as The NatureConservancy—when deciding where to establish a new nature reserve—or theU.S Fish and Wildlife Service—when determining how to implement the En-dangered Species Act In these contexts, biodiversity conservation is often thesole—or at least primary—goal of conservation planning efforts But with ever-growing human demands on a finite land base, we believe that conservation plan-ning must be construed broadly to include not only the preservation of nature

in relatively pristine reserves but also the integration of conservation values intolandscapes that are influenced and even dominated by humans Land use pro-fessionals have a central role to play in conservation planning for these non-pristine landscapes, which make up the majority of North America’s land In thischapter and the two that follow, we discuss the full range of conservation plan-ning efforts under this broader definition We begin with three vignettes thatillustrate some of the issues and opportunities that arise as conservationists andland use professionals attempt to protect and restore landscapes

One of the most extensive conservation initiatives ever proposed is the lowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) project Begun in 1993, Y2Y is an attempt to link sev-eral existing conservation areas into an expanded network of reserves and bufferareas that stretches 2,000 miles (3,200 km) through a 460,000-square-mile (1.2million square km) region (see Figure 7-1).1Dozens of organizations, including

Yel-Conservation Planning

advocacy groups and mainstream conservation groups, have promoted the Y2Yproject or become active partners in it Y2Y is intended to protect a wide variety

of ecosystems across western North America while paying special attention toproviding adequate habitat for a large and sustainable population of grizzly bears

(Ursus arctos horribilis) To achieve this goal, it must not only set aside

addi-tional nature reserves but also work with a wide variety of rural landownersacross five states, two provinces, and two territories Given the vast area involvedand the different sets of laws, customs, and expectations across the project area,the founders of Y2Y view it more as a “bottom-up” collection of conservationprojects at several scales than as a single “top-down” program

A few hundred miles south of Yellowstone National Park, the Socorro

springsnail (Pyrgulopsis neomexicana) survives as just a single population on a

piece of private property The world’s entire population of this snail lives in a

132 A P P L I C AT I O N S

Figure 7-1 The Yellowstone to

Yukon (Y2Y) project is an

at-tempt to link existing and

pro-posed reserves in western North

America The proposed reserve

network within the project area

shown on this map could support

a viable population of grizzly

bears and many other species

thermal pool less than three feet (1 meter) square and in its associated eight-foot(2.5 m) long outflow ditch In 1994, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service approved

a draft recovery plan for these tiny snails, which are less than 0.1 inch (3 mm)

in length, calling for a habitat management plan to be created in consultationwith the owners of the springs The Socorro springsnail’s beach towel–sized habi-tat is located entirely on private land, but if this habitat can be protected, and ifadditional populations can be established in the region, this gravely endangeredspecies will have an improved chance of surviving into the future

To the west lie the chaparral and coastal sage scrub of Southern California.These very diverse plant communities are part of a Mediterranean-climateecosystem, one of just five such ecosystems on the planet The communities con-

tain numerous endemic species (species found nowhere else) as well as such

threatened and endangered species and subspecies as the Stephens’ kangaroo ratand the Coastal California gnatcatcher The San Diego Multiple Species Conser-vation Program and the Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan of RiversideCounty represent two far-reaching attempts to protect significant amounts ofthese rare ecosystems and their endemic species To do so, the conservation plansspell out not only where land should be set aside to protect critical habitat butalso where land can be developed to accommodate Southern California’s bur-geoning population Given that land in the area is vastly more expensive thanthe cost of an equal amount of land in most of the Y2Y project area, the conser-vation plans draw on a range of legal and financial tools other than the acquisi-tion of nature reserves

Different Types of Conservation and Open Space Areas

As the preceding examples demonstrate, conservation issues occur at many ferent scales and in markedly different contexts Conservation efforts also varygreatly in the extent to which they integrate nonconservation issues and goals;for example, protecting the Socorro springsnail may rely above all on a sound bio-logical strategy for managing the genetic resources of a small population, whilethe Southern California habitat conservation efforts integrate the multitude ofeconomic, social, land use planning, and political considerations present in amajor metropolitan area Before discussing the mechanics of conservation plan-ning, it is worth establishing a basic typology of natural areas, from strict naturereserves at one extreme to small urban open spaces at the other The eight cate-gories presented below move in a progression from the most pristine and highlyprotected natural areas to the least so

dif-Category 1: Strict nature reserves and wilderness areas These lands have

been set aside to protect native species in a more or less natural setting with little

or no human interference Among conservation biologists (and many other ments of society), a consensus exists that some portions of the landscape should

seg-be restricted to minimal human use so that natural processes can unfold peded Some of these areas are suitable for low-impact recreation such as bird-watching and wilderness hiking, while others may be off-limits to any humanuse other than occasional scientific monitoring If these areas are large enoughand in good condition to begin with, they may be able to survive long into thefuture with little human intervention Examples of this type of conservation areainclude designated Wilderness Areas within U.S National Forests—which have

unim-no roads, recreation facilities, or resource extraction activities—and ResearchNatural Areas on U.S Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands—which are

