Environmental Encyclopedia

Подождите немного. Документ загружается.

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Grazing on public lands

Livestock grazed on open land called the range. When

livestock ate all the forage in one area, the rancher moved

the herd and headquarters to another area. By 1870, there

were 4.1 million beef cattle and 4.8 million sheep in 17

states, according to BLM. Thirty years later, there were 19.6

million cattle and 25.1 million sheep. As the number of

livestock increased, the range became crowded and there

was less forage.

The twentieth century opened with discussion in Con-

gress about how to regulate use of public lands. After years

of debate, Congress approved the

Taylor Grazing Act

1934. The act established a permit requirement and “signifi-

cantly reduced” the number of ranchers and livestock, ac-

cording to BLM. A portion of fees was allocated to the

grazing district for improvements like fencing.

The act only addressed grazing as a

land use

. That

policy changed with the approval of the 1976

Federal Land

Policy and Management Act

. FLPMA stated that federal

public lands and their resources would be managed for multi-

ple uses that “best meet the present and future needs for the

American people.”

Passage of the act reflected concerns about environ-

mental protection and

conservation

. At the same time, the

increase in population brought more demand for recreational

uses of public land. In the years since the passage of FLPMA

and environmental protection laws, the land-use debate in-

tensified.

Federal public lands include the 264 million acres

managed by BLM in 12 western states and the 191 million

acres of United States

Forest Service

land in 44 states.

Federal grazing permits were issued by those jurisdictions,

the

National Park Service

, and the

Fish and Wildlife Ser-

vice

. BLM manages about half of the 270 million acres

where grazing is allowed. Ranchers pay a fee called an animal

unit month (AUM). This is based on the monthly amount

of forage needed to sustain one cow and her calf, one horse,

or five sheep or goats. The AUM in 2002 was $1.43. Oppo-

nents called the fee a government subsidy. They estimated

an AUM of $11 for grazing on private land.

BLM records for fiscal year 2001 showed 15,643 oper-

ators (ranchers) of cattle, yearling, and buffalo; 1,232 opera-

tors of horses and burros; and 1,225 operators of sheep

and goats. Those figure were not a total count since some

operators may have raised more than one type of livestock.

The BLM figures were from the administrative jurisdiction

of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada,

New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. California

BLM administers some land in Nevada, and Montana ad-

ministers all public land in North and South Dakota.

Within those states, active AUMs totaled 11.3 million

as of November 29, 2001, according to BLM. Livestock

cause more damage to public land than the chainsaw or

657

the bulldozer, according to anti-grazing activists. Damage

includes trampled vegetation,

soil

damage,

water pollution

and the spread of invasive weeds, according to grazing oppo-

nents.

The beef and sheep industries are represented by the

Public Lands Council

(PLC), an organization that said graz-

ing helped to preserve open space. PLC said that opponents

incorrectly blamed ranchers for

environmental degrada-

tion

. According to PLC, research indicated that conserva-

tion goals on public land were easier to achieve when grazing

was properly managed. Livestock managers could make im-

provements that would not be done if grazing was prohibited.

Grazing opponents disagreed and used various meth-

ods to limit grazing. Lawsuits claimed that grazing violated

environmental regulations. Successful cases include the 1998

removal of livestock from the Gila River Basin in Arizona

and New Mexico. The ruling was based on the

Endangered

Species Act

and the protection of the spotted owl and other

species

Furthermore, activists tried to buy leases. They urged

ranchers to end leases by retiring their permits. Another

solution was proposed in 2002 by the National Public Lands

Grazing Campaign. An umbrella group of various organiza-

tions, NPLGC wanted federal law changed to allow the

voluntary retirement of grazing permits. The federal govern-

ment would pay $175 per AUM to buy out leases. NPLGC

said the plan would cost an average of $13.45 per acre.

The livestock industry rejected the plan. PLC said in

April of 2002 that the plan could cost taxpayers more than

$3.2 billion. Plan supporters countered that grazing “sub-

sidies” cost taxpayers up to $460 million annually. The fed-

eral government had not taken action on the proposal as of

May of 2002.

[Liz Swain]

ESOURCES

OOKS

Holechek, Jerry, Rex Pieper, and Carlton Herbel. Range Management:

Principles and Practices. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.

Wuerthner, George, Mollie Matheson, eds. Welfare Ranching: The Subsi-

dized Destruction of the West.Washington, DC: Island Press, 2002.

RGANIZATIONS

Public Policy Center, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (Public Lands

Council)., 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C.

20004-1701 (202) 347-0228, Fax: (202) 638-0607, Email:

jcampbell@beef.org, htttp:/hill.beef.org/files/fedlnds.htm

United States Bureau of Land Management., 1849 C Street, Washington,

D.C. 20240 (202) 452-5125, Fax: (202) 452-5124, , http://www.blm.gov

Western Watersheds Project (National Public Lands Grazing Campaign).,

P.O. Box 1770, Hailey, ID 83333 Email: andykerr@andykerr.net, http://

www.publiclandsranching.org

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef, located in the Coral Sea off the

eastern coast of Queensland in northeastern

Australia

, con-

sists of more than 2,800 reefs that range in size from 1

hectare to over 10,000 hectares in area. As the largest reef

in the world, the Great Barrier Reef is 1,250 mi (2,011 km)

in length, extending from a point near McKay, Queensland

in the

south

to the Torres Strait in the north, which lies

between Australia and New Guinea. The Reef is 45 mi (72

km) across at its widest point, with a total area of more than

300,000 square kilometers. Approximately 20% of the reefs

are submerged reefs or shoals, while about 26% are fringing

reefs around continental islands or along the mainland coast.

