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OCR for page 51
3
The Land-Acquisi~cion Process
The process of federal land acquisition involves interactions among a
variety of participants. Some of the participants federal agencies,
Congress, local governments, and landowners-have official decision-
making or administrative authority; others such as owners of adjoining
properly, and national and local interest groups lack formal authority
but might have considerable influence on those who do. This chapter
reviews the mandates of the federal agencies Mat acquire land for con-
servation purposes and the sources of funding available for acquisition.
The chapter then explores who exercises authority and influence in We
acquisition process and their powers, responsibilities, and modes of
interaction, and analyzes how the process actually works to balance often
competing interests. Specific consideration is given to how the process
incorporates scientific information relevant to reaching conservation
objectives and how it accounts for the interests of various groups.
SOURCES OF FUNDING
Until 1964, each agency had a distinctive funding source for acquisi-
tions. The Forest Service (IJSFS) drew a modest annual appropriation
from the Weeks Act, and the Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) used
monies accumulated in the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund. The
infrequent National Park Service (NPS) acquisitions were funded by
51
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_ SElTl~G PRIORITIES FOR LAND CONSERVATION
special congressional appropriation. The Bureau of Land Managment
03LM) had little involvement in land aquisition.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund
The availability of fiends for federal land acquisition increased dramat-
ically wig Me passage of Me Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of
1964. The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is a special
account in the U.S. Treasury from which Congress annually appropriates
money to acquire lands for conservation and recreation by federal and
state agencies. Certain federal revenues, including the proceeds of
surplus federal property sales, Me federal motorboat fuels tax, and a
portion of Outer Continental Shelf leasing receipts, are credited to the
EWCF to provide it with a maximum of $900 million annually. None
of this money can be spent, however, unless specifically appropriated by
Congress.
Since Me act's passage, more than $3.2 billion of matching grants
from the EWCF have been made to states to enable Rem to plan, ac-
quire, or develop qualifying projects. In the same period, more than
$3.6 billion has been expended from the EWCF for land acquisition by
We Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture.
Appropriations from the EWCF have varied considerably from year to
year, from nearly $800 million in 1978 to less than $200 million in
1982. In 1991, EWCF appropriations were $374,943,000. The act
specifies that not more Man 60% of Me money appropriated from Me
EWCF each year is to be for grants to the states, and the state share has
typically been much less Man that amount; in 1982, no EWCF monies
were appropriated for state grants.
The idea for the kWCF can be traced to a proposal by Stewart Udall
in 1961 for a hind for federal land acquisition and to Me Outdoor Recre-
ation Resources Review Commission (ORRRC), which was established
by Congress in 1958. When its final report was released in 1962, the
ORRRC's overall conclusion was that We demand for outdoor recreation
had grown dramatically since World War II and was likely to continue
to do so, necessitating a major governmental effort to provide the land
for such purposes. The ORRRC also noted that although much of the
available public recreation land was in the West, much of the nation's
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THE LAND ACQUISIT70N PROCESS
53
population was in the East. The congressional committees that were
responsible for We legislation creating the EWCF agreed that "a substan-
tial part" of We monies to be devoted to federal acquisitions should go
toward ache purchase of privately owned inholdings within the authorized
boundaries of national parks, forests, and refuges (U.S. Congress,
House, 1963; U.S. Congress, Senate, 1964~. Another aim was to estab-
lish publicly significant recreation areas within easy distance of major
population centers.
National Park Service
Throughout its history, the national park system as administered by
NPS has been a principal beneficiary of the EWCF. Primarily because
of backlogs in We acquisition of inholdings within the park system,
Congress has on several occasions increased the authorized ceiling for
We EWCF to its present level of $900 million (Glicksman and Coggins,
1984).
U.S. Forest Service
The USES is another federal beneficiary. Although the ~ 897 law
creating He USES made no mention of wildlife or public recreation,
Hose have been among He purposes for which national forests have
been managed since He agency began operation. Passage of the Multi-
ple Use and Sustained Yield Act of 1960 heightened the importance of
Hose purposes. The national forest system as a whole is to be managed
for multiple uses, but He management of particular areas is likely to
emphasize only one or a few uses. That is reflected in the limited au-
~ority conferred by the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act for land
acquisition using monies from He EWCF: The only areas that may be
acquired by the USES using EWCF monies are inholdings within nation-
al forest wilderness areas, inholdings within other national forest areas
that "are primarily of value for outdoor recreation areas," and areas not
to exceed 3,000 acres that are adjacent to an existing national forest
boundary and that would compose "an integral part of a forest recre-
ational management area."
