Bøger udgivet af Island Press

How to Save a River presents in a concise and readable format the wisdom gained from years of river protection campaigns across the United States. The book begins by defining general principles of action, including getting organized, planning a campaign, building public support, and putting a plan into action. It then provides detailed explanations of how to: form an organization and raise money develop coalitions with other groups plan a campaign and build public support cultivate the media and other powerful allies develop credible alternatives to damaging projects How to Save a River provides an important overview of the resource issues involved in river protection, and suggests sources for further investigation. Countless examples of successful river protection campaigns prove that ordinary citizens do have the power to create change when they know how to organize themselves.

Over 634 million acres of the United States -- nearly a million square miles -- are federally owned. These American Lands is both a history and a celebration of that inheritance. First published in 1986, the book was hailed by Wallace Stegner as "e;the only indispensable narrative history of the public lands."e; This completely revised and updated edition is an unsurpassed resource for everyone who cares about, visits, or works with public land in the United States. With over 75 pages of new material, the volume covers:*national parks*national forests*national resource lands*wildlife refuges*designated wildernesses*wild and scenic rivers*Alaska lands*national trailsEach chapter outlines the history of the unit of public lands under discussion, clarifies the resource use and policy conflicts that are currently besetting it, and provides a detailed agenda of management, expansion, and preservation goals.

To the uninitiated, water policy seems a complicated, hypertechnical, and incomprehensible subject: a tangle of engineering jargon and legalese surrounding a complex, delicate, and interrelated structure. Decisions concerning the public's waters involve scant public participation, and in such a context, reform seems risky at best.Searching Out the Headwaters addresses that precarious situation by providing a thorough and straightforward analysis of western water use and the outmoded rules that govern it. The authors begin by tracing the history and evolution of the uses of western water. They describe the demographic and economic changes now occurring in the region, and identify the many communities of interest involved in all water-use issues. After an examination of the central precepts of currwater policy, along with their original rationale and subsequevolution, they consider the reform movemthat has recently begun to emerge. In the end, the authors articulate the foundations for a water policy that can meet the needs of the new West and discuss the various means for effectively implementing such a policy, including market economics, regulation, the broad-based use of scientific knowledge, and open and full public participation.

Statewide Wetlands Strategies offers comprehensive strategies that draw upon all levels of governmand the private sector to focus and coordinate efforts to work toward the goal of no-net-loss of wetlands.

The controversy over the managemof national forests in the Pacific Northwest vividly demonstrates the shortcomings of existing manageminstitutions and natural resource policies. The Wisdom of the Spotted Owl explores the American policymaking process through the case of the spotted owl -- a case that offers a striking illustration of the failure of our society to cope with long-term, science-intensive issues requiring collective choices.Steven Lewis Yaffee analyzes the political and organizational dynamics from which the controversy emerged and the factors that led to our stunning inability to solve it. He examines the state of resource managemagencies and policy processes, providing insight into questions such as: What caused the extreme polarization of opinion and lack of communication throughout the 1980s and early 1990s? How can the inadequate response of governmagencies and the failure of the decisionmaking process be explained? What kinds of changes must be made to enable our resource policy institutions to better deal with critical environmental issues of the 1990s and beyond? By outlining a set of needed reforms, the book will assist those who are involved in re-creating natural resource agencies and public policy processes for the challenges of the next century. In explaining the policymaking process -- its realities and idiosyncrasies -- The Wisdom of the Spotted Owl provides a framework for understanding policies and institutions, and presents a prescription for change to allow for more effective handling of currand future environmental problems.

The stands of old-growth trees in the forests of western North America depend on periodic fires for their creation or survival. Forest ecologists Stephen Arno and Carl Fiedler present "restoration forestry" - an ecological approach that establishes forests in which fire can serve as a beneficial process rather than a destructive aberration.

Parks and Carrying Capacity is an important new work for faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and researchers in outdoor recreation, park planning and management, and natural resource conservation and management, as well as for professional planners and managers involved with park and outdoor recreation related agencies and nongovernmental organizations.

Dave Foreman is one of North America's mcreative and effective conservation leaders, an outspoken proponof protecting and restoring the earth's wildness, and a visionary thinker. Over the past 30 years, he has helped set direction for some of our minfluential conservation organizations, served as editor and publisher of key conservation journals, and shared with readers his unique style and outlook in widely acclaimed books including The Big Outside and Confessions of an Eco-Warrior.In Rewilding North America, Dave Foreman takes on arguably the biggest ecological threat of our time: the global extinction crisis. He not only explains the problem in clear and powerful terms, but also offers a bold, hopeful, scientifically credible, and practically achievable solution.Foreman begins by setting out the specific evidence that a mass extinction is happening and analyzes how humans are causing it. Adapting Aldo Leopold's idea of ecological wounds, he details human impacts on species survival in seven categories, including direct killing, habitat loss and fragmentation, exotic species, and climate change. Foreman describes recdiscoveries in conservation biology that call for wildlands networks instead of isolated protected areas, and, reviewing the history of protected areas, shows how wildlands networks are a logical next step for the conservation movement. The final section describes specific approaches for designing such networks (based on the work of the Wildlands Project, an organization Foreman helped to found) and offers concrete and workable reforms for establishing them. The author closes with an inspiring and empowering call to action for scientists and activists alike.Rewilding North America offers both a vision and a strategy for reconnecting, restoring, and rewilding the North American continent, and is an essential guidebook for anyone concerned with the future of life on earth.