The remaining reefs are shelf reef platforms. Water depths

range from 65.6–98 ft (20–30 m) in lagoonal areas to 131–

197 ft (40–60 m) between the reefs on the outer shelf.

Starting in the south near the Tropic of Capricorn, the Great

Barrier Reef is a wide scattering of reefs about 186 mi (300

km) out from the coast; moving north the Reef becomes

more continuous and is within 10–12 mi (16–19 km) of the

coast, with a few individual reefs in the inner

lagoon

(the

area between the reef and the coast). North of Cairns the

reef is almost a continuous barrier between the coast and

the Coral Sea. Drilling has indicated that in places the reef

is over 1,640.5 ft (500 m) thick.

At the end of the last

ice age

, about 20,000 years

ago, the sea level was about 394 ft (120 m) lower than it is

today, and dry land extended from the present day coast to

the location of today’s outer Barrier Reef. As the ice melted,

the sea rose, and by 13,000 years ago the coastal plain had

become a submerged continental shelf. Corals and reefs grow

best where there is water movement, so the reefs tended to

form on submerged hills in the

flooding

coastal plain. By

6000 to 7000 years ago, the sea had reached its present level,

and the reef began to assume its present shape. The Spanish

mariner Luis Vaa

ez de Torres was the first European known

to have sailed the northern reef, but the Spanish kept the

route a secret to protect their route between Europe and the

Orient. The Reef was explored and charted by Captain James

Cook, whose ship in 1770 ran aground on the reef that now

is called the Endeavor, after the name of his ship.

The Great Barrier Reef provides homes and shelter

for a wide diversity of life. The Great Barrier Reef is home

to corals, which form the reefs,

dolphins

and

whales

, six

species

sea turtles

, more than 1,500 species of fish,

4,000 types of mollusks, 500 species of seaweed, and more

than 200 species of birds. The corals that make up the Reef

consist of individual living coral polyps, which as they divide

in a process called budding, form colonies in fan, antler,

brain, and plate shapes. Each polyp, which is a tiny jelly-

like, sack-like animal with a mouth surrounded by tentacles,

lives inside a shell of aragonite, a type of calcium carbonate

658

that is the hard shell typically recognized as coral. The polyps

are joined together to form a colony. Coral polyps obtain

food by catching

plankton

in their tentacles as well as

deriving nutrients from symbiotic algae, the zooxanthellae,

that live within their tissues. These zooxanthellae produce

nutrients through

photosynthesis

, which are then available

for use by the coral. Association with the algae allow corals

to build skeletons three times faster in the light than in the

dark, and faster than storms and waves can break it down.

Coral bleaching

occurs when stressed corals expel the zoo-

xanthellae and turn white, or bleached. If the zooxanthellae

do not return to the coral, the coral will die.

Every year about one-third of the 350 species of coral

reproduce sexually during a mass spawning event. Spawning

occurs in most of the inner reefs around November and in

the outer reefs in December. The spawning occurs at night,

up to six days after the full moon. Eggs and sperm are

released into the water, where they combine to form a free-

swimming larval stage.

The Great Barrier Reef is completely within the trop-

ics. The

climate

of the Reef is a typical

monsoon

weather

pattern, which consists of strong south-easterly winds domi-

nating during the dry winter months and weaker variable

winds occurring during the summer wet season. Both air

and sea temperatures exhibit seasonal variations. Mean sea

temperatures in inshore areas exhibit a range of temperatures

of 69.8°F (21°C) in July and August to 86°F (30°C) in January

and February. Temperatures on offshore reefs exhibit less

seasonal difference, varying from 73.4°F (23°C) in winter to

82°F (28°C) in summer.

There are two types of islands along the Great Barrier

Reef. The larger islands, such as those of the Whitsunday

group, are the tops of submerged mountains that at one

time were high points of a range running along the coast.

These islands have vegetation similar to the mainland. Some

of these islands that have fertile soils and are affected by

heavy monsoonal rains are covered with rain forests. Other

islands are isolated low-lying coral cays. Cays are formed

when coral grow to levels that are higher than sea level, even

at low tide. Coral can only survive a few hours out of water.

The dead coral on the cays is worn down and broken off

by waves and storm action. Eventually the coral debris is

ground into sand. Through time the sand stabilizes, seabirds

start to nest, and hardy vegetation begins to grow. Decom-

posing plant materials and bird droppings change the sand

into a more developed

soil

, providing an

environment

for

a wider diversity of plant life. Cays are found more frequently

on inner reefs in the Great Barrier Reef, where waves and

currents are less strong than on reefs further away from the

coastline. However, vegetated cays are not sufficiently stable

to withstand severe weather, such as storms and cyclones.

Comprehensive protection of the Great Barrier Reef

was accomplished in 1975 by the formation of the Great

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Great Barrier Reef

An aerial view of a portion of the Great Barrier Reef. (Photograph by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. Corbis-Bettmann. Reproduced

by permission.)

Barrier Reef Marine Park, administered by the Great Barrier

Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). Over 98% of the

area, with the exception of a few coastal areas, is now in-

cluded within the Marine Park. Drilling and mining for

minerals within all areas of the Marine Park is forbidden.

