Chapter 11 – The Need for a Good Public Relations Department

Natural Resource Administration

Wildlife, Fisheries, Forests and Parks

Natural Resource

Administration

Wildlife, Fisheries, Forests and Parks

Donald W. Sparling

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Dedication

There are many people I am indebted to for helping with this book. There are

the thousands of recognized and unrecognized field personnel, scientists,

administrators, legislators, judges, and NGO personnel that have in some way

helped shape the organization that we now have supporting conservation efforts

in the United States and Canada. This book is dedicated to you.

Most of all, I would like to thank my wife, Paulette, for her understanding

and care.

Introduction

Over the years of teaching classes in wildlife administration, I have found the

reasons why students take the course to be very interesting. When I was an

undergraduate, and even as a graduate student in zoology a bunch of years ago,

I was much more interested in taking what I referred to as the “ologies”

herpetology, ornithology, mammalogy, wildlife biology, or zoology
and

learning what types of animals existed, how they lived, communicated and

reproduced, and how they could be conserved, than a course that taught about

bureaucracy, laws, public relations, budgets, and other related (and, as I thought

then, esoteric) topics. After earning my doctorate I wanted a position in acade￾mia, but the market was extremely tight
in one year only three positions in

my area were advertised, and 360 other PhDs were applying for them. So, my

first permanent career position was in the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Immediately I was inundated with much of the information presented in this

book, and the learning curve was steep. One lesson I received in those days was

that a person has to be flexible and ready to take a good opportunity when it

is presented. Another lesson I learned over the years was that working for a fed￾eral, state, or provincial agency can be a very good choice in careers. Salaries

are competitive, there is excellent job security, there are lots of interesting

things to work on, and you can generally plan your career ladder to advance and

sample a variety of positions.

However, a person does not have to be an employee of an agency to benefit

from knowing something about government structures and operations. Jump

forward many years and, after retiring early from the US Department of the

Interior, I switched to teaching and conducting research at a university. When

I arrived at the university I was astonished to learn that many faculty were not

very knowledgeable about the operations of government agencies, even though

they often received grants from these agencies. Some were not even sure what

departments various agencies such as the US Forest Service came under (hint:

US Department of Agriculture). Similarly, many faculty probably could not

adequately describe the missions of most conservation-related non-government

organizations (NGOs), despite perhaps working with biologists from these

organizations. Communication, cooperation and interaction can be facilitated if

you know how prospective partners think and what is important to them.

If you are considering a career in the conservation of natural resources,

a course dealing with administration is very helpful. Major professional

societies, such as The Wildlife Society, American Fisheries Society, or Society

of American Foresters, have certifying programs designating men and women

xiii

as professionals in their fields. Coursework for these certificates will include

one or more courses in administration and policy. Some state agencies require

that their new employees are certified, and others consider it a major plus.

Also, certification can add to your prestige if you need to provide professional

testimony in court or if you are seeking employment with an NGO.

Curriculum brings up another reason for this book. There are many books

on environmental law, wildlife biology, forestry, fisheries, conservation and

environmental science. In fact, there are entire departments that focus on

these topics; perhaps you are in one of those now. While there are books on

wildlife law, environmental law, environmental policy, and related topics,

despite extensive searching I could not find any books that directly relate to

the administration and policy of natural resources. To my knowledge, this

current text occupies a niche that has not been previously filled.

IS NATURAL RESOURCE ADMINISTRATION IMPORTANT?

The goal of this book is to explain how government agencies and NGOs

operate and what their various missions are. Before we discuss these com￾monalities, it might be good to define what we mean by natural resources

and by administration. Natural resources are those things found in nature

that can be used for the benefit of humanity. They include various sources of

energy (fossil fuels, wind, solar, water), water, air, fish and wildlife, forests,

land, minerals, and other factors that have value. Value is an entirely human

concept; value can be determined by a monetary assessment or by having a

function in the environment. It is hard to think of something in the environ￾ment that would have no value at all. Through the eons humans have become

very ingenious, so the list of potential and realized resources is surprisingly

long. Even rocks that were strewn through a field by glaciers (Figure I.1) or

FIGURE I.1 Stones scattered through a field may seem like a severe nuisance, but even these

can be turned into a natural resource. Credit: David Brown, Rocky ground, St Sunday Crag.

xiv Introduction

volcanic eruption tens of thousands of years ago have value. Obviously, they

could provide cover for a rodent from a soaring hawk. But even these may be

used by humans. When the rocks are collected and stacked, they can form a

very useful wall (Figure I.2A) or even a house (Figure I.2B).

Administration is the formal organization and operation of agencies, depart￾ments and other government and non-government bodies used by humans

to coordinate and direct the conservation or protection of these resources.

Administration differs from management in that management consists of

activities directly associated with the conservation of a resource
management

does, administration directs and organizes. In this book, we will focus on the

administration, not the management, of natural resources.

Throughout the recent (since European colonization) history of North

America, the concern for natural resources has steadily shifted from an early

stage of dread to exploitation, to growing concern and preservation, to the

FIGURE I.2 Those rocks in Figure I.1 can be turned into a fence (A) or even a home (B).

