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Environmental Science: A Global Concern, 7/e

William P. Cunningham, University of Minnesota
Mary Ann Cunningham, Vassar College
Barbara Woodworth Saigo, St. Cloud State University

Preserving Nature

Essay Quiz


1		The IUCN’s world conservation strategy for protecting natural resources contains three basic objectives. Identify them.



2		Our national parks are beset by numerous problems. a. Some are directly related to visitors. Name two such problems. b. One is linked to funding. Describe it. c. Some are caused by human activities outside parks. Name two.



3		Wilderness is defined as undeveloped land that meets five other criteria. List as many of them as you can.



4		The great Missouri-Mississippi flood of 1993 has caused reexamination of the use of dikes and levees to reduce the problems with flooding. Outline the position of those who prefer not to simply rebuild the dike and levee system.



5		List the values of wilderness areas and wetlands.



6		List the threats to the integrity of our wildlife refuges.



7		Write a short paragraph explaining the problems created by development on beaches and barrier islands.



8		You have just returned from a trip to Yosemite National Park and experienced the problems of our park system firsthand. You are pleased to learn that your senator in Washington, D.C., is on the Senate Sub-committee on Parks. The committee is now struggling with solving the park problems. You decide to write a letter describing what you think should be done. Since you want your letter to be effective, you think about several questions before you begin writing. a. What other interest groups are also likely trying to influence committee decisions? b. What will be their respective points of view? c. What will you say to counter the viewpoints that are contrary to your own?



9		As noted in the text, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has identified several thousand areas across the world as worthy of protection. Public support as well as funding will have to be obtained in order to implement this program. Brochures to encourage financial contributions to these efforts typically use photos of pandas, elephants, or dolphins to entice your support. a. Do such animals elicit a more or less favorable reaction from you for the IUCN program than a different illustration, say, of an endangered frog? b. Should a higher protection priority be extended to areas inhabited by charismatic animals such as elephants, pandas, or dolphins than to areas that lack such appealing creatures? c. Outline a set of criteria you would like to see used to prioritize IUCN-identified nature sites for protection.



10		The rights of the individual have been a cornerstone concept throughout our nation's history. One could argue that rights are of two types: the right or freedom to do something as well as the right to be free from actions of others. These two kinds of rights can be in direct conflict. For example, do my neighbors have the right to play their radio loudly, or do I have a right not to be disturbed by the noise? a. Identify two specific issues covered in this chapter in which someone's right to do was in direct conflict with others' right to be free of. b. What criteria or standard would you employ to determine which right should supersede the other in these cases?



11		Wallace Stegner is quoted as saying: It is a better world with some buffalo in it, a richer world with some gorgeous canyons unmarred with sign boards, hot dog stands, or superhighways. If we preserve as parks only those places that have no economic possibilities, we will have no parks. And in the future it will not only be the buffalo and trumpeter swan who need sanctuaries. Our own species is going to need them too. It needs them now. a. Why do you suppose Stegner feels "it is a better world with some buffalo left in it, a richer world with some gorgeous canyons unmarred with sign boards, hot dog stands, or superhighways"? b. What does Stegner mean by: "If we preserve as parks only those places that have no economic possibilities, we will have no parks."



12		Under what conditions would you support a proposal to create a park that was closed to tourists?

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