IUCN Report Released: World Conservation Congress 2012: Conservation Campus Report

Recently, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), "the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization," released its, World Conservation Congress 2012: Conservation Campus Report(2013). The 24-page publication is available here, as a downloadable pdf. According to the abstract,

[t]he Conservation Campus at the 2012 IUCN World Conservation Congress was designed to provide an interactive learning environment to build capacity in support of the IUCN Programme, drawing on the knowledge and expertise of the Union. This report sets out to provide an overview of the diverse sessions of the Conservation Campus; a summary of the evaluation of the event and feedback received from participants and session organisers; observations and recommendations for anyone looking to organise another Conservation Campus based on our experience; and useful links for where to go for further information. 

IUCN Report Released: Review of Statutory and Customary Law in the Xe Champhone Ramsar Site, Lao PDR

Recently, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), "the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization," released its, Review of Statutory and Customary Law in the Xe Champhone Ramsar Site, Lao PDR: Implications for a Rights-based Approach to Conservation (2013). The 48-page publication is available here, as a downloadable pdf. According to the abstract,

[t]his publication summarizes and analyses the findings of a situational analysis in the Xe Champhone Ramsar Site in Lao PDR, looking specifically at customary law governing natural resources and including its relationship with statutory law. It provides recommendations on how to incorporate customary law governing natural resources into the governance of Ramsar sites in the country.

IUCN Report Released: An Ecosystem Approach to Management of Seamounts in the Southern Indian Ocean: Volume 4

Recently, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), "the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization," released its, An Ecosystem Approach to Management of Seamounts in the Southern Indian Ocean: A Road Map Towards Sustainable Use and Conservation of Biodiversity in the Southern Indian Ocean Volume 4 (2013). The 40-page publication is available here, as a downloadable pdf. According to the abstract,

[t]his publication presents proposals from a management workshop on conservation and management measures applicable to high seas areas in the Southern Indian Ocean regarding: (i) a biodiversity initiative; (ii) the principles, objectives and process included in the draft road map developed in support of the initiative; (iii) the concept, advantages and potential members of the alliance proposed to further develop the Initiative; and (iv) the collaborative arrangement needed to formalize the alliance, and the key elements of the adaptive and collaborative management plan that the alliance will adopt and implement.

IUCN Report Released: Grauer’s Gorillas and Chimpanzees in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Recently, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), "the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization," released its, Grauer’s Gorillas and Chimpanzees in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (Kahuzi-Biega, Maiko, Tayna and Itombwe Landscape): Conservation Action Plan 2012-2022 (2013). The 74-page publication is available here, as a downloadable pdf. According to the abstract,

[i]n 2011, the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) convened conservation partners to develop a conservation action plan for great apes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with financial support from the Arcus Foundation. The main goal of this initiative was to identify critical threats to gorillas, chimpanzees and their habitats in the landscape, and to develop conservation strategies to address these threats. Emphasis was placed on activities at a systemic and strategic level that could add value to the large-scale planning effort vis-à-vis site-level efforts.

CRS Report Released: Guns, Excise Taxes, and Wildlife Restoration

The Congressional Research Service (CRS), the public policy research arm of Congress, recently issued the report Guns, Excise Taxes, and Wildlife Restoration (Mar. 12, 2013). The 6-page report authored by M. Lynne Corn and Jayne G. Gravelle discusses the following:

Summary

[a]s a result of the recent debate over guns, gun rights, and gun-related violence, there has been a marked increase in sales of many weapons as well as ammunition. Through an excise tax on firearms and ammunition, such sales have a marked beneficial effect on funding for state wildlife programs through the Wildlife Restoration Program (also known as Pittman-Robertson or P-R). This report examines these taxes, their allocation, and their use. It also examines the effects of sequestration of this account, pursuant to the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA, P.L. 112-25).

CRS Report Released: Agricultural Conservation: A Guide to Programs

The Congressional Research Service (CRS), the public policy research arm of Congress, recently issued the report Agricultural Conservation: A Guide to Programs (Feb. 5, 2013). The 30-page report authored by Megan Stubbs discusses the following:

Summary

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Farm Service Agency (FSA) in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) currently administer over 20 programs and subprograms that are directly or indirectly available to assist producers and landowners who wish to practice conservation on agricultural lands. The number, scope, and overall funding of these programs has grown in recent years. This growth can cause some confusion over which problems and conditions each program addresses, and specific program characteristics and performance. The programs are as follows:

• Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) Program

• Chesapeake Bay Watershed Program

• Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI)

• Conservation Operations (CO); Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA)

• Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)

• CRP—Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)

• CRP—Farmable Wetlands Program

• Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)

• Emergency Conservation Program (ECP)

• Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program

• Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

• EQIP—Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP)

• EQIP—Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG)

• Farmland Protection Program (FPP)

• Grassland Reserve Program (GRP)

• Healthy Forest Reserve Program (HFRP)

• Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Program

• Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program

• Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations

• Watershed Rehabilitation Program

• Wetland Reserve Program (WRP)

• Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP)

This tabular presentation provides basic information introducing each of the programs. In each case, a brief program description is followed by information on major amendments in the 2008 farm bill (P.L. 110-246); national scope and availability; states with the greatest participation; the backlog of applications or other measures of continuing interest; program funding authority; FY2012 funding; FY2013 Administration budget request; FY2013 funding where available; statutory authority; the authorization expiration date; and a link to the program’s website.

