This class is designed for geography and ENVS majors, with a focus on management (as opposed the "Conservation Thought" class). We will cover both theory and practice, and the practice tool kit we focus on is the emerging framework of "Ecosystems Management." Though we will also discuss more traditional principles like resource economics, sustained yield, multiple use; etc. We will try to strike a balance between academic and practical, so that you can put on your resume a class that covers the concepts of resources management as well as arms you with some of the tools and practices needed by a professional in training (recognizing that an entire major would be needed to do this job fully).

Let’s do the equivalent of the journalistic enquiry:

Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How?

But start with What?

1. What are natural resources? This class is entitled "Environmental Conservation" to reflect the fact that nowadays all of the natural environment is considered a "resource" to be conserved. But still, what is it, more specifically, in the environment that we might try to conserve?

Traditional resources: oil, gas, minerals, timber, water, etc.

Ecosystems: forests, tundra, riparian.

Species: both those with economic values and those whose value appears mostly ecological and/or aesthetic

Natural Communities: Pinyon-Juniper Woodland; a particular suite of animal species (defined, for example, by predator-prey relationships—not much point conserving the predator—like Lynx—if there’s no prey—like snowshoe hare)

Non-traditional resources: the atmosphere; the state of the climate; and non-tangible products like solitude, naturalness, wilderness.

The list (enlarged in class) reflects the fact that resources are defined by society, by needs, w ants, and also by technology (uranium became a resource only after nuclear physics was invented). And, different people and cultures will simultaneously define resources differently.

2. Who manages? Who conserves?

Professional resource and environmental managers (agency professionals, private sector experts)

Land owners

"Local people" stakeholders

Users

Interest Groups

3. When and Where?

When? There is a tension between conserving resources in the long run and last minute "salvage" conservation when things are bad e.g., last few members of a species left). Questions of time come up when we calculate the flow of benefits of resources: are we to use them now or conserve for future generations?

Where? This classic geographical question will be phrased here in two main ways: the natural landscape and the jurisdictional landscape (e.g., public vs private lands; boundaries, etc.).

4. Why?

Utilitarian: the logical, efficient maintenance and conservation of a supply and management of demand---even depletion/liquidation of a resource can be logical and efficient..

Ecological services: beyond specific resources, we might conserve the ability of ecosystems to provide services like yield of freshwater.

Precautionary principle: we’re just learning about ecological sustainability, so some things are protected even if not demonstrably valuable to the economy, but just in case important to ecological well being.

Bio-centric logic: natural ecosystems and species have right to continued existence.

Aesthetics, ethics:, or at least have a value to people that cannot be objectively analyzed.

5. How?

That’s the rest of this class.