Social Carrying Capacity

Volcanoes are an important part of my life. As soon as I learned that my husband was being stationed in Hawaii I knew that I needed to hike Diamond Head. Aside from volcanoes, I am also hugely passionate about education and conservation which makes maintaining the integrity of Diamond Head a critical goal of mine. Selfishly, I want to be able to hike Diamond Head for years to come. This paper will discuss how the demographics of recreationists and their environmental impacts on Diamond Head can possibly be addressed by management approaches.

This article was meant to provide Canadian’s insight into the struggle of preserving Canada’s national parks, and how quickly they are being consumed for commercial purposes. The article was also mean’t to provide as a warning for Canadians to take a stand to preserve the parks before they are entirely eradicated by the tourism and commercial industry. The CPAWS is currently taking action against developers since they feel that the parks are endangered and they are the only one’s willing to fight for the protection of the

National parks play an essential role in this country. Not only do they preserve land areas, but they also preserve bodies of water that need to be protected. The amount of drinkable water left in the world is dwindling at an alarming rate, and with the help of The National Parks Service, that rate can be slowed down. Protecting these lands and bodies of water also protects the habitats of animals living in these areas. One article, “A Monumental Fight”, written by Katy Steinmetz, discusses the fight that former President Obama made to increase these areas and protect the wildlife living in them, “In waters around Hawaii, Obama quadrupled the size of Papahanaumokuakea...

The national parks of the United States are a part of the few remaining regions in the country where nature is relatively untouched and natural beauty can be observed. For over a century, national parks been popular vacation destinations for citizens and international tourists alike. Regulation and conservation of these areas is necessary to allow for continued visitation and enjoyment. The National Parks Service of the Department of the Interior was created with The National Park Service Organic Act (“The Organic Act”) to maintain the nation’s parks and ensure preservation of the land while encouraging use by the general public. Whether or not conservation and recreational use are independent of each has been argued within the government as well as among the general public for decades. Vague language used by The Organic Act’s authors has allowed for manipulation of the phrasing of the fundamental mission statement of the National Park Service to support or oppose a variety of decisions that will environmentally impact the parks. Personal opinions and conflicting priorities lead to much ambiguity in the long-term implementation of the National Park Service Organic Act.

In 2016, the National Park Service (NPS) celebrated 100 years of preservation and conservation of our nation’s parks, monuments, and historical sites. Currently, the federal government has proposed significant proposed budget cuts to the National Park Service. If the government makes these cuts, then Americans could lose the national parks along with the beauty, culture, and history that comes with them. This would happen because the NPS would lose most of its funding that is needed in order to keep the national parks well­preserved. Investing in the NPS should be a priority in our nation because it provides educational programs, unites all ages and races, and preserves and conserves the national parks.

I boarded the Amtrak the early morning of November 5th, 2016 from Davis, California to the Peytonia Slough Ecological Reserve (Peytonia Reserve) in Suisun, California. The trip to this brackish and saltwater reserve was to help me analyze the relationship between humans and wildlife in urban settings. Urban environments depend on the rehabilitation and protection of small natural areas like the Peytonia Reserve. At the Peytonia Reserve, both humans and native/non-native species live in cohabitation, which paints an accurate representation of reconciliation ecology. Humans use these natural areas, the Peytonia Reserve in this case, for recreational activities like hunting and fishing. This, in turn, benefits the wildlife that lives in the area because hunters and fishers want the environment to be well maintained in order to support their activities. I came up with the conclusion that even though humans have more to benefit from wildlife, wildlife also depends on humans to help protect and conserve their habitats.

For my essay topic I will be exploring the question of how to eliminate overcrowding while balancing maintenance of Colorado outdoor public recreation areas. I am interested in this topic as I personally use the public areas in Colorado, and I want to see what methods are truly effective going forward to ensure that the residents of Colorado have public access to enjoy the beautiful recreational areas of our state. Many people choose to live in Colorado to be able to take advantage of the temperate climate and access to spectacular mountain areas that are shared with visitors from all over the world. The ability to use the parks in Colorado is determined by state and national government, and there are many vested parties seeking to influence how they are managed. Stakeholders include those proposing change in national policy to drastically cut back on funding, preservation groups, and those considering how to honor the initial mission statements of