IUCN Report Released: Bonobo (Pan paniscus): Conservation Strategy 2012-2022

This month, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), "the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization," released a report titled, Bonobo (Pan paniscus): Conservation Strategy 2012-2022 (2013). The 72-page report is available here, as a downloadable pdf. According to the abstract,

[t]he new strategy aims to ensure the long-term protection of bonobos across their range through the implementation of conservation actions designed to reduce, and if possible eliminate, the direct threats and contributing factors that are causing bonobo populations to decline. Given the extremely difficult context (institutional, security, accessibility), particular effort was made to ensure that the choices of strategies and actions were pragmatic and realistic.

IUCN Report Released: Initiating Effective Transboundary Conservation: A Practitioner's Guideline Based on the Experience From the Dinaric Arc

This month, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), "the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization," released a report titled, Initiating Effective Transboundary Conservation: A Practitioner's Guideline Based on the Experience From the Dinaric Arc (2012). The 112-page report available here, as a downloadable pdf, discusses the following:

This publication reflects on and reinforces the lessons and experience of undertaking transboundary conservation programmes and sets out some existing and new guidance for those involved. It proposes a diagnostic approach to determining what the underlying purpose is for the transboundary initiative, and to guide the practitioner to respond to this purpose and need when the programme is designed and implemented. This advice is presented in the form of a very useful self-assessment tool developed from a suite of underlying case studies from pilot sites in the Dinaric Arc.

Spotlight: Archives of American Conservationists

Recently I have had a significant number of requests asking where to find information about some of the founders and major thinkers responsible for the environmental movement in the United States.  Other than monographs, one of the best sources for researching this topic is to determine whether an archival collection exists for a specific individual.  For those interested in researching the beginnings of environmental law please see below:

Aldo Leopold (1887-1948)
A conservationist, scientist, author and professor Leopold was most noted for his work A Sand County Almanac (1949) and his contributions to wilderness preservation.

• University of Wisconsin Digital Collections

The Leopold Collection houses the raw materials that document not only Leopold's rise to prominence but the history of conservation and the emergence of the field of ecology from the early 1900s until his death in 1948 . . . The collection has been augmented by correspondence and related materials carefully retained over the years by his mother, his wife, and other family members and professional associates; these span his entire life, but are most rich and voluminous for his early years. It also includes student notebooks and course materials from his studies in Burlington, Lawrenceville and Yale, and copies of his inspection reports on many national forests in the Southwest as well as hundreds of family photographs and photographs taken by Leopold to illustrate aspects of wildlife ecology and land management.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
A poet, essayist, naturalist, historian and transcendentalist, Thoreau is most well know for his work Walden (1854).

• The Walden Woods Project

The Thoreau Institute library (“The Henley Library”) holds more than 60,000 items that include books, manuscripts, periodicals, art, music, maps, pamphlets, correspondence, and personal histories. We are honored to be the designated repository for a number of important collections, including the extensive collections of the Thoreau Society. It is the mission of the library to collect, preserve and make available research materials relating to Thoreau, his historical context, and his contemporary relevance to human-rights and environmental issues.

John Muir (1938-1914)
A Scottish-born naturalist, essayist and wilderness advocate, Muir co-founded the Sierra Club and played a pivotal role in promoting Yosemite in California to become a National Park.

• University of the Pacific Holt-Atherton Special Collections

The Muir Papers consists of John Muir's correspondence, journals, manuscripts, notebooks, drawings, and photographs. It also includes some Muir family papers, the William and Maymie Kimes collection of Muir's published writings, the Sierra Club Papers (1896-1913 ), materials collected and generated by his biographers William Badè and Linnie Marsh Wolf, and John Muir's clippings files and memorabilia . . . Today, approximately 75% of the extant papers of Muir are preserved here. 

Rachel Carson (1907-1964)
Often called the mother of the modern environmental movement, Carson's landmark book Silent Spring (1962) ushered in a new wave of environmental awareness at the national level.  A marine biologist and conservationist by trade, Carson also authored several other notable works.