In 1981, in recognition of its outstanding natural heritage

value, most of the Great Barrier Reef area was added to

the World Heritage List by the United Nations Education,

Scientific, & Cultural Organization (

UNESCO

). The Great

Barrier Reef World Heritage Area is the largest of the world’s

over 550 World Heritage Areas. In addition to the

coral

reef

area, the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area also

contains the continental slope, the inter-reefal areas, and

the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park has been classi-

fied into 70 bioregions, which are areas of differing marine

biodiversity

with plant and animal communities that, to-

gether with physical features, are significantly different than

the surrounding areas and the rest of the Marine Park. Based

on these bioregions, the GBRMPA has divided the Marine

Park into six zones: (1) the Preservation Zone, which in-

659

cludes areas that are intended to be kept completely un-

touched; (2) the Scientific Research Zone, which includes

areas set aside exclusively for scientific research; (3) the Ma-

rine

National Park

A Zone, which includes areas where

recreational use (i.e., fishing with one line and one hook) is

permitted, but

commercial fishing

is not permitted; (4) the

General Use B Zone, where reasonable recreational and

commercial uses are permitted, but trawling and shipping

are prohibited; and (5) the General Use A Zone, where

all reasonable uses are permitted, including trawling and

shipping, but mining,

oil drilling

, commercial spear fishing

and fishing with scuba equipment are not permitted.

More than two million people a year visit the reef,

generating more than $AU1 billion in tourism dollars. Tour-

ists visit the reef using private charter boats, regular sched-

uled daily cruises, seaplanes, air charter, and helicopter

flights. They view the reefs through reef walks, glass bottom

or semi-submersible boats, snorkeling, or scuba diving.

The Great Barrier Reef is sensitive to climate changes

and to changes in patterns of water movement. In 1998

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Great Lakes

scientists announced that about 60% of the reef had been

affected by coral bleaching due to increasing sea temperatures

and fresh water flooding.

The Reef is also susceptible to physical damage. Hu-

man damage to the Great Barrier Reef has been occurring

due to carelessness, where people walk on the reefs, drop

anchors onto them, drag diving gear over them, break them

into pieces to take as souvenirs, and knock into and ground

boats onto them.

Since the 1960s, during periodic outbreaks, the Crown

of Thorns starfish has been destroying corals that make up

the reef. The Crown of Thorns is a large, thorny, brown-

colored starfish. The starfish eats coral by turning its stomach

out through its mouth, in a process called stomach eversion,

wraps the stomach around a coral, and secretes an

enzyme

to digest the living coral polyps. When the stomach is drawn

back in, all that is left is the limestone coral skeleton. This

skeleton becomes covered with green algae and other types of

encrusting plants and animals, which give the coral skeleton a

dull, gray appearance. Some types of corals become infested

with boring organisms. During periods of rough weather

(e.g., during a

cyclone

), the dead colony and the newly

attached organisms may collapse. Some scientists feel that

outbreaks of the Crown of Thorns starfish may be a natural

part of the lifecycle of the reef. By feeding on fast-growing

species of corals, the starfish may act to preserve coral diver-

sity, for fast-growing populations, if left unchecked, could

dominate the reef.

Water quality

has been identified by the Great Barrier

Reef Marine Park Authority as a critical management issue,

pollution

by sediments, toxic metal and organic contami-

nants,

oil spills

, and pesticides, can potentially harm the

Reef. Sewage

discharge

is regulated in the Marine Park

area, with tertiary treatment (i.e.,

nutrient

reduction) re-

quired before marine discharge; alternatively secondary or

tertiary treated

wastewater

can be land applied with mini-

mal marine discharge. However, the primary water quality

concern is nutrient

from inshore ecosystems. Pro-

grams are being developed to reduce nutrient inputs through

regulation of discharges, integrated catchment management,

improved land management practices, and wetland pro-

tection.

[Judith L. Sims]

ESOURCES

OOKS

Cates, Alison. The Great Barrier Reef: Australia’s Tropical Paradise. Sydney:

New Holland/Struik, 1998.

Doubilet, David. Great Barrier Reef. Washington, DC: National Geo-

graphic Society, 2002.

Lawrence, David, et al. The Great Barrier Reef: Managing an Ecosystem.

Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2002.

660

Smith, Fay. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Seven Hills, Australia: Cimino

Publishing Group, 1998.

Great Lakes

The advance and retreat of glaciers over millions of years

scraped and scoured the Great Lakes basins until they at-

tained their present form about 10,000 years ago. Forming

the largest system of inland lakes in the world, the Great

Lakes have a surface area of 94,200 mi

(244,000 km

) and

a volume of more than 28 trillion yd

(22,000 km

) of water,

20 percent of the world’s surface freshwater.

Lake Superior, with more than 31,660 mi

(82,000

) of water, has the largest surface area of freshwater on

earth. Lake Huron, the world’s fifth largest lake, is at the

same elevation and about the same size as Lake Michigan,

the world’s sixth largest lake. The two are joined by the

narrow, deep Straits of Mackinac. Their accumulated waters

empty into the St. Clair River which flows into the 460 mi

(1,190 km

) Lake St. Clair. The water continues its flow

into the Detroit River before entering

Lake Erie

, the elev-

enth largest lake in the world. It is the oldest, shallowest,

busiest, and most eutrophic of the Great Lakes. The water-

way continues on into the Niagara River, then to the famous

Niagara Falls, where the water descends a total of 325 ft

(99 m) before it empties into the last Great Lake, Ontario.

The fourteenth largest lake on earth, Lake Ontario is the

smallest in surface area but the second deepest of the Great

Lakes. It discharges into the St. Lawrence River, which

flows into the Atlantic Ocean at the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The first European explorers discovered a great variety

of native fish. Approximately 153

species

were eventually

identified before human interference disrupted the

ecosys-

tem

, first by

overfishing

, and then by lumbering and indus-

trial development. As many species of fish have disappeared,

about twenty new species have been introduced. Some, such

as the Pacific salmonids, carp, and smelt, were introduced

intentionally. Others, such as the sea lamprey, alewife, and

zebra mussel

, gained access through the Erie and Welland

Canals or by release with the ballast water of vessels trans-

porting other cargo.

