Conservation of carbon resources and values on public lands: A case study from the National Wildlife Refuge System

Public lands in the United States are those land areas managed by federal, state, and county governments for public purposes such as preservation and recreation. Protecting carbon resources and increasing carbon sequestration capacity are compatible with public land management objectives for healthy and resilient habitats, i.e., managing habitats for the benefit of wildlife and ecosystem services can simultaneously capture and store carbon. To evaluate the effect of public land management on carbon storage and review carbon management as part of the land management objectives, we used existing data of carbon stock and net ecosystem carbon balance in a study of the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS), a public land management program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service). Total carbon storage of the 364 refuges studied was 16.6 PgC, with a mean value 42,981 gCm-2. We used mixed modeling with Bonferroni adjustment techniques to analyze the effect of time since refuge designation on carbon storage. In general, older refuges store more carbon per unit area than younger refuges. In addition to the age factor, carbon resources are variable by regions and habitat types protected in the refuges. Mean carbon stock and the rate of sequestration are higher within refuges than outside refuges, but the statistical comparison of 364 refuges analyzed in this study was not significant. We also used the social cost of carbon to analyze the annual benefits of sequestrating carbon in these publicly managed lands in the United States, which is over $976 million per year in avoided CO2 emissions via specific conservation management actions. We examine case studies of management, particularly with respect to Service cooperation activities with The Conservation Fund (TCF) Go Zero® Program, Trust for Public Land (TPL) and individuals. Additional opportunities exist in improving techniques to maximize carbon resources in refuges, while continuing to meet the core purpose and need of the NWRS.

The Use of Citizen Science to Achieve Multivariate Management Goals on Public Lands

Federal land management agencies in the US are tasked with maintaining the ecological integrity of over 2 million km2 of land for myriad public uses. Citizen science, operating at the nexus of science, education, and outreach, offers unique benefits to address socio-ecological questions and problems, and thus may offer novel opportunities to support the complex mission of public land managers. Here, we use a case study of an iNaturalist program, the Tribal Nations Botanical Research Collaborative (TNBRC), to examine the use of citizen science programs in public land management. The TNBRC collected 2030 observations of 34 plant species across the project area, while offering learning opportunities for participants. Using occurrence data, we examined observational trends through time and identified five species with 50 or fewer digital observations to investigate as species of possible conservation concern. We compared predictive outcomes of habitat suitability models built using citizen science data and Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data. Models exhibited high agreement, identifying the same underlying predictors of species occurrence and, 95% of the time, identifying the same pixels as suitable habitat. Actions such as staff training on data use and interpretation could enhance integration of citizen science in Federal land management.

Legal Aspects of the Opening of Ukraine’s Land Markets

Creating a land market is one of the most debated and politicised issues of Ukraine’s environmental and agricultural policy. There is an urgent need to examine the following issues (among others): a) identifying priority measures for establishing the land market; b) studying the experience of public land management so as to further adapt the land legislation of Ukraine to the requirements of the European Union; and c) maintaining the domestic agrarian sector in the context of effective conservation of the State’s land resources. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the preconditions and realities of opening up the agricultural land market in Ukraine, including to formulate sound conclusions on the practical consequences of such reforms for domestic landowners. It was researched applying two basic approaches to scientific cognition – general scientific methods and special legal methods. It elaborates the conditions for the introduction of a land market in Ukraine; analyses the historical prerequisites for the implementation of land reform; identifies the main risks for landowners that come into play with the opening of the land market; and formulates further directions of improvement of relevant legal regulations and mechanisms. Noting that currently Ukrainians have the least amount of investment capital and extremely limited access to loans, it concludes that, under current legislation, without a clear definition of the right to purchase their own land, the holders of private farms and other small farmers will struggle to gain access to the Ukrainian land market.

Exploring Perspectives on Public Land Management in Rural Montana and Idaho

This exploratory analysis focuses on current perspectives of rural publics on public land management and posits that demographic shifts in the rural West may be reshaping relationships between rural publics and land managers. Focusing on rural residents in Montana and Idaho (i.e., those living outside of metropolitan or micropolitan counties), this work finds that younger generations and newer residents hold more favorable views of public land managers, compared with the views of older and long-time residents. Interestingly, both support for increasing environmental protections and a history of exposure to vegetation management projects positively predict more favorable views of public land managers. Even for those who favor more preservation of designated Wilderness, exposure to timber harvesting does not negatively affect their views of public land managers, suggesting that rural individuals in the West may now embody a mosaic of values, combining elements of a spiritual preservationist ethic with a pragmatic conservationist approach. This blend of values should provide hope for more fruitful collaborative land management approaches in the future.