• Yale University Beinecke Rare Books & Manuscript Library

The Rachel Carson Papers consist of manuscripts, notebooks, letters, newspaper clippings, photos, and printed material relating to the life and career of Rachel Carson. The collection spans the years 1921 to 1981, with the bulk of the material covering the period from 1950 to 1964. Currently, only a portion of these papers are available online.

Stewart L. Udall (1920-2010)
A former Arizona Congressman and Secretary of the Interior under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, Udall was responsible for advocating or sponsoring a number of major environmental statutes in the 1950s and 60s. He is also known for is work A Quiet Crisis (1964).

• University of Arizona Library Special Manuscript Collection

The collection is composed of Stewart Lee Udall's professional and public papers. Items of the 84th, 85th, and 86th Congresses are organized into administration and legislation files. Administration includes routine office matters, requests, and correspondence relating to particular problems or issues. Legislation encompasses correspondence arranged by subject, related bills, hearings, clippings, speeches, and background materials [from 1950-1977].

William O. Douglas (1801-1980)
The longest serving Justice in the history of the Supreme Court and an avid environmentalist in his later years, Douglas was responsible for authoring the memorable dissent in the case of Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727 (1972), which argued that inanimate objects should have standing to sue in court for environmental issues.

• Library of Congress

The papers of William Orville Douglas (1898-1980) span the years 1801 to 2008, with the heaviest concentration of material dated between 1923 and 1975. Although the collection is divided into three parts, some topics and time periods are common to all parts. Part I, dating from 1920 to 1953, focuses primarily on Douglas's professional life. Part II forms the bulk of the collection, and although it covers the years 180l to 1980, the earliest Douglas manuscript is dated 19l6. Part III is confined primarily to Douglas's diary and his personal correspondence with other justices of the United States Supreme Court. Part IV is made up chiefly of Douglas's correspondence, memoranda, and notes to Marshall L. Small, one of his law clerks, and family papers, primarily correspondence with his second wife, Mercedes D. Douglas Eichholz. The collection consists of a small group of family papers, several correspondence series, subject files, speeches and writings, Supreme Court files, financial papers, photographs, miscellany, and printed matter.

Related Resources

 Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law (2004). [Pace KF3775 .L398 2004]. 

Karl Boyd Brooks, Before Earth Day: The Origins of American Environmental Law 1945-1970 (2009). [Pace KF3775 .B727 2009]. 

Adam M. Sowards, The Environmental Justice: William O. Douglas and American Conservation (2009). [Pace KF8745.D6 S67 2009].  

Third Symposium on Advanced Legal Topics in Land Conservation -- Land Trust Alliance CLE

Third Symposium on Advanced Legal Topics in Land Conservation June 11-12, 2012 | Charleston, SC. 

Gather with your colleagues to take advantage of this rare opportunity to discuss and contribute insight on these complex legal issues:
• Using common sense and administrative discretion in stewardship decisions
• Translating the flurry of Tax Court decisions into conservation documents
• Considering the legal and governance implications of creative financing and unusual transactions
• Litigating conservation disputes and perspective on records and evidence
• Exercising due diligence in mitigation projects for land trusts
• Discussing technical details relating to whether current oil and gas extraction practices are consistent with upholding conservation purposes

All while earning your CLE’s!

Landscapes: Improving Conservation Practice in the Northeast Megaregion -- RPA and America 2050

Landscapes: Improving Conservation Practice in the Northeast Megaregion from the Regional Plan Association and American 2050 (Feb. 2012)  finds that "Buying land isn’t enough. Building parks

won’t get it done. Restoring forests and wetlands by themselves is not an answer. Successful conservation requires a comprehensive, regional approach.

Landscape conservation means looking beyond property boundaries and political jurisdictions.... With funding scarce, it’s also crucial to build partnerships that can set mutual priorities, share resources and collaborate effectively....

This is especially true for complex geographies like the 13-state Northeast megaregion.... Its cities, suburbs and rural areas are expected to add an additional 15 million people by the year 2040. Where these people are housed, and how their transportation and energy needs are met, will dictate whether the region’s wildlife, drinking water and other resources, farms and forests, and outdoor recreational opportunities are truly lasting.

Landscape conservation initiatives can bring together the diverse interests critical for conservation success in the Northeast and elsewhere.... Such collaboration can enable the conservation community to align protection and management of individual properties while providing a platform for engaging non-traditional partners in their work. 

This report offers a summary of the work landscape conservation initiatives are doing in the Northeast megaregion. Specific examples on how landscape practitioners are carrying out their work are highlighted throughout the document.... The survey was used to identify the major challenges facing landscape conservation, including urban growth and land-use change, investments in transportation, water and energy infrastructure, climate change and limited funding for conservation and management.... Maps and analyses of infrastructure investments, energy resources and climate change similarly help paint a mega-regional-scale picture of challenges and opportunities.

