The Economics of Natural Resource Use (2nd Edition)

Book Description

Sustainable land development strategies based on scientific information

Land and Natural Development (LAND) Code offers a pioneering method to develop sites in harmony with natural processes that is solidly based on peer-reviewed scientific findings. While the LAND Code can be readily used in conjunction with LEED, EPA, and other guidelines, it features several unique characteristics, including:

Recommendations based on peer-reviewed scientific research
Rating scheme that weights each development and land use practice based on its environmental benefit and difficulty of implementation
Straightforward, step-by-step system that is accessible to non-experts
Focus on land rather than buildings
Extensive use of photographs and diagrams to illustrate practices and procedures

After an introduction, the book begins with chapters covering water, soil, air, living resources, energy, and materials. Throughout these chapters, the authors recommend tested and proven strategies that minimize disruption of the natural processes. Each chapter provides background, describes benefits for both developers and ecosystems, and recommends protective strategies in simple, non-technical language (a glossary is provided explaining all terms not in common usage). A toolbox of environmental engineering methods to implement the strategies follows, and the final chapter of the book provides a series of examples of actual development projects in which a variety of approaches have successfully attained sustainable development. With its emphasis on scientific understanding, the LAND Code offers you the information needed to make and implement decisions for ecologically sound land development.

Customer Reviews:

every developer should be given a copy of this book.......2007-08-04

Balmori and Benoit are visionaries on the all-important issue of land development. Their commonsensical approach should guide the behavior of all land policy people--real estate agents, bankers, regional and local zoning commissions AND developers. Doing the "green" thing is cheaper and better, always.

Trails for the Twenty-First Century: Planning, Design, and Management Manual for Multi-Use Trails

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Trails for the Twenty-First Century: Planning, Design, and Management Manual for Multi-Use Trails
Charles Flink , Kristine Olka , Robert Searns , and Rails to Trails Conservancy
Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Complete Guide to Trail Building and Maintenance, 3rd
Lightly on the Land: The Sca Trail Building And Maintenance Manual 2nd Edition
Appalachian Trail Design, Construction, and Maintenance
Greenways for America (Creating the North American Landscape)
Anatomy of a Park: Essentials of Recreation Area Planning and Design

ASIN: 1559638192

Book Description

Communities across the country are working to convert unused railway and canal corridors into trails for pedestrians, cyclists, horseback riders, and others, serving the needs of both recreationists and commuters alike. These multi-use trails can play a key role in improving livability, as they offer an innovative means of addressing sprawl, revitalizing urban areas, and reusing degraded lands.

Trails for the Twenty-first Century is a step-by-step guide to all aspects of the planning, design, and management of multi-use trails. Originally published in 1993, this completely revised and updated edition offers a wealth of new information including.

discussions of recent regulations and federal programs, including ADA and TEA-21
recently revised design standards from AASHTO
current research on topics ranging from trail surfacing to conflict resolution
information about designing and building trails in brownfields and other
environmentally troubled landscapes

Book Description

Dick Netzer, a leading public finance economist specializing in state and local issues and urban government, brings together in this comprehensive volume essays by top scholars connecting the property tax with land use. They explore the idea that the property tax is used as a partial substitute for land use regulation and other policies designed to affect how land is utilized. Like many economists, the contributors see some type of property taxation as the more efficient means of helping to shape land use. Some of the essays analyze a conventional property tax, while others consider radically different systems of property taxation.

The first paper sets the stage, modeling taxes on land and buildings in the context of a dynamic model of real estate markets. The remaining papers examine how various tax mechanisms and non-tax alternatives to regulating and determining land use, such as zoning and private neighborhood associations, complement or substitute for one another.

Book Description

This books provides a brief, but comprehensive review of the most pertinent present plant practice and literature on potash, considering its origin, geology, mining, processing, uses and physical properties.

Energy Resources: Occurrence, Production, Conversion, Use

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I get this feeling...

Energy Resources: Occurrence, Production, Conversion, Use
Wendell H. Wiser
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0387987444

Book Description

This textbook deals with the physics and chemistry of energy resources, bringing together material having to do with a wide range of resources - coal gas, oil, hydropower, and nuclear. After a brief introduction to the concepts of force, work, and energy the book discusses energy resources: specifically, the worldwide reserves of fossil fuels, the uses to which these fuels are put, and the conversion of fuels into other forms - such as the conversion of coal to gas or liquid fuels. This is followed by discussions of electric power and of nuclear, solar, geothermal and other methods for generating electricity. The discussion then turns to the uses of energy in agriculture, transportation and so forth, and the pollution that accompanies these uses. The book concludes with discussions of energy conservation and projections of energy supplies for the future. Intended for a general-education course in natural sciences, it will also be useful for teachers of science in high schools. The presentation assumes no prior knowledge of physics or chemistry, but it includes the necessary background information where needed.