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54 SETTING PRIORITIES FOR LAND CONSERVATION
U.S. fish and Wildlife Service
The Bird federal agency for which the EWCF can be tapped for land
acquisition is Me USFWS. The Migratory Bird Conservation Act
(MBCA) in 1929 gave USFWS (then known as Me Bureau of Biological
Surveys) the authority to acquire lands for inviolate sanctuaries for
migratory birds. The enactment of the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp
Act ~ years later provided a special mechanism for funding such acquisi-
tions. The Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 conferred a general grant of
authority upon Me USFWS to acquire refuge lands without regard to the
inviolate sanctuary provisions of the MBCA and without necessarily
being limited to lands of value to migratory birds.
The purposes for which lands can be acquired by USFWS using
EWCF monies have expanded steadily. Until 1962, the question of
whether public recreation was an intended purpose of national wildlife
refuges had not been addressed legislatively, although the MBCA since
1929 had empowered USFWS to permit hunting of migratory birds on
its refuges. In 1962, Congress passed the Refuge Recreation Act. That
act au~or~zed Me secretary of the interior to administer national wildlife
refuges or parts Hereof for recreation and "an appropriate incidental or
secondary user if it was determined that such use was compatible with
the primary purposes for which those areas were established. It also
authorized the secretary to acquire lands for recreational development
adjacent to wildlife refuges, but stipulated that monies in the Migratory
Bird Conservation Fund could not be used for that purpose. At the
time, however, no other sources of funding were available for acquisi-
tions. Two years later, when Congress enacted the Land and Water
Conservation Fund Act, it authorized USFWS to use EWCF monies to
acquire lands for the incidental recreation purposes of the Refuge Recre-
ation Act.
In 1973, USFWS's land-acquisition authority was expanded signifi-
cantly when Congress enacted the Endangered Species Act (ESA). That
act authorized the secretary of the interior to acquire lands needed for
the conservation of endangered or threatened species. It specifically
authorized He use of the EWCF for such purposes and amended the
Land and Water Conservation Fund Act to reflect that authorization.
This amendment was the first authorized use of the EWCF that was not
tied explicitly or implicitly to outdoor recreation resources. A similar
amendment followed in 1976, when the Land and Water Conservation
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TFIE LAND ACQUISITION PROCESS
5S
Fund Act was amended to allow USFWS to tap the LWCF for land
acquisition of any refuge area authorized by specific act of Congress, as
well as refuges to be acquired under the general grant of land-acquisition
authority found in the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956. The only limita-
tion was that the LWCF could not be used to acquire lands authorized
for acquisition under the MBCA.
In 1986, the LWCF Act was amended again. The Emergency Wet-
lands Resources Act directed the secretary of the interior to establish a
plan that specifies the wetlands that should be given priority for federal
or state acquisition. In putting together this plan, the secretary is to take
into account the value of particular types of wetlands for certain purpos-
es, among them wildlife (including threatened or endangered species)
and outdoor recreation. The secretary is authorized to acquire wetlands
Mat are not acquired under the authority of the MBCA, consistent with
Me wetlands conservation plan. The Emergency Wetlands Resources
Act also amended the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act to allow
Me use of Me LWCF to acquire priority wetlands.
Bureau of Land Management
The fourth significant recipient of LWCF monies is BLM. The Fed-
eral Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) authorizes
land acquisition by BLM but does not specify Be source of funds for
such acquisition. The Land and Water Conservation Fund Act does not
make explicit mention of BEM, but EWCF monies have been used to
acquire land for outdoor recreation by BLM since at least the early
1970s. Authority for the secretary of the interior to acquire land for
endangered or Greatened species applies to the national wildlife refuge
system, which is administered by USFWS however, the ESA au~or~zes
land acquisition by the secretary without specifying whether it may be
done only through USFWS or other Department of the Interior agencies,
such as BEM.
ACQUISITION BY FEDERAL AGENCIES
Each federal agency acquires lands in pursuit of its own legislative
mandate. Acquisition priorities and strategies are also influenced by
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56 SETTING PRIORITIES FOR LAND CONSERVATION
longstanding agency practices. The overriding factor in land acquisition
is funding: The administration must identify, priorities among those
identified by He four agencies (see Appendix B).