Building Re-Tuning Training: Providing Energy Saving Solutions through Interactive e-Learning -- PNNL

Building Re-Tuning Training: Providing Energy Saving Solutions through Interactive e-Learning from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. 

"PNNL initiated the Commercial Building Re-tuning project for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Program. The goal of this project is to improve building operations by transferring the skills to “re-tune” large (>100,000 sf) commercial buildings through a series of training programs and development of an online interactive training curriculum. The project will target technicians currently working in the industry for an immediate impact. The re-tuning training is intended to provide building operators, building managers and energy service providers with the necessary skills to identify no- and low-cost operational problems that plague commercial buildings and provide the skills necessary to take corrective action. The secondary goal of the project is to train a number of “trainers” to carry out the re-tuning training beyond this project."

Wendell E. Berry named 41st Jefferson Lecturer in the Humanities -- NEH

Wendell E. Berry, noted poet, essayist, novelist, farmer, and conservationist, will deliver the 2012 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities. The annual lecture, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), is the most prestigious honor the federal government bestows for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities.


"Berry will present the 41st Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities on Monday, April 23, 2012 at 7:30 PM at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. In the lecture, “It All Turns on Affection,” Berry will discuss man’s interaction with nature, as depicted in history, philosophy, and literature.

From the press release:


"In his writing and activism, Berry has spent his career meditating on our relationship and responsibilities to the land and community. He is the author of more than forty books of poems, essays, short stories, and novels, many of which draw on the traditional rural values of Berry’s native Kentucky.

From his first book of poetry, The Broken Ground (1964), Berry has explored themes of living in harmony with nature, and the bonds of marriage, family, and community. One of the most widely read poets in America, his collections of poetry include: There is Singing Around Me (1976), Clearing (1977), Entries: Poems (1994), A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems 1979-1997 (1998), and Given (2005). A New York Times review of Berry’s Collected Poems, 1957-1982 (1985) described Berry’s style as “resonant with the authentic. The lyricism is not forced, but clearly grows out of a deep bond with the earth and its generosity, with all of nature…he can be said to have returned American poetry to a Wordsworthian clarity of purpose.”


In novels and short story collections such as Nathan Coulter (1960), A Place on Earth (1967), The Wild Birds: Six Stories of the Port William Membership (1986), and Jayber Crow (2000), Berry has chronicled generations of farming families in the changing landscape of a fictional small Kentucky town of Port William.

Berry’s influential volumes of essays such as The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture (1977), Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community (1993), and Another Turn of the Crank (1995) have argued that American culture is rooted in its agrarian communities, and warned against abuse of the land and its resources."

New Lighting Technologies -- DOE Webcast

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) will kick off this year's First Thursday Seminars on February 2 with a live webcast titled New Lighting Technologies.

The webcast will take place from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Experts Jeff McCullough of DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Brian Liebel of The Lighting Partnership, and Shawn Herrera of FEMP, will offer training in the uses and benefits of spectrally enhanced lighting and outdoor solid state lighting.

Specifically, the instructors will provide training on how to:

• Select optimal lighting solutions designed for a range of applications, based on performance data collected from a variety energy-saving lighting products
• Calculate life-cycle costs and assess the feasibility of various system designs and installation options
• Measure the savings you gain from energy-efficient lighting projects to verify the benefits of your decisions
• Use DOE and industry resources to support your selections and facilitate your work

Participants are encouraged to email or call in their questions before and during the program to receive tailored advice from the experts during the live "Q&A" segment. Questions submitted before the program can be sent to FTS@energyworkshops.org.

The 90-minute webcast is free of charge, but you must register in advance to obtain an Internet URL for the presentation. The broadcast of New Lighting Technologies will take place Thursday, February 2, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. EST.

A Green IT Action Plan -- HP

This Guide from HP (the printer people) describes how to get the most "Green" out of your printing and paper usage.

California Roadkill Observation System -- website

This site provides a way for everyone to report roadkill so that we can understand and try to influence the factors that contribute to roadkill.

DOE Webinar July 26: Petroleum Reduction in the Transportation Sector

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Technical Assistance Project (TAP) for state and local officials presents a Webinar about how to use online tools and resources for petroleum reduction projects in the transportation sector. At the Webinar, you will learn how to use online calculators, databases, and interactive maps that can help you fine-tune your transportation programs to fit local conditions.

The presentation will take place this Wednesday, July 28, from 3:00 to 4:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, and is titled "Clean Cities and Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center (AFDC): Tools and Resources for Petroleum Reduction in the Transportation Sector. The speakers will be Wendy DaFoe, Clean Cities project leader at the DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Johanna Levene, senior applications engineer at NREL.

This Webinar is free of charge, but you must sign up in advance to obtain a URL for the presentation and call-in phone number. You can register online, find information about the presenters, and read background materials and reports on the Webinar section of the DOE Weatherization and Intergovernmental Program Web site.