Today, lake trout, burbot, and whitefish are the princi-

pal catches of a once extraordinarily rich fisheries enterprise.

Despite the decline in the quality and numbers of suitable

fish, sport and

commercial fishing

are still vital Great Lakes

industries. The sport fishery consists primarily of coho, chi-

nook

salmon

, steelhead trout, walleye, and perch. They now

attract about five million anglers annually with a regional

economic benefit of about $2 billion.

Besides directly water-related activities, presently,

one-fifth of the industry and commerce of the United States

is located in the Great Lakes catchment basin because of

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (1978)

the availability of abundant cheap and clean freshwater and

accessible, efficient water

transportation

among the lakes

and to the oceans. As a consequence,

pollution

has taken

some obvious as well as more subtle forms. Using the lakes

as a cheap sewage disposal site for shoreline city populations

began in the early seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and

continued until the early 1970s. To improve the quality of

the Great Lakes, the first efforts concentrated on preventing

or removing conventional pollutants such as

phosphates

suspended solids, and

nitrogen

More deadly toxic contaminants often are not visible

and so initially attracted lessattention. Over the past fifty years

municipal and industrial wastes so polluted the waters, espe-

cially the lower Great Lakes, that, beginning in the middle

1960s organochlorides were identified as serious contami-

nants. Fish were collecting, through

bioaccumulation

, rela-

tively large concentrations of agricultural pesticides such as

DDT and dieldrin as well as the industrial chemical polychlo-

rinated biphenyl (PCB) in their tissues. These were passed

into the human

food chain/web

. By 1980 more than 400

organic and

heavy metals

contaminants had been found in

fish, and fishermen were warned to limit their consumption.

The effects of pollutants are seen primarily at the tops of food

chains and are usually discovered through changes in popula-

tion levels of predator species. Organochlorines and methyl-

ated

mercury

, for example, bioaccumulate to levels that may

cause reproductive failures in fish-eating birds and animals

such as cormorants, eagles, and mink.

Between 1969 and 1972 legislation was enacted in

several states bordering the Great Lakes basin to restrict or

ban the use of dieldrin, DDT, PCBs, mercury and other

toxic

chemicals

. After

point source

discharges were regu-

lated, lake trout and chub, especially in Lake Michigan,

showed dramatic declines in these contaminants. By 1978–

79, however, the fish contaminant declines were only slight;

or the levels remained relatively constant, reflecting airborne

inputs as well as the remobilization of contaminants from

the

sediment

This problem is likely to continue because the turnover

rates of the Great Lakes are very slow; and mercury, PCBs

and the pesticides DDT, dieldrin and

chlordane

are very

resistant to degradation in the

environment

. Also, these

compounds continue to enter the Great Lakes ecosystem

from highly diffuse nonpoint sources such as airborne depo-

sition, agricultural and

urban runoff

, remobilization from

the sediments,

leaching

from municipal and industrial land-

fills, municipal and industrial discharges, and illegal dump-

ing. See also Agricultural chemicals; Agricultural pollution;

Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement; Heavy metals and

heavy metal poisoning; Industrial waste treatment; Methyla-

tion; Water pollution

[Frank M. D’Itri]

661

ESOURCES

OOKS

Ashworth, W. The Late, Great Lakes: An Environmental History. New York:

Knopf, 1986.

Great Lakes, Great Legacy. Washington, DC: Conservation Foundation,

1989.

Hough, J. L. Geology of the Great Lakes. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois

Press, 1958.

Sixth Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality. Windsor, Ont.: Interna-

tional Joint Commission, 1992.

Weller, P. Fresh Water Seas: Saving the Great Lakes, Between the Lines.

Toronto: Publishers, 1990.

Great Lakes Water Quality

Agreement (1978)

The

Great Lakes Water Quality

Agreement of 1978

amended and strengthened the International Great Lakes

Water Quality Agreement between Canada and the United

States, which was signed in 1972. The original agreement es-

tablished a framework for research, clean-up, and

pollution

control

based on goals determined by the two nations. The

existing

International Joint Commission

, in cooperation

with the newly-created International Great Lakes Water

Quality Board, was to oversee the implementation of the

agreement. Chief goals of the agreement were to reduce the

amount of

phosphorus

being dumped into the lakes by 50

percent, to require all municipal

sewage treatment

plants

to be at the secondary level (removing nutrients such as phos-

phorous and

nitrogen

), and to control toxic

water pollution

The impetus for action in 1972, and again in 1978,

was the decreasing water quality in the Great Lakes. Two

incidents best symbolized this to the nation. First, the mas-

sive algal blooms in

Lake Erie

, due to eutrophication, led

many commentators to declare that the lake was dead. And

second, when the

Cuyahoga River

in Cleveland caught fire

in 1969, it provided a clear visual message to the rest of the

country about the state of

pollution

in the Great Lakes.

Perhaps not as visible, but just as serious, the Great Lakes

were also suffering from toxic chemical pollution, which was

a problem for water use, and also for sports and recreational

fishing. Limits, and in some cases, bans, were placed on

how much fish from the lakes could be consumed.