Customer Reviews:

I get this feeling..........2006-08-21

that this author was either funded by or worked for the fossil fuel industry. I'll get to that after I go over what I liked about the book.

There is a lot of information about the spectrum of energy production in the US. The topics include (I'll just list the chapter titles)

1. Energy Concepts, Forms, Laws
2. Petroleum
3. Natural Gas
4. Coal
5. Gaseous and Liquid Fuels from Coal
6. Fuels from Oil Shale, Tar Sands, Biomass, Waste
7. Fossil Fuel Reserves Versus Consumption
8. Electric Power
9. Nuclear Energy
10. Solar Energy
11. Other Sources of Energy for Electric Power Generation
12. Energy Storage
13. Energy Use in Agriculture
14. Energy Use in Transportation
15. Pollution of the Atmosphere from Energy Use
16. Energy Conservation
17. Energy Supply for the Future

What I really enjoyed were the numbers that were given. Those make the time I spent reading this book worth it, but I wouldn't pay for this book. That is, I would be happy to get this book out from the library (again), but I would not spend any money to look at this book.

Now to why I think this book is tainted...

The first red flag was, keeping in mind that this book was full of statistics, that there is no mention of fossil fuel subsidies! (2006 subsidies were about $15 billion... that's a HUGE number to ignore!) Next, the book basically says global warming is a complete fluke, and then goes on to only focus on the Northern Hemisphere (ie, not GLOBAL warming); I would have thought that someone who specialized in energy would not have been ignorant on global warming in 1999. Lastly, some of the analysis seemed very much off and biased... here's an example...

"[2000-pound-class vehicle] are very unsafe on highways where most vehicles are much heavier... It would be difficult, even impossible, for the elected legislators to impose such a weight reduction against the wishes of their constituents. Furthermore, from safety considerations, informed legislators would not impose such safety hazards on their constituents." -page 346

The above quotation essentially summarizes what he says on the topic repeatedly in the book -- that people who are concerned about safety should drive large vehicles and those that don't are just asking to get hurt. There are a few problems with Wiser's analysis. First off, isn't there a government concern about those people in the small cars? Second, in his scenario he ignores the fact that vehicle weight would be lower, meaning it would be safer for smaller vehicles (and not substantially more dangerous for the larger ones in the accident). Third, he NEVER mentions the rollover dangers of large vehicles, which was a major concern at the time of the book's writing.

This repitition of the dangers of small cars and negligence in not mentioning the issues above is ludicrous. Wiser takes a very irresponsible perspective on this topic.

If it was just one topic when Wiser aired on the side of the fossil fuel industry or just 50% of the time, I would not be questioning the spirit of the book. However, it seemed whenever there was an opportunity for Wiser to comment, it was either neutral or in favor of the fossil fuel industry. Even when a comment seemed unwelcome, Wiser was there with (occasionally negligent) commentary. Also, don't be fooled by the conservation chapter -- it was pretty much worthless relative to most websites on energy conservation.

On top of this, the book is outdated. "Cost competitive" of the year 1999 means nothing to today's high energy prices, both oil and electricity, meaning a lot of the cost comparison in this book are useless.

Basically, this book is, at best, outdated, and, at worst, corrupted. Look elsewhere unless you can get your hands on this book for free (and even then, be warned about the apparent bias).

This review was written on August 20th, 2006.

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Land Use in America
Henry L. Diamond , and Patrick F. Noonan
Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Citizen's Guide to Zoning
Land Use and Society: Geography, Law, and Public Policy
Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream

ASIN: 1559634642

Book Description

Over the past two decades, great strides have been made on a wide variety of environmental fronts. Air and water quality have improved significantly, certain endangered species are on the road to recovery, and there is a marked increase in environmental awareness among the general population. Yet at the same time, little has changed in our approach toward how land is used.

Henry L. Diamond and Patrick F. Noonan, two preeminent figures in the modern conservation movement, examine that unfortunate circumstance as they provide a broad overview of major land use issues of the past twenty-five years and a ten-point agenda for future action. They look at key trends and patterns of the past two decades, and consider what can be done to help communities throughout the country accomodate growth in better, more environmentally sound, more fiscally responsible ways.