“managed for minimum human disturbance.”2These areas fulfill important tat protection roles as well as serving human needs to experience untrammeledand unmanipulated nature While these lands tend to be relatively ecologicallyintact, many of them are missing top predators, such as mountain lions, wolves,and grizzly bears

habi-Category 2: Reserves actively managed for biodiversity protection These

areas receive more intervention by land managers than those in Category 1, withmore manipulation, restoration, or management of particular species or ecosys-tems These landscapes, which are managed to protect native biodiversity, mayalso be compatible with low-impact human uses, including hiking, bird-watching,and nature photography Many reserves managed by governmental agencies andnonprofit conservation organizations fall into this category

Category 3: National parks and monuments These lands frequently play a

key role in biodiversity protection, but human recreation and education are alsoimportant parts of their mission Many national parks, such as Yellowstone andthe Great Smoky Mountains, function as large, well-buffered nature reservesthat can sustain populations of large carnivores or migrating herbivores (hoofed,herbivorous quadruped mammals) as well as numerous other species; these parksalso serve the crucial role of exposing the public to nature Other areas were setaside as parks because they contain extraordinary geological features, such asYosemite National Park, or represent unique human-shaped “cultural land-scapes,” such as Mesa Verde National Park in New Mexico In these areas, bio-diversity protection may be an important function even though it was not theoriginal reason for creating the park

Category 4: Multi-use managed areas These are true multi-use lands,

man-aged for production (e.g., timber, livestock, and mining), recreation, and diversity protection U.S National Forests (“land of many uses”), state andprovincial forests, and BLM holdings all fall into this category Although theselands experience heavy human impacts that the previous categories do not, they

bio-134 A P P L I C AT I O N S

are often very important for protecting biodiversity or for buffering more strictlyprotected lands.

Category 5: Working lands Lands such as managed forests, military bases,

farms, pastures, and mining areas serve human needs, but many also containpockets or even large areas where native biodiversity can thrive—for example, onmany small-scale farms, military reservations, or woodlots On the other hand,large monoculture farms usually offer little value for biodiversity protection.Working farms and forests often play a key role in protecting scenic views and arevalued by communities because they help give an area its unique character

Category 6: Local nature areas Local nature areas are like the comfortable

old shoes or sweaters of one’s home or neighborhood—easily accessible placeswhere you can walk your dog, hear a few birds, or see some wildflowers Theseare the places that most people will experience as “nature” week in and week out

In most cases, these lands are not great preserves for native biodiversity or sitesfor ecological research because they are heavily affected by human use and bytheir proximity to human neighborhoods This category includes public, non-profit, and sometimes private lands, such as town forests, suburban greenways,local land trust holdings, and private woodlots

Category 7: Parks, school grounds, golf courses, yards, and other recreational spaces This assortment of public and private lands is where people stroll among

trees, play sports, or relax on a picnic blanket These areas exist primarily for mans and are managed for recreation, so any native biodiversity that survives isusually incidental However, if carefully designed and managed, such lands dohave the potential to offer considerable habitat value

hu-Category 8: “Accidental” urban and suburban open spaces Vacant lots,

aban-doned and active railroad rights-of-way, unbuildable land within cities and urbs (e.g., marshes and ledge), and even some stormwater management ponds allrepresent pockets of nature that may play roles in both biodiversity protectionand public access to nature Although few of these areas are managed for biodi-versity, and most will be rather low quality sites for native biodiversity, they gainimportance because their surroundings are so heavily built up As with more for-mal local nature areas, these places can also offer recreational and educational op-portunities for people living nearby

sub-As is clear from the wide spectrum of lands discussed above, natural areas arecreated for many different reasons (sometimes for several reasons at once) andserve many different functions For conservationists and land use professionals,

it is important to be precise about what functions one is trying to provide andwhat type of natural area will best serve these functions For example, woodlandsset aside for general recreation require less buffering than nutrient-sensitivewetlands, while greenways for wildlife movement must be designed differently

than those for bike paths or walking trails Failure to understand these subtletiescan lead to squandering of conservation funds and a failure to meet conservationgoals Table 7-1 offers a simplified matrix showing how well different types ofnatural areas serve different conservation, economic, and recreational functions.Since conservation functions obviously depend on the specifics of the situationand site, this table is intended not as doctrine but rather to spur critical thoughtabout the various motivations for conserving nature.

The remainder of this chapter and much of Chapter 8 discuss aspects of theseeight categories of natural areas that are most relevant to planners and design-ers The following subsections discuss nature reserves (Categories 1 and 2), of-fering guidance to land use professionals on selecting and designing such areas.National parks and multi-use areas (Categories 3 and 4) are addressed briefly atthe end of this chapter Chapter 8 discusses Categories 5 through 8: those types

Biodiversity Protection Functions

Economic Utility to Humans: Production and Ecosystem Service Functions

of natural and seminatural areas that are intended to meet a variety of humanand ecological goals.