The preservation of wilderness that national parks offer is comforting to us; we know that our true home is out there somewhere remaining pure; therefore we may continue living our daily lives with the comfort.  However, as Cronon points out, our careful sectioning off of designated wilderness areas may lead to more environmental harm than good by possibly allowing a sense of irresponsibility to develop between people and the natural environment.  Cronon explains that if we see the environment as only small sections of our world meant to be visited as if they served the same purpose as museums, then we cut ourselves off from the natural world and no longer feel a true responsibility toward it, or possess a real knowledge of it.  Furthermore, in urban areas, people exist no longer as member of the natural world but as spectator of the nature. We live our daily life admiring the natural world and yet our ability to protect the nature and adopt a smart use of the natural resources becomes more and more weak as the time unfold.  That is by far what Cronon calls the manifestation of our lack of knowledge about nature and how to use it. He tries to emphasis this by saying that “Idealizing a distant wilderness often means not idealizing the environment in which we live […] we need an environmental ethic that will tell us as much about using nature as not using it.”

Carrying Capacity in the dictionary is defined as “the maximum, equilibrium number of organisms of a particular species that can be supported indefinitely in a given environment.” There are two theories about population growth and our species carrying capacity. They are called the Malthusian and Marxist theories. Malthusian discusses a linear relationship between population and food. That population has exponentially grown since the industrial revolution and food/housing only grows linearly since we only have a limited amount. Marxist discusses an exponential relationship that both grow exponentially due to technology. Marxist so far has been right and due to technology we have been able to sustain our population. Leopold also has a theory as he said “health is the capacity of the land for self-renewal.”(258) Marxist theory would be wrong compared to Leopold’s theory because technology has created pollution and pollution has interrupted the cycle for many ecosystems no longer allowing for self-renewal. Pushing our species past it’s carrying

Since the early 1920s to the 1970s, there has been a debate regarding the perceptions and standards by which national parks should be established and limiting the expansion of national parks, limiting access for people living in urban areas and threatening open spaces due to urban sprawl and over population. Gradually traditional perceptions gave way to the preservationists’ viewpoints which redefined and gradually expanded federal definition of national parks. This was to include areas that may not be extraordinarily scenic but still required environmental protection or allowed recreational access for urban citizens, allowing for expansion and more funding.

When it comes to the topic of ecotourism, most of us will readily agree that it is a less harmful alternative to mass-tourism and that it promotes responsible and low-impact travel to areas where flora, fauna and cultural heritage are the primary drawing power. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of what the impact of ecotourism actually is and what its long-term consequences are. Whereas some are convinced that ecotourism provides the basis for sustainable development, particularly in places that suffer from exploitation and excessive resources’ usage, and that could only improve the general conditions of the local people, others maintain that we are still far from true ecotourism, for many are those in the

The Issue of National Park conservation has become a widely controversial issue today. With the National debt reaching 17 trillion dollars some politicians think it is alright to either sell off national park land to commercial foresters, miners, and even foreign nations or to just close some parks entirely to make up some of the national debt. They are completely unaware that the parks arent just a “pretty area of land for tourists”. Many cities depend on the parks for their well-being. A quote from a local newspaper in California supports this “National parks don’t boast concession stands or charge tax, but data indicates they bring in millions of dollars to local economies each year”(Tree). Supporters of cutting the parks include big CEO’s of major companies and some of them not even in this country.

The website for the national and state park systems helps to enlighten the public on the subject of impending changes in policy and regulations, as well as new developments in different parks. Due to this, the parks and recreation districts judge that individuals and families will be more agreeable to the idea of traveling to parks in different states because of the easy accessibility of directions and information about the parks. Owing to the latest rise in interest of campgrounds and recreation areas, there has been an increase in funds. This new revenue has made possible the purchase of more parkland throughout the United States. Without prevailing use of the Internet, this most likely would not have been possible. The East Bay Park District has been able to purchase 1,476 of land. This is the single largest acquisition that the Park has made in over twenty years. The York Center Park District been able to purchase and protect a 20-acre area in the last five years. This is the largest area they manage. With the acquisition of supplementary parkland, it is more likely that this land will continue in its natural condition and not be converted into an urbanized region.

Urban parks are defined in their comparative and contrastive relationships to the urban environments surrounding them. Although frequently conceptualized as natural landscapes, the physical and social uses of parks give

Visitors and traffic management: Reducing the impacts on sensitive natural areas would enable the local communities to protect and sustain for future generations. The Peak District National Park could be shown as an example, as they have visitors from all around the world and it has enormous impact on social life’s as well as the landscape of the visiting places. By restricting, the visitor numbers would essentially lead them to cover most of the areas and it will reduce the traffic. They can minimise the risks by enforcing external visitors to visit at certain time, which will create an opportunity for protection and other things.