Download of rural land

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Rural Land Management
• The main categories of rural land
– farmland
– rangeland
– forest land
– national and state parks, and wilderness
• Condition of rural land important because it provides
ecological services
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Farmlands
• Used to grow crops and fruit
– U.S. >100 million hectares of prime farmland
– urban development threatens some productive
farmland
• Farmland Protection Program, 1996
– protect farmland from development
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Rangelands
• Supports different vegetation types, not used for
farming or timber production
– can be arid or relatively wet
• Most common human use- grazing of livestock
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• Common livestock: cattle, sheep, and goats
– provide meat, milk, wool, and hides
– native wildlife also graze here
• Essential for maintaining the world’s food supply.
• Population growth may require a 40 percent increase
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Problems on the Range
• Overgrazing
– depletion of vegetation due to the continuous
feeding of too many animals
– changes plant community, less desirable replace
more-desirable species
• Severe overgrazing
– all the vegetation eaten, soil erodes
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Maintaining the Range
• Most public land managed by the federal
government
• The Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978
– to reverse harm, improve land management
practices
– main tool: limit herd size
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Improving degraded rangeland
• Kill invasive plants, plant native vegetation, fence
off areas
• Provide many small water holes so that the
vegetation around a single water hole is not
overgrazed
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Forest Lands
• Provide paper, furniture, lumber and plywood for
our homes
• Provide food, chemicals
– Ex: syrup and turpentine
• Important for removal of CO2 from the air
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Harvesting Trees
• 1,800 cm3 of wood/ person / day
– U.S. uses about 3.5 times world amount
• Developing countries: firewood main source of fuel
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Three categories
•
Virgin forests: forests that have never been cut.
•
Native forests: forests that are planted and
managed
•
Tree farms: areas where trees are planted in
rows and harvested like other crops
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Clear-cutting
• Process of removing all of the trees from an area of
land
– destroys wildlife habitat and causes soil erosion
Selective cutting
• Process of cutting and removing only middle-aged
or mature trees
- more expensive than clear-cutting
- usually much less destructive
- practiced on smaller areas owned by individuals
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Harvesting Trees
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Deforestation
• Process of clearing forests
• convert the land into farmland, and to make space
for roads, homes, factories, and office buildings
– reduces wildlife habitat
– soil erosion usually results if the area is not
quickly planted with a cover crop
• rate of deforestation is especially high in tropical
rain forests
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Reforestation
• Reestablishment and development of trees in a
forest land.
• Some places this is happening faster than trees are
being cut down
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• Some governments require reforestation after timber
has been harvested from public land.
• More than 90 percent of all timber comes
unmanaged lands
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Parks and Preserves
• First national park, Yellowstone, created 1870
– U.S. currently has about 50 national parks
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• Most public lands not as protected as national parks
– leased to private companies for logging, mining,
and ranching.
– maintained for hunting, fishing, wild-life refuges,
or to protect endangered species
• Biosphere Program: include people in the
management plan of the reserves
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Wilderness
• Region that is not cultivated and not inhabited by
humans
• U.S. Wilderness Act, 1964, designated wilderness
areas
– 474 regions covering 32 million acres
– open to hiking, fishing, and camping.
– no roads, structures and or motorized equipment
allowed
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Benefits of Protected Areas
• Provide the only place where unspoiled forests,
deserts, or prairies remain.
• Serve as outdoor classrooms and research labs
• Provide recreation, such as hiking and camping, for
many people
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Threats to Protects Areas
• Litter and traffic jams now plague many of our
national parks.
• Rangelands, mining and logging sites, oil and gas
operations, power plants, and urban areas are often
close enough to affect the parks.
• Climate change, air and water pollution also
problems
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Protecting wilderness
• Limit number of people permitted in an area at any
given time
• Some areas are completely closed to people
• Volunteers help pick up trash, build trails, control
invading or exotic species, educate the visiting
public