Selecting and Designing Nature Reserves

Despite continual improvements in the theory and practice of conservation ence, selecting and designing nature reserves remains something of an art, andthinking on this topic continues to evolve (see Box 7-1) Below we present a four-step process for selecting and designing nature reserves that can guide plannersand designers working to create or connect to natural areas at various scales

sci-Step 1: Creating an Inventory of Conservation Assets,

Opportunities, and Threats

The first step in selecting and designing nature reserves is to identify the ments of nature that are present within a particular geographic area, those thatare worth conserving, and the ways in which they are threatened This holds truewhether one is seeking to conserve a wide-ranging group of large carnivores (as

ele-in the Y2Y project) or a sele-ingle animal species with a tele-iny habitat range (as withthe Socorro springsnail)

While writing this chapter, we received an e-mail from Jae Choe, one ofKorea’s foremost ecologists He began by writing: “I am preparing a paper or plea

to try to save the DMZ [demilitarized zone] here in Korea The reunification ofSouth and North Korea may mean the end of the DMZ.”3Why should an ecolo-gist worry about the Korean DMZ? As it turns out, during the half-century sinceits establishment, this 2.5- by 154-mile (4 by 248 km) strip of land has become

a de facto nature reserve True, shells occasionally go into or over it and landmines go off once in a while, but by and large this is an open area that has beenleft undeveloped for fifty years

In response to Choe’s e-mail, we created a series of questions, which we sent in Box 7-2 as a framework that land use professionals can use to inventory,evaluate, and assess the ecological resources and threats to nature in the placeswhere they work For planners and designers, these questions will usually beasked in the context of a specific planning project; thus, the “study area” could be

pre-a single site, pre-a group of sites, pre-a town, county, or other politicpre-al or jurisdictionpre-alentity

sources of data for conservation inventory and assessment

The questions shown in Box 7-2 require a considerable amount of data toanswer, but planners and designers usually have rather limited resources for

Box 7-1

A Brief History of Nature Reserves

Hunting preserves for royalty and sacred groves where hunting and resource collection were bidden were among the earliest portions of the landscape that humans set aside to remain un- developed Hunting preserves were common in Europe throughout the Middle Ages, although

for-in many of the preserves the great predators were hunted for-into local extfor-inction Sacred groves and other sacred sites have been set aside by cultures in Africa, North America, and Asia over the centuries 1

The next great phase in land conservation began in the late nineteenth century with the tection of “Great Geology” and (to a lesser extent) “Great Beasts.” In 1864, the U.S Congress gave Yosemite Valley to California to be used as a state park, and in 1872, Congress created the world’s first national park, Yellowstone National Park (see Figure 7-2) 2 Congress stipulated that the park should “provide for the preservation, from injury or spoliation, of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or wonders within said park, and their retention in their natural con- dition” and, further, that it was “dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.” 3 In large measure, then, the motivation for set- ting aside the park was to protect geological wonders of nature for the enjoyment of humans rather than to preserve biological diversity According to the National Park Service, other early parks—such as Yosemite (which California gave back to the federal government), Mount Rainier, Crater Lake, and Glacier—were set aside for similar reasons, while preservation of Native Ameri-

pro-Figure 7-2 The 1872 federal act that established Yellowstone National Park as the

world’s first national park stated that the park was established “for the benefit and joyment of the people,” as is inscribed on this entry gate

en-in establishen-ing the early parks 4

Wildlife conservation was also a motivating force for some of the early North American parks and became increasingly important in the early twentieth century According to the terms of the transfer for Yosemite, California authorities had to “provide against the wanton destruction of the fish and game found within the said reservation and against their capture and destruction for purposes of merchandise or profit,” a clear indication that wildlife conservation was at least part of the goal in protecting Yosemite 5 By the turn of the century, the Great Beasts began to play a more prominent role in land conservation in the United States, as the following brief chronology shows

1900 The U.S government passes the Lacey Act, which prohibits the interstate transport

of illegally caught wild birds and mammals This legislation was in part a response

to the massive killing of wild birds for use on women’s hats (see Figure 7-3).

1903 President Theodore Roosevelt establishes the first Federal Bird Reservation, the

three-acre (1 ha) Pelican Island in Florida.

1908 Congress establishes the National Bison Range (see Figure 7-4)

1912 Congress establishes the National Elk Refuge

1913 Congress passes the Migratory Bird Act

By the time the National Park Service Act was passed in 1916, both scenery and wildlife were officially recognized as reasons for setting aside national parks, as this statement from the act makes clear: “The fundamental purpose of the said parks, monuments, and reservations is

Figure 7-3 Around the end of the nineteenth century and the start of the twentieth

century, many women’s hats were adorned with real stuffed birds The resulting cline in bird populations helped spur the formation of such organizations as the AudubonSociety This hat from Montana has birds from New Guinea and Southeast Asia