Altered Policy Landscapes

This book documents the United States Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) shift from a rancher-dominated agency to an energy-dominated agency. This shift is analyzed by identifying the conditions under which the expansion of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Rocky Mountain West triggered a political conflict between ranching and energy stakeholder groups. Through scrutiny of federal actions and policies implemented by the Executive Branch between 2004 and 2010, the book sheds light on the emphasis of domestic energy production during this time period, and how the traditional ranching and energy alliance was split by shifting policy interests. The book is meant for policy makers, natural resource agencies, and students and researchers engaged in political science, public administration, and natural resource management. Chapter 1 introduces readers to the case study at hand, and reviews literature on public land agencies and policies. Chapter 2 summarizes the legal history of public land management by the federal government, and the conditions that caused the BLM to favor energy development over ranching in the mid-2000's. Chapter 3 details the role of the Executive Branch (Bush-Cheney administration) in affecting the BLM's domestic energy policies and resource allocation, and chapter 4 analyzes the role of subgovernments in affecting the BLM's motivations too. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 contain first-hand accounts from government officials, state petroleum associations, and ranching supported interest groups to explore the concept of subgovernment stakeholder domination in policymaking, and analyze the similarities and differences between different policy-making elites. Chapter 8 concludes the text by summarizing subgovernment theory, mapping the behaviors of subgovernment actors, and discussing the implications for future political appointees in the direction of land-management agencies like the BLM.

"A comprehensive look at the work of 100 contemporary photographers who capture the impact of human activity on natural landscapes. The Altered Landscape is a provocative collection of photographs representing a wide range of artists, techniques, visual styles, subjects, and ideological positions. Organized chronologically, the more than 150 images-by artists such as Andy Goldsworthy, Chris Jordan, Catherine Opie, and Edward Burtynsky-reveal the ways that individuals and industries have marked, mined, toured, tested, developed, occupied, and exploited landscapes over the last fifty years. From Robert Adams and Lewis Baltz, two of the most influential photographers to document environmental destruction in the American West, to Richard Misrach and Mark Klett, who examine abuse of natural resources, these moving images reveal the diversity of voices within the field of contemporary photography. In Association with the Nevada Museum of Art, Reno."--Publisher's website.

This book documents the United States Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) shift from a rancher-dominated agency to an energy-dominated agency. This shift is analyzed by identifying the conditions under which the expansion of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Rocky Mountain West triggered a political conflict between ranching and energy stakeholder groups. Through scrutiny of federal actions and policies implemented by the Executive Branch between 2004 and 2010, the book sheds light on the emphasis of domestic energy production during this time period, and how the traditional ranching and energy alliance was split by shifting policy interests. The book is meant for policy makers, natural resource agencies, and students and researchers engaged in political science, public administration, and natural resource management. Chapter 1 introduces readers to the case study at hand, and reviews literature on public land agencies and policies. Chapter 2 summarizes the legal history of public land management by the federal government, and the conditions that caused the BLM to favor energy development over ranching in the mid-2000's. Chapter 3 details the role of the Executive Branch (Bush-Cheney administration) in affecting the BLM's domestic energy policies and resource allocation, and chapter 4 analyzes the role of subgovernments in affecting the BLM's motivations too. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 contain first-hand accounts from government officials, state petroleum associations, and ranching supported interest groups to explore the concept of subgovernment stakeholder domination in policymaking, and analyze the similarities and differences between different policy-making elites. Chapter 8 concludes the text by summarizing subgovernment theory, mapping the behaviors of subgovernment actors, and discussing the implications for future political appointees in the direction of land-management agencies like the BLM.

This book offers the reader a deeper understanding of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality’s green and ecological infrastructure policy landscape. The author utilises the PULSE3 analytical framework to conduct an in-depth examination and to show how experts frame and implement the municipality’s green and ecological infrastructure strategies and projects. Although the initial purpose of this book was to investigate the role of green and ecological infrastructures in eThekwini’s water security aspirations, the author realised that climate change adaptation and mitigation play a more central role in motivating the municipality to develop and implement such science-driven projects. To be sure, science that is informed by a positivist paradigm, guides how, where and when the municipality should develop green and ecological infrastructures. Furthermore, a positivistic stance is generated in this policy landscape, where science and politics meet at a local government level, and the book offers an insight into the science–policy interface, as well as the normative and value orientations that positivism often ignores. The book also shows the usefulness of the PULSE3 framework and how it can assist scientists in all fields to gain a deeper understanding of the complications that are faced by humankind. This book fills a market gap by providing a view of how scientists think about problems and how to solve them by using established paradigms and theories.

Habitat loss and degradation that comes as a result of human activity is the single biggest threat to biodiversity in the world today. Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Change is a groundbreaking work that brings together a wealth of information from a wide range of sources to define the ecological problems caused by landscape change and to highlight the relationships among landscape change, habitat fragmentation, and biodiversity conservation. The book: synthesizes a large body of information from the scientific literature considers key theoretical principles for examining and predicting effects examines the range of effects that can arise explores ways of mitigating impacts reviews approaches to studying the problem discusses knowledge gaps and future areas for research and management Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Change offers a unique mix of theoretical and practical information, outlining general principles and approaches and illustrating those principles with case studies from around the world. It represents a definitive overview and synthesis on the full range of topics that fall under the widely used but often vaguely defined term "habitat fragmentation."

The silent scourge of undernutrition and major nutritional deficiencies of public health importance persists across India despite decades of planned programmes and interventions. The maternal and child undernutrition scenario in India represents a complex set of determinants, including poverty, lack of knowledge, and access. Other factors that confound this dangerous interplay of barriers are erosion of conventional food consumption patterns exacerbated by poor hygienic practices, diseases such as malaria and diarrhoea, and lack of access to safe water and sanitation.

Kevin Costner: America's Teacher examines the role of Costner in educational settings domestically and abroad. Costner’s career over the past 35 years has seen ups and downs: his movies grossed 2 billion dollars in ticket sales worldwide and he has he won/been nominated for several Academy Awards but he also experienced critical and box office failures. Through the films in his oeuvre, Costner has been teaching audiences around the world about the United States--its history, people and culture. Some viewers and scholars recognize this as positive, others as problematic. This book serves as a place for teachers and scholars to explore ways in which Costner may be tapped for research and teaching purposes at all levels of education. It is organized around three large themes: Costner’s baseball films and their connection to Americana; Costner’s films through the more critical lenses of gender and new western scholarship; and Costner’s teaching of teachers, the pedagogical possibilities of his work.