How can each of us live Cooler Smarter? While the routine decisions that shape our days-what to have for dinner, where to shop, how to get to work-may seem small, collectively they have a big effect on global warming. But which changes in our lifestyles might make the biggest difference to the climate? This science-based guide shows you the meffective ways to cut your own global warming emissions by twenty percor more, and explains why your individual contribution is so vital to addressing this global problem.Cooler Smarter is based on an in-depth, two-year study by the experts at The Union of Concerned Scientists. While other green guides suggest an array of tips, Cooler Smarter offers proven strategies to cut carbon, with chapters on transportation, home energy use, diet, personal consumption, as well as how best to influence your workplace, your community, and elected officials. The book explains how to make the biggest impact and when not to sweat the small stuff. It also turns many eco-myths on their head, like the importance of locally produced food or the superiority of all hybrid cars.The advice in Cooler Smarter can help save you money and live healthier. But its central purpose is to empower you, through low carbon-living, to confront one of society's greatest threats.

Presents an overview of the silicon cycle and issues associated with it. This book summarizes the major outcomes of the project Land-Ocean Interactions: Silica Cycle, initiated by the Scientific Community on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU).

Today, there is a growing demand for designed landscapes-from public parks to backyards-to be not only beautiful and functional, but also sustainable. Sustainability means more than just saving energy and resources. It requires integrating the landscapes we design with ecological systems. With Principles of Ecological Landscape Design, Travis Beck gives professionals and students the first book to translate the science of ecology into design practice. This groundbreaking work explains key ecological concepts and their application to the design and management of sustainable landscapes. It covers biogeography and plant selection, assembling plant communities, competition and coexistence, designing ecosystems, materials cycling and soil ecology, plant-animal interactions, biodiversity and stability, disturbance and succession, landscape ecology, and global change. Beck draws on real world cases where professionals have put ecological principles to use in the built landscape. The demand for this information is rising as professional associations like the American Society of Landscape Architects adopt new sustainability guidelines (SITES). But the need goes beyond certifications and rules. For constructed landscapes to perform as we need them to, we must get their underlying ecology right. Principles of Ecological Landscape Design provides the tools to do just that.

Bridges the gap between those scientists who study landscapes and the planners and conservationists who must then decide how best to preserve and build environmentally-sound habitats. The authors explain specific tools and concepts to measure a landscape's structure, form, and change over time.

Is it possible for a group of the world's most respected environmental scientists to truly practice what they preach? This title tells a story that is suitable for those who has ever thought about doing a 'green' rehab, has tried to build green, or just wonders what's actually possible.

Each day, headlines warn that baby bottles are leaching dangerous chemicals, nonstick pans are causing infertility, and plastic containers are making us fat. What if rather than toxics, our economy ran on harmless, environmentally-friendly materials? This title tackles the hazards of ordinary consumer products.

Anyone working in biodiversity conservation or field ecology should understand and utilize the common-sense process of scientific inquiry: observing surroundings, framing questions, answering those questions through well-designed studies, and, in many cases, applying results to decision making. Yet the interdisciplinary nature of conservation means many workers are not well versed in the methods of science and may misunderstand or mistrust this indispensable tool.Designing Field Studies for Biodiversity Conservation addresses that problem by offering a comprehensible, practical guide to using scientific inquiry in conservation work. In an engaging and accessible style, award-winning tropical ecologist and teacher Peter Feinsinger melds concepts, methods, and intellectual tools into a unique approach to answering environmental questions through field studies. Focusing on the fundamentals of common sense, independthinking, and natural history, he considers: framing the question and designing the study; interpreting and applying results; taking natural history into account; monitoring and assessing progress through approaches such as "e;bioindicator species"e; or "e;species diversity measures"e;; and helping other interested parties use scientific inquiry in addressing their own concerns. Throughout, the author challenges the reader to integrate conceptual thinking with on-the-ground practice in order to make conservation truly effective. Feinsinger concentrates on examples from Latin America but his approach applies to local conservation concerns or field biology questions in any landscape.Designing Field Studies for Biodiversity Conservation is an essential handbook for staff and researchers working with conservation institutions or projects worldwide, as well as for students and professionals in field ecology, wildlife biology, and related areas.