The enthusiasm of agencies is tempered by the difficulty in acquiring
lands and Me cost of managing lands after acquisition. At minimum,
acquiring new lands entails expenditures for boundary maintenance,
protection of public safety, and payments to local governments In lieu of
taxes that would have been received if the lands were in private owner-
ship. Appropriation by Congress of money for acquisition does not
necessarily mean that Congress will appropriate funds for management
or authorize staff positions. New federal lands sometimes also entail
expanded responsibilities for federal agencies. For example, the Santa
Monica Mountains National Recreation Area gave NPS substantial new
responsibilities for providing urban recreation in the Los Angeles region,
and the use of the greenline park concept has led to significant demands
for land-use planning and coordination with state and local governments.
Expanded responsibilities may be costly and can present administrative
challenges for which existing agency staff are unprepared.
A relatively new complication affecting acquisition is the problem of
toxic contamination, which can permanently bar acquisition a parcel of
land that poses a health or safety threat due to the presence of toxic
substances or other hazards does not meet administration criteria for
. . .
acquisition.
Acquisitions along Be New River in West Virginia illustrate the
problems created by Be presence of toxic waste. Some parcels within
the New River National River area (administered by NPS) are privately
owned. One parcel includes extensive river shoreline and was for sale
in 1992; a coal mine waste dump is part of Be parcel. NPS would have
liked to purchase the parcel; however, it is precluded from purchasing
the waste dump, and Be seller was unwilling to sell less Man Be whole
parcel.
Land-acquisition authority includes purchase of land in fee, with or
without condemnation by eminent domain (i.e., through sales, exchang-
es, gifts, bequests, and other means), as well as Be acquisition of lesser
interests (easements, rights of way, life estates, etc.~. The four federal
~ However, acquiring inholdings and adjacent parcels to consolidate existing holdings some-
times reduces He length of boundaries and, therefore, lowers associated costs.
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58 SETTING PRIORITIES FOR LAND CONSERVATION
~-
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1 ~
. ~
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~- ~, .
~ I
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1 Sly' tic
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OCR for page 59
THE LAND ACQUISITION PROCESS
~9
gressional mandate to the agency. NPS's assignment was to "conserve
Me scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein
and to provide for the enjoyment of same in such manner and by such
means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of fixture genera-
tions~ (16 USC I).
The dual objectives of preservation and use have been the source of
numerous controversies over national park management. Proponents of
various park visions often disagree on how best to protect park resources
while providing for recreational use.
The national park system now comprises numerous land categories,
including national parks, monuments, historic sites, battlefields, and
recreation areas. Each individual park unit is created by an act of Con-
gress. The author~ing legislation generally confirms Cat We unit is to
be managed according to general rules governing the system and defines
management goals for He particular unit. Some units' authorizing legis-
lation is very specific; others have ambiguous language.
Overall conservation objectives expressed in management policies
have changed with increased ecological understanding and use demands.
Objectives have included prevention of poaching; control of elements of
Me ecosystem considered undesirable- e.g., at first fire and predators,
Men human activities that prevent fire and predator control; human-use
management to prevent resource degradation; exploration of ways to
mitigate effects of human activities on parks as well as land outside of
parks; and integration of parks into larger, regional land-use manage-
ment patterns to sustain regional biological diversity. Overall NPS
policy is to maintain natural processes responsible for the continuing
evolution of natural ecosystems and to restore elements lost as a result
of human activities (Keystone Center, 1991~.
Acquisition
Acquisition of private lands did not become an important concern of
NPS park managers until the 1960s. Before then, most new parks were
created from Me public domain or from national forests, or in a few
cases, by donation. In 1961, Congress established We Cape Cod Na-
tional Seashore and authorized federal money for parkland acquisition
from private owners; the 1964 Land and Water Conservation Fund Act
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THE LAND ACQUISITION PROCESS
61
legislation for individual park units limits methods of acquisition, for
example, to donations or exchanges, to maximum acreage, or to less-
than-fee interest. The Ebey's Landing National Historic Reserve in
Washington, for example, was established by Congress in November
1978 "to preserve and protect a rural community which provides an
unbroken historical record from the n~neteenth-century exploration and
set~dement in Puget Sound to the present time" (National Parks and
Recreation Act of 197S, 16 U.S.C.A. Section 461~. The authority for
He acquisition of the proper forbids the use of eminent domain. The
reserve is made up of "a scenic island community of farms, woodlands,
open space, historical structures, and the historic town of Coupeville.
