Managing Natural Resources In A Federal State

Conference sponsored by the Canadian Institute of Resources Law and held in Banff, Alta., April 17-20, 1985.

Natural resource policies provide the foundation for sustainable resource use, management, and protection. Natural Resource Policy blends policy processes, history, institutions, and current events to analyze sustainable development of natural resources. The book’s detailed coverage explores the market and political allocation and management of natural resources for human benefits, as well as their contributions for environmental services. Wise natural resource policies that promote sustainable development, not senseless exploitation, promise to improve our quality of life and the environment. Public or private policies may be used to manage natural resources. When private markets are inadequate due to public goods or market failure, many policy options, including regulations, education, incentives, government ownership, and hybrid public/private policy instruments may be crafted by policy makers. Whether a policy is intended to promote intensive management of natural resources to enhance sustained yield or to restore degraded conditions to a more socially desirable state, this comprehensive guide outlines the ways in which natural resource managers can use their technical skills within existing administrative and legal frameworks to implement or influence policy.

Constitutions and the Commons looks at a critical but little examined issue of the degree to which the federal constitution of a nation contributes toward or limits the ability of the national government to manage its domestic natural resources. Furthermore it considers how far the constitution facilitates the binding of constituent states, provinces or subnational units to honor the conditions of international environmental treaties. While the main focus is on the US, there is also detailed coverage of other nations such as Australia, Brazil, India, and Russia. After introducing the role of constitutions in establishing the legal framework for environmental management in federal systems, the author presents a continuum of constitutionally driven natural resource management scenarios, from local to national, and then to global governance. These sections describe how subnational governance in federal systems may take on the characteristics of a commons – with all the attendant tragedies – in the absence of sufficient national constitutional authority. In turn, sufficient national constitutional authority over natural resources also allows these nations to more effectively engage in efforts to manage the global commons, as these nations would be unconstrained by subnational units of government during international negotiations. It is thus shown that national governments in federal systems are at the center of a constitutional 'nested governance commons,' with lower levels of government potentially acting as rational herders on the national commons and national governments potentially acting as rational herders on the global commons. National governments in federal systems are therefore crucial to establishing sustainable management of resources across scales. The book concludes by discussing how federal systems without sufficient national constitutional authority over resources may be strengthened by adopting the approach of federal constitutions that facilitate more robust national level inputs into natural resources management, facilitating national minimum standards as a form of "Fail-safe Federalism" that subnational governments may supplement with discretion to preserve important values of federalism.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

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Natural Resource and Wildlife Administration presents a clear perspective on natural resource administration in North America, how it developed, how it is currently structured, and where it might be heading. Intertwined areas of natural resources, including wildlife administration, fisheries, forestry, and other competitive land uses, are heavily discussed. The book covers the history of natural resource management in Europe and North America, proceeding to environmental law; agencies involved in wildlife and natural resource management; and the human dimensions of public relations and economic concerns. Natural Resource and Wildlife Administration provides solid background on the history of natural resource conservation, critical laws protecting resources, and the nature of agencies. The interconnectedness among natural resources makes this a useful text for disciplines such as wildlife, fisheries, and forestry. Covers the development of natural resource law and the conservation agencies in North America, and also provides models for international use Examines the roles of diverse federal, state, and non-governmental agencies, and how they cooperate as professionals to accomplish natural resources management Leads readers to a greater understanding of the politics and interplay of priorities in professional conservation biology Assists the certification processes of professional societies Includes end-of-chapter questions for further thought and discussion, as well as offset boxes throughout the text to help explain more technical subjects

Conflict over the use of our nation's natural resources, along with increased ecological problems, has led land managers to seek cooperative means to resolve natural resource conflicts and problems. Collaborative resource management is one such approach that communities began using in the 1980s and 1990s. A 2004 Executive Order on Cooperative Conservation encourages such efforts. GAO was asked to determine (1) experts' views on collaborative resource management, (2) how selected collaborative efforts have addressed conflicts and improved resources, and (3) challenges that agencies face as they participate in such efforts and how the Cooperative Conservation initiative has addressed them. GAO reviewed experts' journal articles, studied seven collaborative groups, and interviewed group members and federal and other public officials. GAO is recommending that CEQ and the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture take several actions to develop a long-term plan, guidance, and tools that could enhance their management and support of collaborative efforts.