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Environmental Science: A Global Concern, 7/e

William P. Cunningham, University of Minnesota
Mary Ann Cunningham, Vassar College
Barbara Woodworth Saigo, St. Cloud State University

Land Use: Forest and Rangelands

Essay Quiz


1		Describe the events commonly leading up to destruction of tropical rain forests.



2		Outline the process by which desertification happens.



3		Patterns of land ownership in developing countries frequently produce conditions of social and economic injustice. What is meant by social and economic injustice?



4		The conflict over cutting the old-growth forests of Washington, Oregon, and California is heated. Give the concise arguments of: a. loggers that cutting should continue. b. environmentalists that cutting should stop.



5		The concentration of land ownership in the hands of a few is often directly responsible for environmental degradation in less-developed countries. a. Explain how that comes about. b. Explain why land reform is expected to reduce environmental damage in these countries.



6		Summarize the reasons why protection of the rights of indigenous peoples is compatible with protective environmental policy.



7		Destruction of old-growth forests, whether in Oregon or Brazil, has similar outcomes: • habitat loss • species extinction • increased soil erosion • collateral damage to streams But Oregon and Brazil have important cultural differences. So, even though the problems are similar, the solutions would likely differ greatly. Presumably, an effective long-term solution to both the northern spotted owl/logging controversy and the destruction of the Brazilian rain forest would be: • socially acceptable • economically viable • politically realistic • environmentally sound a. Identify several social, economic, and political givens that problem resolution in Oregon would likely have to address. b. In what ways would these givens likely be different in a less-developed country such as Brazil?



8		Your text quotes Adam Smith as saying, "No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the greater part of the members are poor and miserable." Considering the language and the fact that it was written over 200 years ago, Smith was likely implying that moral, social, or political unrest would keep such a society from flourishing. It seems doubtful that he sensed ecological problems would do so too.In light of the last section of this chapter, however, we could make the case that not only are Smith's comments valid, but their meaning does indeed embrace ecological considerations. a. Thinking specifically about developing nations, outline an argument that a society "of which the greater part of the members are poor and miserable" is unlikely to flourish for ecological reasons. b. Are there any ways in which your argument applies to industrialized societies like ours as well?



9		A controversy surrounds the use of public rangelands in the American West. The government charges local ranchers much less to graze animals on the public lands than is charged by private individuals for grazing rights on comparable private lands. A recent proposal to raise the grazing fees produced a storm of local protest. Should government eliminate subsidies for grazing on public lands by increasing fees? Explain.



10		The spotted owl/ancient forest logging controversy raging in the Pacific Northwest is a classic illustration of the argument that has played in countless places across the country in this century: Should we forgo consumption-based economic gain in favor of preservation, or should we pursue economic development in the here and now at the expense of nature? Language is so important. Rewrite this question to make (a) the development option and (b) the preservation option appear the more reasonable. Try to make the biasing subtle. a. development option b. preservation option



11		What point is being made by the following statement? "Where there are forests, there are indigenous people, and where there are indigenous people, there are forests."



12		Visit the Current Global Environmental Issues map on this Web site. Under Forests, choose the piece China officially recognizes link between deforestation and flooding. How did forest removal affect flooding?

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