The resources to be protected constitute the historic rural environment of
central Whidbey Island," and cover 13,100 acres of land and 4,300
surface acres of salt water.
Legislative acquisition strategies also can encourage local zoning. An
example of federally encouraged local zoning is found in He Cape Cod
National Seashore Act of 1961 (16 U.S.C.A. Section 459b-~), which
gives the secretary of He interior the power "to acquire [for He national
seashore] by purchase, gift, condemnation, transfer from any Federal
agency, exchange or otherwise, the land, waters, and over property,
and improvements thereon." But He condemnation powers are con-
strained in several ways. Owners whose land is condemned may elect
to retain He right of use and occupancy of He property for residential
purposes for as long as 25 years. The act also suspends He secretary's
authority to acquire improved property (e.g., single-family dwellings) by
condemnation if the towns within He seashore have valid zoning laws
approved by the secretary and applicable to the property. The Cape Cod
Seashore has adopted use guidelines for private properly that direct
private owners of improved property to comply wig the act; this formu-
la effectively created federal zoning in He form of indirect federal con-
tro' over local land-use decisions.
Limitations on acquisition authority and criteria for priorities within
individual units are reflected in land-protection plans prepared for each
NPS unit. Key considerations for establishing land-acquisition criteria
are the primary purpose of He park, land price escalation, legislative
history, imminent threats, and protection of the park. Current adm~n-
istration policy requires land-protection plans to identify, for each pri-
vately owned parcel, the least federal interest necessary to achieve the
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THE LAND ACQUISITION PROCESS
93
a decade or so after passage of EWCF, federal funds from EWCF were
matched with state and local funds to provide and develop recreation
opportunities, as well as to protect open space. (Receipt of EWCF
fiends required that states prepare "Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor
Recreation Plans".)
The state grants portion of the EWCF has declined substantially over
the past 15 years (Table 3-~. This is the result of budget constraints at
all levels of government, as well as growing congressional interest in
shifting the balance of funding toward acquisition of federal lands. And
without significant federal fiends to encourage He states to allocate Weir
limited funds to acquisition and development of recreation lands, the
availability of state and local recreation opportunities is not keeping up
with population pressures? especially in urban areas.
One result of decreased state funding is a tendency for some states to
look to the federal government to provide recreation land and opportuni-
ties that would relieve the states of what would otherwise be Heir re-
sponsibility. As described by state officials to the House Energy and
Environment Subcommittee of the Committee on Interior and Insular
Affairs in a hearing on "The Crisis in State and Local Recreation" prior-
ities for the use of state EWCF funds are for accessible recreational
facilities that do not require travel, rehabilitation and refurbishment of
existing resources, for enhancement of the state tourism industry a
major employer in many states, and preservation of the rural character
of some areas (Travous, 1992~. State officials also pointed out Hat
properly placed urban parks are important for connecting the inner city
wig coasts and wilderness areas.
Lack of funding Trough the EWCF has also led to over funding
mechanisms Hat complicate the issue. For example, He National Recre-
ational Trails Trust Fund Act, funded by Be gas tax paid by recreational
vehicle use, was authorized as part of the Intermodal Surface Transpor-
tation Efficiency Act of 1991 (P.L. 102-240) and is under He jurisdic-
tion of the Deparunent of Transportation. This has the potential to
circumvent He recreational-land-planning process and to result in con-
flicts with He intent of the LWCF.
Native American Tribes
The conservation needs of Native Americans have not been consid
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94 SETTING PRIORITIES FOR LAND CONSERVATION
ered in the context of the EWCF, because no mechanism has been devel-
oped to address the sovereign status of tribes and their role in land
conservation. The federal portion of the EWCF is used to acquire pub-
lic lands; tribal lands are held in trust by Me federal government but are
not classified as public lands. States have been unwilling to address
these needs, because tribal territories are not political subdivisions of
state governments. Also, because of the sovereign immunity of tribes,
it would be difficult for states to enforce legal agreements upon which
grants might be conditional.
In 1979, the Department of the Interior Task Force on Increasing
Participation by Indian Tribes in We EWCF prepared a report and pro-
posed legislation amending the EWCF to include tribes. The task force
found Tat tribes have outdoor recreation needs for purposes of meeting
community conservation needs and for tourist attraction just as state
and local governments do (DON, 19791.