The 1978 Agreement substantially strengthened the

1972 accord. The new agreement focused especially on toxic

pollutants and phosphorous, the chief

nutrient

responsible

for eutrophication in the Great Lakes. A stricter definition

of a

toxic substance

was included, as well as specific water

quality objectives for certain

heavy metals

, polychlorinated

biphenyl (PCB), and pesticides, and a list of hundreds of

hazardous and potentially hazardous materials. Phosphorous

entering the lakes would be reduced further in certain lakes,

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Great Smoky Mountains

primarily by improved

municipal solid waste

plants. Addi-

tional sections of the agreement dealt with pollution resulting

from airborne

toxins

dredging

, shipping, and

nonpoint

source

pollution. A contingency plan between the two na-

tions to respond to spills or other severe pollution episodes

was also to be created. The Agreement is an Executive

Agreement with no force of law in either Canada or the

United States. Rather, each nation must depend on existing

laws to meet these joint goals.

TheGreat Lakes CriticalPrograms Act, passedin 1990,

was designed to increase the efforts of the

Environmental

Protection Agency

(EPA) and the states in cleaning up the

Great Lakes. Evaluations of the 1978 Agreement indicated

that neither the EPA nor the states had been putting sufficient

effort into the implementation of the necessary programs.

By the middle 1990’s, significant progress had been

made on reducing phosphorous pollution and improving

municipal sewage treatment by building new plants and

improving existing plants. Phosphorous loadings were below

1978 target loads for Superior, Huron, and Michigan, and

at or near target loads for Erie and Ontario. Hence, this

aspect of the water quality agreement has largely been

achieved. There has also been significant improvement on

point source

pollution of toxic

chemicals

such as PCBs.

Toxic substances in the lakes remain a major problem due

air pollution

runoff

(non-point source pollution), and

releases from already contaminated sediments. For instance,

the source of over 75% of the PCBs entering Lake Superior

and 95% of the lead entering the Great Lakes is air pollution.

In 1995, Canada and the United States agreed to develop

a coordinated binational strategy to virtually eliminate persis-

tent toxic substances from the Great Lakes Basin. That same

year, the EPA launched the Great Lakes Water Quality

Initiative as a framework for achieving that goal. See also

Agricultural runoff; Chemical spills; Heavy metals and heavy

metal poisoning; Oil spills

[Christopher McGory Klyza]

ESOURCES

OOKS

Ashworth, W. The Late, Great Lakes. New York: Knopf, 1986.

Council on Environmental Quality. Environmental Quality: 21st Annual

Report. Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1990.

ERIODICALS

“U. S., Canada Reach Pollution Pact.” New York Times, June 1, 1978, B6.

Great Smoky Mountains

The Great Smoky Mountains (GSM)

National Park

covers

approximately 543,400 acres (220,000 ha) of western North

662

Carolina and southeastern Tennessee, making the park the

single largest

wilderness

area in the eastern United States.

The mountains received their name from the Cherokee for

the smoke-like clouds which frequently shroud their peaks

and the grey-green

haze

of the wooded slopes. In early fall,

this grey-green haze becomes a blaze of autumnal colors.

The GSM are known for their large stands of some of the

world’s best remaining examples of temperate

deciduous

forest

, and for their “balds” or treeless mountain tops. The

park’s size, scenic beauty, and geographical proximity to large

population centers are features that contribute to attracting

more visitors annually than any other national park (includ-

ing the somewhat better-known Yellowstone, Yosemite, and

Grand Canyon National Parks).

The GSM are situated in what had been one of the

least accessible areas of the eastern United States. Natural

barriers contributed to relatively low levels of development

and exploitation through the eighteenth and nineteenth cen-

turies. GSM National Park was authorized in 1926. Land

purchase (funded in part by a five million dollar donation

from foundations associated with the Rockefeller family)

began in 1930 and was established through an act of Con-

gress in June of 1934. The Park was formally dedicated by

President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940. In 1976, the Park

was recognized as a

biosphere reserve

, and in 1983 the

GSM were selected as a World Heritage Site.

The GSM contain several of the highest mountain

peaks in the United States east of the Mississippi River. The

Park’s Mt. Guyot, Mt. Chapman, and Mt. Leconte all tower

over 6,000 ft (1,830 m). At 6,643 ft (2,025 m), Clingman’s

Dome, on the Tennessee side, is the highest point in the

Park, as well as the crest of the Appalachian Trail. This

peak was named after General Thomas L. Clingman, a

soldier and scientist who, while exploring the area with

Arnold Guyot in the late nineteenth century, was the first

to measure the summit’s elevation.

Among the oldest mountains in the world, the GSM

also contain some of the oldest rock strata in the eastern

United States. Sheetlike layers of slate (a fine-grained rock

originally formed from mud

sediment

) create jagged out-

crops of spectacularly-angled rock, glinting in areas where

mica deposits (a sparkling mineral formed when slate is

heated) show through to the surface. The slate that makes

up much of the jagged central ridge line tells the story of

how the mountains were formed by repeated elevations

rather than by one single geological event. The bedrock

ranges in age from about 600 million–1 billion years and

exhibits a range of different characteristics owing to meta-

morphoses caused by the heat and violence of geological

shifts.

More than 148,200 acres (60,000 ha) of GSM Na-

tional Park are pristine or primitive. Early in the summer,

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Green advertising and marketing

the characteristic “balds” of the GSM (clear, treeless patches

on the summits) are brightened by rhododendron blooms

around their peripheries. Several varieties of spruce, buckeye,

birch, hemlock, dogwood are also common. The abundant

sunshine and frequent rain of the region help support over

1,500

species

of flowering plants, including eight species

of trillium, 32 species of violets, and 29 species of orchids.

During the last

ice age

, the highlands were a refuge for

northern plant species displaced by the continental ice sheet.

Remnants of some of these species, including red spruce

and Fraser fir, can still be found at the higher elevations but

virtually nowhere else at this latitude. The Park contains the

largest virgin forests of red spruce and balsam fir, and the

finest virgin hardwood forests left in the United States.