Diamond and Noonan base the synthesis and analysis featured in the first part of the book in large part on a series of papers from leading scholars, public officials, and practitioners that are included in their entirety in the second part of the book. The contributors provide and in-depth look at important topic, including:

Howard Dean, governor of Vermont, on Vermont's experience with growth management plan.
Douglas P. Wheeler, secretary of the California Resources Agency, on the implementation of ecosystem management in Californi.
Jean W. Hocker, president of the Land Trust Alliance, on what land trusts are and how they wor.
John A. Georges, chairman and chief executive officer of International Paper Company, on management of forest resource.
Jerold S. Kayden, professor at Harvard University, on private property rights and the "takings" issue

Acequia Culture: Water, Land, and Community in the Southwest

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Acequia Culture: Water, Land, and Community in the Southwest
José A. Rivera
Manufacturer: University of New Mexico Press
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Binding: Paperback

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Acequia: Water-sharing, Sanctity, And Place
Mayordomo: Chronicle of an Acequia in Northern New Mexico

ASIN: 0826318592

Book Description

Conflicts between Hispanic farmers and developers made for compelling reading in The Milagro Beanfield War, the famous novel of life in a northern New Mexico village in which tradition triumphs over modernity. But as cities grow and industries expand, are acequias, or community irrigation ditches, a wise and efficient use of water in the arid Southwest? José Rivera presents the contemporary case for the value of acequias and the communities they nurture in the river valleys of southern Colorado and New Mexico.

Recognizing that "water is the lifeblood of the community," Rivera delineates an acequia culture based on a reciprocal relationship between irrigation and community. The acequia experience grows out of a conservation ethic and a tradition of sharing that should be recognized and preserved in an age of increasing competition for scarce water resources.

Book Description

The Klamath Basin is a land of teeming wildlife, expansive marshes, blue-ribbon trout streams, tremendous stretches of forests, and large ranches in southern Oregon and northern California. Known to waterfowl, songbirds, and shorebirds, the Klamath Basin's marshlands are a mecca for birds along the Pacific Flyway. This gorgeously illustrated book is a paean to the beauty of the Klamath Basin and at the same time a sophisticated environmental case study of an endangered region whose story parallels that of watershed development throughout the west.
A collaboration between two photographers and a writer, Balancing Water tells the story in words and pictures of the complex relationship between the human and natural history of this region. Spectacular images by Tupper Ansel Blake depict resident species of the area, migratory birds, and dramatic landscapes. Madeleine Graham Blake has contributed portraits of local residents, while archival photographs document the history of the area.
William Kittredge's essay on the conjunction of conflicting interests in this wildlands paradise is by turns lyrically personal and brimming with historical and scientific facts. He traces the water flowing through the Klamath Basin, the human history of the watershed, and the land-use conflicts that all touch on the availability of water. Ranchers, loggers, town settlers, Native Americans, tourists, and environmentalists are all represented in the narrative, and their diverse perspectives form a complicated web like that of the interactions among organisms in the ecosystem.
Kittredge finds hope in the endangered Klamath Basin, both in successful restoration projects recently begun there, and in the community involvement he sees as necessary for watershed restoration and biodiversity preservation. Emphasizing that we must take care of both human economies and the natural environment, he shows how the two are ultimately interconnected. The Klamath Basin can be a model for watershed restoration elsewhere in the west, as we search for creative ways of solving our intertwined ecological and social problems.

Customer Reviews:

Camera and Pen Weave a Story for Stewardship.......2003-12-21

Five stars... without a doubt! Blake, Blake, and Kitteridge craft a compelling case for stewardship of the ecosystems we inhabit. The story is grounded in the Klamath Basin of Southern Oregon where a complex dance of men and nature is being played out. Historically, the federal government in the form of the Bureau of Reclamation identified the water rich basin as a region to promote for farming. No surprise that today the area is largely given over to farming and ranching. Prior communities consisted of local Native Americans who for the last hundred years or so have been driven out of the basin either by our military or our legal system. And last, but not the least in importance, the bio-diversity that suffers at the hands of lost habit, chemicals used for pesticides, and misguided management by public institutions.

Farmers, the indigenous Klamath people, migrating birds and native fish, all have their claims to the basin. From recalling the basin from his early childhood to driving the dirt roads to meet the 3rd generation farmers and ranchers, William Kitteridge's writing is exceptional at putting real faces and names to this place.

The story is made sublime with some of the most outstanding western wildlife photography you are likely to find. The photographs represent the sacredness of a place that serves as a stop for millions of migrating birds that no words can begin to portray.