Introduction xv

application of scientific methods of conservation. Today, renewable resources

in both the United States and Canada are generally in better condition than

they were in the 19th and early 20th centuries (see Chapter 1. Briefly, beavers

(Castor canadensis), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), wild turkey

(Meleagris gallopavo) and many furbearers and long-plumed birds are more

numerous than they have been in the past. Many changes in laws and adminis￾tration of natural resources accompanied and even preceded these shifts.

Through laws, governments have directed management to enhance protection

for these species and reintroduce them into formerly occupied areas. Bald

eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis),

peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) and ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) have

come back from near extinction after federal governments banned DDT. Other

rare wildlife and plant species are receiving protection and management due to

administrations passing the Endangered Species and Species at Risk Acts and

the various Endangered Species Acts in provinces and states. In the United

States millions of acres of National Forests have been set aside, and the boreal

forests of Canada still rank among the top forests in the world due to adminis￾trative decisions made decades ago. The conditions that led to the Dust Bowl

period in the late 1920s and 1930s are unlikely ever to occur again, as govern￾ment agencies have established programs of education and soil protection on

farmlands. Once-polluted rivers are again providing water for residential and

industrial requirements.

All of this does not negate the need for continued conservation. While

rare species are receiving protection, there are still nearly 400 vertebrates

and over 1000 plant species that are endangered or threatened in the United

States.1 In Canada, the list of species of concern includes nearly 240 verte￾brates and 165 plants.2 In some areas of both Canada and the United States,

over 90% of the wetlands present at the arrival of Europeans have been

drained; overall, at least 50% of the wetlands in both countries are gone.3,4

Through US history almost all old-growth forests, defined as a dominant tree

class at least 150 years old, were hewed down decades ago, leaving less than

5% of the total in the United States. Although the amount of all forested

land in the United States has remained virtually stable for the past century,5

fragmentation is increasingly a problem, especially for forest-dependent

birds.6 The Society of American Foresters wrote a position paper in 20047

alerting the country that forested lands are declining in quality and are

disappearing. In the past most of the converted forests went into agriculture

but returned after agriculture declined or ceased in a region, thus the loss of

forests was temporary. Increasingly, forested land is being permanently con￾verted to urbanization, and Alig et al. 20038 have predicted that 23 million

acres (9.3 million ha) may be permanently converted to pavement and devel￾opments by 2050. In addition to this, both nations are subject to uncertain

threats of climate change.9
11

xvi Introduction

A chief concern for the future of natural resources can be seen in Figures I.3

and I.4, which show population growth in the United States and Canada, respec￾tively. The data from Canada are fragmentary in that the country did not have a

national census until 1871, and regular 5-year censuses did not occur until

1956.12 By 2015 and 2060, the estimated population in the United States will be

321 million and 420 million, respectively
at least a 31% increase.13 Similarly,

the estimated total population in Canada in 2015 will be 35 million, increasing

to 52 million by 2060
a 48% increase. Although Canada has around 11% to

12% of the total population of the United States, average population density,

or the number of people per unit area, is not that different and is often a better

measure than total population regarding the potential effects of humans on the

landscape. More people per area implies greater urbanization, with greater loss

of natural habitats and increased ecosystem stress. The population in the United

States (Figure I.5) is dispersed compared to that of Canada (Figure I.6). While

human density in the United States is highest along the eastern seacoast,

California and the Great Lakes, in Canada the population is highly condensed in

the southernmost 200 miles (B333 km). Midwestern and southwestern United

States have less urbanization and more open land than coastal areas. For exam￾ple, the northeastern United States has 11.2% of its land in urbanization, 11.6%

in cropland, and 64% in other open habitat. The Midwest, exclusive of the

Great Lakes, has 4.9% urbanization, 55.3% cropland and 30.8% in other open

lands.14 Whereas predictions for Canada’s population suggest that the greatest

growth through births and immigration will be in areas already heavily popu￾lated,15 the population of the United States is steadily moving to the south and

west.13 As population densities shift, we can expect that areas now dominated

3,000

53,000

1,03,000

1,53,000

2,03,000

2,53,000

3,03,000

3,53,000

1790

1800

1810

1820

1830

1840

1850

1860

1870

1880

1890

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

Population in Thousands

FIGURE I.3 Population growth for the United States. While the number of people in the

United States continues to increase, the rate of increase is slowing; however, it will be many

years before the population stabilizes. Data Credit: US Census Bureau.

Introduction xvii

by open land will gradually increase in urbanization. Northern Canada is domi￾nated by boreal forest and tundra in part because the climate is too cold to grow

farm crops. In addition to all of this, the demographic characteristics of humans

in both countries are changing. Statistics show that the mean populations in

both nations are getting older, living longer and having fewer babies.16,17 What

FIGURE I.4 Population growth for Canada. The growth pattern in Canada is similar to that of

the United States, but note that Canada has far fewer people than the United States. Data Credit:

Statistics Canada.