Nearly half the buildings that will be standing in 2030 do not exist today. That means we have a tremendous opportunity to reinvent our urban areas, making them more sustainable and livable for future generations. This book providing statistics about changes in population, jobs, housing, non-residential space, and other key factors.

Explores the implications of an idea: we must understand the oceans of the past to protect the oceans of the future. This title shows how skewed visions of the past have led to disastrous marine policies and why historical perspective is critical to revitalize fisheries and ecosystems.

Climate change is a global problem, but the problem begins locally. Cities consume 75% of the world's energy and emit 80% of the world's greenhouse gases. Changing the way we build and operate our cities can have major effects on greenhouse gas emissions. Fortunately, communities across the U.S. are responding to the climate change problem by making plans that assess their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and specify actions they will take to reduce these emissions.This is the first book designed to help planners, municipal staff and officials, citizens and others working at local levels to develop Climate Action Plans. CAPs are strategic plans that establish policies and programs for mitigating a community's greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions. They typically focus on transportation, energy use, and solid waste, and often differentiate between community-wide actions and municipal agency actions. CAPs are usually based on GHG emissions inventories, which indentify the sources of emissions from the community and quantify the amounts. Additionally, many CAPs include a section addressing adaptation-how the community will respond to the impacts of climate change on the community, such as increased flooding, extended drought, or sea level rise.With examples drawn from actual plans, Local Climate Action Planning guides preparers of CAPs through the entire plan developmprocess, identifying the key considerations and choices that must be made in order to assure that a plan is both workable and effective.

A guide to the complex set of laws governing America's wetlands. After explaining the importance of these critical natural areas, it examines the evolution of federal law, principally the Clean Water Act, designed to protect them. It explores topics including the fundamentals of administrative law.

The environment that we construct affects both humans and our natural world in myriad ways. This title presents a diagnosis of - and offers treatment for - problems related to the built environment. Drawing on the scientific evidence, it imparts practical information, with an emphasis on demonstrated and promising solutions to the problems.

Presents a history of the field of ecological restoration as it has developed over the three decades. This title explores the development of the field and its importance to environmental management as well as to the larger environmental movement and our understanding of the world.

Examines past experience and future directions in the management of so-called 'wicked' environmental problems - those characterized by large-scale, long-term policy dilemmas and contentious political stalemates. This title offers approaches for managing environmental conflicts and shows how managers could apply these approaches.

Public transit is a tool for addressing a huge range of urban problems, including traffic congestion and economic development as well as climate change. This title supplies the basic tools, the critical questions, and the means to make smarter decisions about designing and implementing transit services.

There's a simple, straightforward way to cut carbon emissions - and we're rejecting it because of irrational political fears. This title weighs the merits of the four major approaches to curbing CO2: cap-and-trade; command and control regulation; government subsidies of alternative energy; and, carbon taxes.

Australia is similar to the United States in many ways, especially in its 'energy footprint.' This book looks at how 'green' solutions in Australia can benefit US cities. It describes 'green transport' projects, 'city farms,' renewable energy plans, green living programs, and more. It considers a host of public policy initiatives.

Restoration ecology is a field that integrates theory and knowledge from a range of disciplines, including the biological, physical, and social sciences as well as the humanities. This book offers a real-life introduction to the field and an interdisciplinary overview of the theory behind it.

Illustrating how architects and designers can use simple methods to address our innate needs for contact with nature. this book is an examination of how the inter-relationship between nature, architecture, and design is essential to human well-being. The author examines the inter-connectedness of people and nature.

Citizens expect their governments to lead on sustainability. But from largely disappointing international conferences like Rio II to the U.S.'s failure to pass meaningful climate legislation, governments' progress has been lackluster. That's not to say leadership is absent; it just often comes from the bottom up rather than the top down. Action-on climate, species loss, inequity, and other sustainability crises-is being driven by local, people's, women's, and grassroots movements around the world, often in opposition to the agendas pursued by governments and big corporations.These diverse efforts are the subject of the latest volume in the Worldwatch Institute's highly regarded State of the World series. The 2014 edition, marking the Institute's 40th anniversary, examines both barriers to responsible political and economic governance as well as gridlock-shattering new ideas. The authors analyze a variety of trends and proposals, including regional and local climate initiatives, the rise of benefit corporations and worker-owned firms, the need for energy democracy, the Internet's impact on sustainability, and the importance of eco-literacy. A consistthread throughout the book is that informed and engaged citizens are key to better governance.The book is a clear-eyed yet ultimately optimistic assessmof citizens' ability to govern for sustainability. By highlighting both obstacles and opportunities, State of the World 2014 shows how to effect change within and beyond the halls of government. This volume will be especially useful for policymakers, environmental nonprofits, students of environmental studies, sustainability, or economics-and citizens looking to jumpstart significant change around the world.

Includes examples of sustainability that show how other cities can become greener and more livable. This title illustrates practices in urban planning.