Indeed, the slopes of the GSM may support more virgin

timber than the rest of the eastern United States combined.

In the fall, when the green chlorophyll in deciduous leaves

begins to break down, these forests put on a spectacular

show of color. Fall colors generally peak between October

15–25, when up and down the mountains may be seen the

brilliant reds of maples, golden yellow of beech, and the

deeper hues of oaks and more southerly species. But Park

visitation also peaks at this time, and those visitors who use

the main roads through the Park frequently find themselves

in bumper-to-bumper traffic jams with other nature-lovers.

Despite the huge annual invasion of tourists and hik-

ers, GSM National Park nevertheless still supports abundant

wildlife

. Wild hogs, white-tailed deer, turkey, groundhogs,

and ruffed grouse are among the species that can be seen

and/or heard in the back country. Black bear have done

particularly well under the protection and management of

the

National Park Service

, to the extent that they have

become habituated to the presence of humans and frequent

rest-stops, campsites, and picnic areas. Campers, hikers, and

even day trippers in vehicles need to be knowledgeable about

bear behavior and about food storage and

garbage

disposal

procedures which help to minimize unwanted attention from

the bears.

Several species of trout are found in abundance in the

cool and clear mountain streams. Estimating conservatively,

about 250 species of birds may be seen in the Park at various

times during the year, 165 of these species being resident.

The avian population includes twenty varieties of warbler,

thirty of finch, and twenty of geese and ducks. The higher

elevations provide

habitat

for ravens and hawks, as well as

occasional peregrine falcons and eagles.

GSM National Park also contains approximately 72

mi (116 km) of the Appalachian Trail, which runs along

the crest of the Appalachians all the way from Mt. Katahdin,

a granite monolith in Maine, south to Springer Mountain

in Georgia. In the Park, the Appalachian Trail runs from

the Pigeon River to the Little Tennessee River, and here

663

can be found the highest, roughest, and some of the most

scenic segments of the entire route. Over 900 mi (1,450 km)

of other trails provide hikers and horseback riders with access

to dozens of waterfalls, mountain meadows, and scenic,

grassy balds.

[Lawrence J. Biskowski]

Green advertising and marketing

In the last decade growing consumer interest in environmen-

tal issues has significantly impacted how advertisers market

their products and companies. The evidence regarding this

greater concern for the environmental impact of commercial

goods has been documented by several marketing groups.

A 1989 survey by Michael Peters consultants found that

53% of the Americans asked had refused to buy a product

in that year because of the effect of the product or package on

the

environment

; 75% indicated that they would purchase a

product with

biodegradable

or recyclable packaging even

if it meant spending more money. In 1990 an Abt Associates

study of American consumers showed that 90% of those

interviewed were willing to pay more for environmentally-

friendly products. For many years, German, Scandinavian,

and Dutch consumers had shown a willingness to buy phos-

phate-free

detergents

and other so-called environmentally-

friendly products. Indeed, a German business was saved from

bankruptcy by offering a washing machine that consumed

less water, detergent, and energy than its rivals. In England,

The Green Consumer Guide, by John Elkington and Julia

Hailes, was a best-seller for four weeks after its publication.

Generally, the most environmentally-concerned consumers

were well-to-do with the most discretionary income and the

highest educational level. In short, they were trend-setters

that advertising and marketing people could not ignore.

Marketers began to commonly use the terms “environ-

mentally friendly,” “safe for the environment,” “recycled,”

“degradable,” “biodegradable,” “compostable,” and “recycla-

ble.” Cause-related marketing also became popular as com-

panies promised to support moderate environmental organi-

zations such as

World Wildlife Fund

. While the advertising

practices of many companies went uncontested by environ-

mental groups, concerns arose regarding the claims of certain

companies. For example, the Mobil Oil Corporation was

sued for misleading advertising after claiming that its plastic

Hefty

garbage

bags were recyclable. After suffering much

embarrassment, British

Petroleum

was forced to withdraw

its claim that its new brand of unleaded

gasoline

caused

pollution

. Reacting to these and similar findings, 10

state Attorney Generals issued a report in 1990 calling for

greater accountability in “green” marketing. The

Environ-

mental Protection Agency

(EPA) and the Federal Trade

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Green belt/greenway

Commission also devised standards to evaluate the claims

made by advertisers.

Often, the issue has been whether one product is really

better for the environment than another. For instance, phos-

phate-free detergents created a controversy when they were

introduced in France. Some companies claimed that they

were no more environmentally benign than detergents that

had

phosphates

. Rhone-Poulenc, the French producer of

the detergents with phosphates, ran ads of dead fish appar-

ently killed by the substances in the detergents which did not

have phosphates. Proctor & Gamble launched a campaign

which claimed that

disposable diapers

actually had less

negative environmental impacts than reusable diapers. They

pointed to the detergents, hot water, and energy used in

washing cloth diapers, the energy needed to bring them to

consumers, and the pesticides that were in the cotton out

of which they were made.

Life-cycle assessments came into vogue as companies

argued about the relative environmental merits of various

products. Assessments exam the total environmental impact

of using the product and how it rates—environmentally—

to other similar products. Migros, the large Swiss retailer,

has developed an “eco-balance” or life-cycle program to ana-

lyze the impact of its packaging in terms of the resources

used and how they are disposed of.

Green labeling programs exist in Germany (

Blue

Angel

), Canada (Environmental Choice), and Japan (Eco-

mark). They are run by the governments of these countries,

but the United States government has not been willing to

give this kind of endorsement to commercial products. In-

stead, various environmental groups have

seals

of approval

which they have applied to selected goods that pass their tests

of environmental acceptability. See also Environmentalism;

Green packaging; Green products; Recycling

[Alfred A. Marcus]

ESOURCES

OOKS

Cairncross, F. Costing the Earth. Boston: Harvard Business School Press,

1992.