Tribes are partners in the federal historic preservation program and
are eligible to receive grants for historic preservation purposes (NHPA,
16 USC Section 470~. Tribal historic preservation concerns are de-
scribed in an NPS report on protecting historic properties and cultural
traditions on Indian lands and include some concerns similar to those
addressed by the EWCF (NPS, 1990~. Reservation boundaries encom-
pass approximately 52.5 million acres of land now held in trust by the
United States for Indian tribes and individuals (Cohen, 1982~. This land
is 3% of the land base in the United States and has less than ~ % of the
nation's cropland, close to I% of the nation's commercial forest land,
and approximately 5% of the nation's rangeland. It also includes signifi-
cant amounts of U.S. coal and uranium resources and numerous produc-
tive of] and gas fields. Native American tribes also occupy important
watersheds, particularly in He west and in some of the most pristine
areas (e.g., in the areas of Glacier and Yellowstone National parks).
The outcome of tribal and state water adjudications could have major
effects on what lands can be conserved. Furthermore, with high unem-
ployment rates, tribes face great pressure to develop nonrenewable re-
sources.
The General Allotment Act of 1887 was particularly detrimental to
native Americans, because it divided reservation land into small, individ-
ual units that could be sold to anyone, disrupting traditional collective
landownership practices and use rights and resulting in fragmented land-
tenure patterns within many reservations (White and Cronon, 1988;
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THE LAND ACQUISITION PROCESS
97
NPS, 1990~. This fractionated land-tenure pattern interferes win the
ability of tribes to manage their resources for conservation and survival
as Native American communities, because the tribes lack many attributes
of jurisdiction over lands inside reservation borders. The American
Indian Policy Review Commission found We problem with landowner-
ship on Indian reservations to be one of the biggest obstacles to future
tribal economic and community development.
Many tribes are seeking to reacquire lands Aide reservation bound-
aries Hat were lost as a result of Be General Allotment Act or through
various types of land transactions. For example, on We White Earth
Indian Reservation near the headwaters of the Mississippi River, tribal
members make up 40% of the population, but only 6% of the acreage is
tribally controlled. A community survey was conducted to assess land-
use needs and priorities for a land-recovery program. Priorities identi-
fied in the survey include land for housing, access to and conservation
of wild-rice harvesting and hunting areas, and recreation as well as
burial sites and cultural areas. Although White Earth contains several
lakefront resorts, few recreational opportunities are available to the
Indian inhabitants. The resorts and much of the lakefront properties are
owned by nontribal people, many of whom have been identified as will-
ing sellers because of the depressed real estate market and land title
problems resulting from transactions earlier in this century.
Sites and areas of tribal cultural, religious, and economic significance
are not confined to reservation boundaries, and tribes have an interest in
identification, protection, interpretation, and management of these sites
as well as access to them. For native peoples, entire landscapes often
have historic, cultural, and religious significance (White and Cronon,
1988), including "whore classes of natural elements such as plants,
animals, fish, birds, rocks, and mountains" Mat are incorporated into
tribal tradition and help form Me "matrix of spiritual, ceremonial, politi-
cat, social, and economic life" (NPS, 1990~. Continued relationships
with certain lands and natural resources are key to preservation of cul-
tural heritage as a part of contemporary life and to fighting social prob-
lems, such as alcohol and drug abuse, Mat afflict some Indian communi-
ties (NPS, 1990).
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THE LAND ACQUISITION PROCESS
99
One of He top goals of the "wise-use movement," a coalition Cat in-
cludes inholders, is opposition to all use of eminent domain to acquire
inholdings. Over opponents fear Be loss of access to federal lands for
production of commodities; deterioration of rural cultures; federal inat-
tention to maintenance, improvement, and development of existing pub-
lic lands before acquiring additional land; regulatory land-use restrictions
that might result from nearby public acquisition; and potential benefits
to certain interest groups and nonprofit intermediaries. Many opponents
find intellectual support in the writings of We new resource economists
and political support in groups such as the National Inholders Associa-
tion.
Acquisition Intermediaries
During the past 2 decades, several national nonprofit organizations
have assumed a prominent role as intermediaries in U.S. land protection.
These entities sometimes serve as land-protection advocates; sometimes,
as owners of properties acquired by purchase or donation, they act as
enthusiastic sellers. But they also have a role as facilitators of potential
transactions.
The Land Trust Alliance is a network of approximately 900 state and
local land trusts that has a major role in project identification and pro-
vides an interim source of financing and public support. The Alliance
demonstrates an awareness of local and regional concerns and offers
understanding of resources and of potential economic effects on He
communities In which the individual trusts operate.