A tragic postscript to the publishing of this book was a fish kill of some 30 thousand salmon on their way up the Klamath River to their spawning beds. Its been concluded that in stream flows got drawn down to the point where the migrating salmon stacked up in swallow and warm pools which ultimately depleted the water of oxygen. Only recently have federal wildlife managers admitted that diversion of water to farmers in the basin caused the massive fish kill in the Klamath.

Balancing Water:Restoring the Klamath Basin.......2001-08-25

Excellent narrative that provides the historic context for what is emerging as one of the most difficult and contentious fights between economic and enviromental interests anywhere in the US. The photography is outstanding and Kittredge's discussion of the people and the issues in this beautiful area provide concise insight for anyone interested in understanding the tragedy of US government policies on the management of the land, the people, the fish, and the birds of the Klamath Lake basin. Strongly recommend!!!

Outstanding - wonderfully written - world class photography.......2000-06-05

This book is an epiphany. Kittredge is the best essayist writing about the American west living today, and the photographs are almost perfect. This book will introduce readers to an area that has remained mostly obscure, an area where huge environmental dramas have long since began, and are still being played out. Many sympathies are presented in this book; lots of heros, too. An amazing read.

Brownfields: Redeveloping Environmentally Distressed Properties

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Revitalizing underutilized industrial sites---how it's done

Brownfields: Redeveloping Environmentally Distressed Properties
Harold J. Rafson , and Robert N. Rafson
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional
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Binding: Hardcover

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Redeveloping Brownfields: Landscape Architects, Site Planners, Developers
Manufactured Sites: Re-thinking the Post-industrial Landscape

ASIN: 0070527687

Book Description

The most practical, up-to-date guide for turning Brownfields into Greenfields

This ready-to-use, how-to manual--edited by active developers who have bought, remediated, and sold brownfields--gives you a commanding look at one of today's leading environmental issues. Filled with the latest hands-on tools, Harold and Robert Rafson's step-by-step book simplifies the task of removing the barriers to redevelopment that plague environmentally distressed properties.

Brownfields goes beyond the legal and technical issues that preoccupy other current books, to focus on all the critical aspects of putting together a successful brownfields project--mortgages, marketing, and more. Complete with case studies drawn from the authors' own experience, this guide is required reading not just for owners or developers, but for every stakeholder--from environmental regulators, to bankers, realtors and prospective buyers.

Customer Reviews:

Revitalizing underutilized industrial sites---how it's done.......1999-10-29

The authors clearly present the factors that, on one hand, allow industrial and commercial property eyesores to exist, and on the other hand, those factors that can redevelop them into valuable modern real estate. The NST/Engineers, Inc. reviewers have participated in brownfields remediation designs and in the development of estimated costs for remediation, sometimes extending decades into the future. Brownfields are, according to an EPA definition, "...abandoned, idled, or underused industrial and commercial sites where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination that can add cost, time and uncertainty to a redevelopment project."

A few decades ago industrialists eyeing real estate for acquisition would be concerned about the use they could foresee, the asking price, zoning potential, the neighborhood, and a few other particulars. Rarely were they deeply concerned about what had gone on at the property in past years. Now, one of the first things a prospective buyer wants to know is "what might have gone on here in past years that has resulted in contamination of structures, the grounds, subsurface, or any water bodies." Property owners have similar concerns, but they have more information. So that both buyers and sellers wonder what magnitude of environmental remediation costs would be required for various redevelopment projects. The authors take the reader through the major considerations of both buyer and seller. They treat both the private and municipal redeveloper.

Their case studies, though largely drawn from their Chicago experiences, emphasize the careful planning and execution steps required in redevelopment anywhere. Based on data from less than 200 sites, the cost of brownfields redevelopment has been estimated to be just under $60,000 per acre. Cleanup of contamination, where it occurs, has been estimated at 8% of the total cost of redevelopment. The authors make an excellent point that much more cooperation is needed between interested parties to expand brownfields redevelopment. Venture groups are needed consisting of environmental scientists and engineers, capital providers, insurance specialists, real estate experts, and an experience project management team. Not to be forgotten is "due diligence". For a brownfields purchaser this means an in-depth analysis of the physical, economic, and legal conditions of any property in question. The authors describe how this analysis must have much more depth to it than the due diligence involved with purchase of an uncompromised industrial property. Federal, state, and local environmental officials, and governmental officials must appreciate the importance of rejuvenating unused brownfields as opposed to converting more fertile farms to industrial properties. And finally those officials must have the will to find ways to make a remediation happen. Individuals in all of the above occupations are well-advised to read this book.

As a model of an up-to-date state initiative to hasten brownfields remediation, the authors provide the details of the Illinois Pollution Control Board's Tiered Approach to Corrective Action Objectives ("TACO").

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