Elkington, J., and J. Hailes. The Green Consumer Guide. London: Gol-

lancz, 1988.

Green belt/greenway

A green belt is an area of land that usually surrounds a town

or city, and is kept open by government restrictions on

further development. Often it comprises both public and

private land.

Green belts provide both recreational areas and land-

scape, but their main purpose is to contain cities, diverting

664

future growth, and preventing cities and towns from

merging.

It grew out of Sir Ebenezer Howard’s “Garden City”

approach to town planning, which aimed to provide natural

areas for residents of cities. Garden cities were surrounded

by countryside; city expansion was only to take place by

developing new garden cities on the other side of the green

belt. The result would be clusters of cities grouped around

a central city. Several garden cities (e.g., Welwyn in England)

were built in Britain.

In the 1920s, London’s government called for study

of an “agricultural belt,” although the farming function was

considered incidental. Its key purpose was to act as a barrier

to growth. Ultimately, these were to serve as open spaces.

Sir Raymond Unwin proposed a “green girdle” of spaces

easily accessible to towns and cities. This plan led to the

1938 Green Belt Act, and about 38,000 acres (15,580 ha)

were purchased. After World War II, green belts were again

proposed as a means to limit development. A green belt

about 5 mi deep (8 km) separated the inner city and the

suburbs from the outer countryside. Land was both pur-

chased and controlled through zoning compensation and

by purchasing development rights. Typically, farming was

allowed, but housing was not. By 1959, 840 mi

(2,175

) had been secured. The green belt was not considered

completely successful, as it did not halt London’s growth,

and residents’ use of the lands was not high, as they were

not easily accessible.

Other difficulties, according to William H. Whyte,

author of The Last Landscape, were the time and expense of

controlling land and maintaining it, arbitrary placement of

the green belt areas (not following natural boundaries) and

lack of function attached to the land.

Green belts today emphasize the landscape and recre-

ational values of open areas. Containment is negative and

it does not work, a conclusion the Japanese came to in 1965

when they abandoned a proposed London-type green belt

to contain Tokyo.

The green belt concept came to the United States

much later, and many would say that it grew into the

greenways concept, which have the specific purpose of pro-

viding open space and recreational areas. In the United

States, the term is often used interchangeably with the term

greenway, although the meaning is somewhat different.

Greenways, according to Jennifer Howard, author of

Greenways: A Citizen’s Guide, are linear corridors of land

and water and the natural, cultural, and recreational resources

they link together. They help conserve a variety of resources

and create recreational opportunities.

Greenways were inspired both by green belts and by

the work of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead,

who, in the late 1800s, designed a number of urban park

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Green Cross

systems he called “parkways.” One of his most notable is

the Emerald Necklace, a string of park areas around Boston.

They may take the form of a riverfront walkway, a

bicycle path, an urban walking trail connecting historic sites

and neighborhood parks, a

wildlife migration

corridor,

among others. Greenways are typically categorized as river

greenways, paths and trails, cultural and historic greenways,

wildlife corridors. They are typically comprising both public

and private lands, and can include trails, riverways,

habitat

and resource

conservation

areas, notable natural features,

scenic roads, historic structures, vacant urban lands, for-

estland, and farm fields—basically any resource that is signif-

icant to a community. Greenways help make these resources

accessible to residents without need for a car. Four categories

of land and

water resources

can be incorporated into a

greenway system: resource-conservation areas, parks and

open spaces, cultural and historic resources, and the corridors

of land and water which connect these other elements to-

gether.

In the last 20 years, the greenway concept has increased

in recognition and popularity. Today, hundreds are under-

way. In 1987, The President’s Commission on Americans

Outdoors focused national attention on greenways, and rec-

ommended their establishment “to link together the rural

and urban spaces in the American landscape.”

In Massachusetts, several greenways exist. The Con-

necticut River Greenway State Park in Massachusetts com-

prises about 3,500 acres (14,350 ha) of land owned or con-

trolled by the Department of Environmental Management

along a 70-mi (113-km) stretch of the Connecticut River.

Much of the land is in private ownership and includes farms

and woodlots.

The Massachusetts Bay Circuit encircles the entire

Boston Metropolitan area; within Boston, the Emerald

Necklace, a string of parkways, was planned by Frederick

Law Olmsted. Other notable green belts exist in Portland,

Oregon; Vienna; and Tokyo.

[Carol Steinfeld]

ESOURCES

OOKS

Howard, J., Creating Greenways: A Citizen’s Guide. The Department of

Environmental Management, 1997.

Whyte, W. H. The Last Landscape. New York: Doubleday & Company,

1968.

Green consumerism

see

Green advertising and marketing;

Green Cross; Green products

665

Green Cross

Long used by several organizations, the Green Cross has

become a symbol of environmental awareness and responsi-

bility.

A religiously oriented group officially called the Amer-

ican Association of the Green Cross is based in Colorado

Springs, Colorado, and describes itself as “a new Christian

environmental organization whose purpose is to address the

ethical and moral issues underlying ecological issues, and to

mobilize volunteers in service to Creation.” The group’s

motto is “serving and keeping Creation,” and it encourages

such activities as “the development of every church as a

Creation-awareness center, education about Christian re-

sponsibility for the earth, local action to address ecological

issues.” The group also promotes tree planting, urban gar-

dening,

habitat

restoration, resource

conservation

, and

waste reduction

. It is associated with the North American

Conference on Christianity and Ecology, and it plans to

establish a network of chapters in churches, schools, youth

groups, and colleges.