Each nonprofit organization has its own criteria for selecting potential
land acquisitions. For the American Land Conservancy, the Conserva-
tion Fund, and He Trust for Public Land, those criteria largely reflect
agency criteria (H. Burgess, ALC, pers. comrn., Feb. 13, 1991; P.
Noonan, OF, pars. comm., fan., 1991), because Hose organizations
normally resell properties as rapidly as possible to He government. The
criteria of The Nature Conservancy ~NC) are especially well developed
and distinctive (see Appendix D).
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100 SEWING PRIORIES FOR [AND rDN.~RVATIoN
Scientific Community
Scientists have been involved In conservation efforts for many years.
Recently, they have become involved increasingly with systematically
surveying species or ecosystem and determining whether existing pro-
tected areas are adequate to ensure their survival. This technique was
pioneered in the 1970s by The Nature Conservancy, which undertook
Unnatural heritage inventories" in several states (Hoose, 1981~. Today,
inventories are available for most states and are being provided in more
detail for counties and other substate areas. Detailed inflation is
available on the resources to be found on federal land, after almost 2
decades of planr ing efforts. Scientists are combining this information
with the heritage inventories to prepare sophisticated gap analyses that
pinpoint species and systems underrepresented in tile federal system.
Those gaps become obvious candidates for acquisition (see Chapter 5~.
Gap analyses are performed by agency scientists, as well as by acqui-
sition advocates. The resulting lists are Me basis for local advocacy of
acquisitions as well as for comprehensive proposals such as The Conser-
vation Alterr~ve.
RATIONAL ANALYSIS AND POLITICS
IN THE ACQUISITION PROCESS
The differences between agency lists and He projects eventually
funded by Congress have led some observers to charge that political
considerations override criteria Hat might be at least described as sys-
tematic, and at best as embodying a certain amount of objectivity, ratio-
nality, and science.
Stone (1988) observes that "inspired by a vague sense that reason is
clean and politics is dirty, Americans yearn to replace politics with
rational decisionmak~ng." Yet, "~e enterprise of extricating policy from
politics assumes that analysis and politics can be, and are in some essen-
tial way, separate and distinctive activities." In fact, politics and analy-
sis overlap in many ways.
Politics is He expression Trough a variety of governmental processes
of group and individual interests. Those interests, in turn, are a compli
OCR for page 101
TTIE LAND A COUISITION PROCESS
101
cased mixture of perceptions, ideology, economic self-interest, and
altruism. Among the interests expressed in Me debate over federal land
acquisition are ideological judgments regarding the amount of land that
should be controlled by government, local and national preferences for
the protection of particular resources or ecosystems, relative weights
given to resource conservation compared with recreation, preferences for
one sort of recreation relative to another (e.g., snowmobiling versus
nature photography), interests of owners of adjoining lands (who might
benefit or suffer if adjoining land is federally acquired), and fiscal and
economic development interests of local communities. Interests ex-
pressed in the political process bring to bear vital information; for exam-
ple, testimony from landowners can make clear He human costs of a
given acquisition, and pressure from urban constituencies can remind
policy-makers that there is a demand for urban recreation. Sometimes,
political activity even becomes the conduit for scientific information, as
has occurred when scientists and acquisition intermediaries inventory
natural areas and lobby for Heir protection.
It should be noted that judgments and values play a role even among
scientists and agency professionals (see Hays, 19871. For example, one
scientist may value wetlands more than prairie ecosystems, while another
may put relatively more weight on creating a natural area system resil-
ient to climate change. A USES land-acquisition committee, weighing
the claims of recreation and habitat protection, might make very differ-
ent judgments from a USFWS group, even when Heir scientific compe-
tence is indistinguishable.
Foresta (1987) compared He record of national park acquisition dur-
ing the 1970s in Canada, where parks were selected on the basis of a
long-term plan prepared by the Canadian administrative agency Parks
Canada wig the U.S. system, where Congress had the dominant role.
Foresta found that 30 units were added to the U.S. park system, but
only 4 were added in Canada. All of He Canadian parks were in re-
gions Hat had been wholly unrepresented in the existing park system.
hn the U.S., only half were in unrepresented regions.
The politically dominated U.S. park selection system has advantages.
Foresta points out Hat He system is "likely to be more dynamic and
therefore capable of protecting many more areas." The U.S. process
was also "likely to encourage a greater inventiveness because it allows
a wider range of interests into the decision-making process" thereby
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
land conservation