The International Green Cross and Green Crescent

is a new environmental group formed in April 1993 and

headed by former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

Hoping to do for the

environment

what the Red Cross and

Red Crescent have done for disaster relief, the International

Green Cross will work to coordinate environmental efforts

on a global scale. Mr. Gorbachev has said that he accepted

leadership of the group because “I am convinced that saving

the environment is the number one priority for all countries.”

Sponsors of the organization include an array of distin-

guished world political and spiritual leaders, including India’s

Mother Teresa and Javier Perez de Cuellar, the former Secre-

tary General of the United Nations.

The Green Cross Certification Company is the former

name of a non-profit group that awarded certifications to

manufacturers whose products met certain limited environ-

mental standards. The certification program is now adminis-

tered by Scientific Certification Systems, Inc. (SCS), a pri-

vate, for-profit laboratory that charges manufacturers a fee

to research products and to verify their performance and

claims. SCS says that it is “committed to developing pro-

grams that motivate private industry to work toward an

environmentally sustainable future” by “conducting indepen-

dent, unbiased evaluations of products and product claims,

and recognizing products achieving exceptional environmen-

tal performance goals.” The SCS Environmental Report

Card summarizes the environmental performance of a prod-

uct, including the amount of “environmental burden” associ-

ated with the product and its packaging.

SCS emphasizes that it does not approve products as

“green” or environmentally acceptable, but rather verifies

Environmental Encyclopedia 3

Green packaging

the environmental claims that companies make for their

products and analyses their environmental impact. SCS tries

to evaluate a product’s life cycle program, the impact it has

from manufacture to disposal. Factors considered usually

include the toxic waste generated and the energy used in

production, the recycled content of the product, and its

recyclability or biodegradability upon disposal. Different

product categories have varying standards of acceptability

depending on the state of technology for the above factors

for the particular product or industry. See also Environmental

consumers; Environmental ethics; Green advertising and

marketing; Green products; Nongovernmental organization

[Lewis G. Regenstein]

Green packaging

Packaging is the largest form of domestic

garbage

. In 1999

it amounted to 33.1% of

solid waste

as measured by weight

in the United States. Significant waste prevention implies

reductions in packaging. There simply is not enough room

in landfills or incinerators for all the excess packaging the

industry produces.

People value products not only for their content but

also for the packaging. It gives products a better feel and a

more attractive appearance and suggests less of a risk of

contamination. It prolongs the life of the product and allows

people to make fewer trips to the supermarket.

For purely economic reasons most packages are be-

coming lighter.

Aluminum

cans, for instance, are 45%

lighter today than they once were. Shrink wrap film and a

plastic base are increasingly taking the place of corrugated

boxes. Some companies are trying to eliminate packaging

entirely. Outer boxes were once thought to be absolutely

essential for the sale of toothpaste, but the giant Swiss re-

tailer, Migros, discovered that consumers ultimately became

accustomed to unboxed tubes and that sales did not suffer

as a result. McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants in

the United States have stopped using

polystyrene

boxes to

package their sandwiches, turning instead to paper wraps.

Other innovations in packaging are also occurring. For in-

stance, Procter & Gamble is no longer using metal-based

inks for printing on packages. See also Container deposit

legislation; Green advertising and marketing; Waste re-

duction

[Alfred A. Marcus]

ESOURCES

OOKS

Cairncross, F. Costing the Earth. Boston: Harvard Business School Press,

1992.

666

Green plans

Green plans are comprehensive environmental strategies that

are intended to improve environmental quality and make

rapid progress towards sustainability. (In its use here, the

word “green” is non-political and non-ideological, and

merely refers to a context of environmental protection and

sustainable development.) Green plans are characterized by

a longer-term view, while being thorough in their consider-

ation and integration of environmental issues. Green plans

also take account of economic realities, while consistently

ensuring an appropriate degree of protection of environmen-

tal quality and natural ecological values (such as the needs

endangered species

and rare ecosystems).

Green plans represent an extremely important tool for

the longer-term protection of environmental quality,

con-

servation

natural resources

and ecological values, and

achievement of a sustainable economic system. Green plans

do this by proposing sustainable alternatives to the many

kinds of modern activities that are causing damages to the

environment

and

biosphere

. Green plans attempt to inte-

grate the economic, scientific, and political interests of soci-

ety to develop a strategy that can achieve a sustainable pros-

perity for present and

future generations

of humans and

their economic systems, while also supporting other

species

and natural ecosystems.

Green plans are designed to replace more conventional

methods for protecting the environment. These conventional

methods include the following:

(1) Sectoral structures of government and administration.

This type of structure can be a problem because there is

often a lack of integration among sectors, even though there

may be important environmental linkages. For example, en-

vironmental management by government typically involves

separate agencies responsible for

air pollution

water pollu-

tion

, forestry, agriculture, fisheries, metal resources, fossil-

fuel resources, industrial development, human health,

bio-

diversity

(i.e., the conservation of indigenous species and

ecosystems), and other environment-related mandates. Be-

cause the responsibilities of these agencies are not well inte-

grated, they often work at cross-purposes. For instance,

agencies responsible for managing harvests of timber may

not take adequate consideration of the interests of agencies

concerned with

pollution

, endangered species, or rare eco-

systems (such as old-growth forests). This commonly results

in environmental and ecological damages being caused by

timber harvesting, with attendant controversies.

(2) Single-issue policies. Single-issue policies may result

from the actions of special-interest groups, which are seeking

to advance their particular environmental, ideological, or

socio-economic agendas. This can, however, result in poor

integration among issues, and divisive political and social