FIGURE I.5 Distribution of human population within the United States (the darker the color,

the greater the population). While there are areas in the west that have low populations, coastal

areas are crowded. .

xviii Introduction

this will mean to the demand for natural resources can only be guessed at this

time. What we can predict is that the need for natural resources and the recrea￾tional opportunities they present will be different in the future than they are

today. Natural resource agencies and NGOs will need to meet those challenges

with new and innovative perspectives and ideas.

WHAT’S THE SCOPE OF THIS BOOK?

Our definition of natural resources encompasses all components of nature that

have a value to humans. However, we are not going to cover all resources

equally. We will focus on renewable resources. Emphasis will be on wildlife,

fisheries, forests, parks, and their uses, including hunting, fishing, boating, for￾estry, nature observation, outdoor recreation and the like. We will spend less

time discussing non-renewable resources and renewable sources of energy

because their administration is becoming increasingly complicated, interna￾tional, and regulatory in nature. Everyone recognizes that the price of gas at

the pump is only partially affected by its actual value in the world market.

Rather, politics, taxes and other factors are at least as important as real value

in setting prices. Similarly, we will focus more on management agencies such

as the US Fish and Wildlife Service than on regulatory agencies like the

Environmental Protection Agency.

Some readers may wonder why I chose to include both Canada and the

United States
isn’t natural resource administration in just one of these

countries sufficient for a book? Well, yes, natural resource administration in

both countries is indeed very interesting and, written in great detail, each

FIGURE I.6 Distribution of human population within Canada. Note that most of the people are

clustered in the southern portion of the nation. Credit: Statistics Canada.

Introduction xix

would provide adequate material for a book. However, Canada and the United

States share a long common border; have similarities in their histories; share

common attitudes towards conservation; are both federal democracies;

have national and state or provincial levels that govern natural resources; and

have an abundance of many types of natural resources. Thus, there are

similarities in the way that natural resources are administered in Canada and

the United States.

However, they differ from each other in ways that add interest to compar￾ing them. The United States has a republican form of democracy with sharp

separation of powers among the executive, judicial and legislative branches

of government. This separation of powers extends to the structure of state

governments. In the United States, the federal government takes a very

involved role in natural resources and the lines between state and federal

authority are sometimes blurred. Canada has a parliamentarian form of

government, where the distinction between the executive and legislative

branches is almost nearly invisible to those of us that live under a republican

democracy. I have to admit that it seems strange that a legislator could also

serve as the minister of an executive department and propose legislation that

affects his or her own ministry. No doubt, the general election of a president

who can be replaced every four years and has to share his authority with the

legislature is a strange concept to many Canadians. In Canada almost all of

the public lands are Crown lands, owned by the monarchy in England.

According to Canada’s constitution of 1982, rather stringently delineated

authorities were given to the provinces and to the federal government on

these Crown lands and the natural resources they contain. Regulatory author￾ity for inland fisheries, wildlife, minerals and energy extraction, parks and

forests within the provinces is virtually exclusive to the provinces. The fed￾eral government has jurisdiction over marine fisheries, all boat licensing, and

the Crown lands and their resources in the northern territories. It seems that

the Canadian federal government has been reluctant to cross the line between

provinces and federal jurisdictions, even when natural resource issues are

national in scope, but there is less hesitancy by the federal government in the

United States. For example, the equivalent to the US Endangered Species

Act (1973) is the Species at Risk Act, which was not adopted until 2002.

The 30-year difference between enacting these critical laws appears to be,

at least in part, due to Canadian federal resistance to usurping provincial

rights. But wildlife and plants do not recognize state or provincial borders,

and can be better protected through combined federal and state provisions.

In contrast, public land in the United States is “owned” by the people
the

citizens of the country.

STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK

This book is divided into four major parts, based on content.

xx Introduction

Part I: Basics of Natural Resources

This section examines the fundamentals of natural resources, defines some

of the basic terminology, and examines the history of conservation in the

United States and Canada. In addition to describing what to expect in the

book, this current chapter gets down to the real basics by defining what we

mean by natural resources and administration as pertains to these resources.

In Chapter 1 we look at a variety of concepts such as conservation, preserva￾tion, sustainability, ecosystem services and adaptive management. A hundred

and twenty years ago the primary concept of natural resources was preservation,

or a “do not touch” attitude. From the landing of the first colonists to then much

of our environment had been despoiled through overuse, abuse and contami￾nation, and there was a growing concern for depleting resources. However,

naturalists lacked knowledge about ecological principles or how to manage

natural systems, so governments took about the only course open to them

which was to protect what there was. As knowledge increased, preservation

gave way to conservation. Scientists learned that natural resources could be used

wisely without destroying their integrity or diminishing their base. Of course,

non-renewable resources such as oil and natural gas cannot be replaced once

they are used, so conservation for these resources meant decreasing waste and

enhancing efficiency of extraction.

Some 40 years or so ago the buzz word for conservation became biodiversity.

This concept stressed that greater biodiversity led to greater ecosystem stability,

but the associated concern was and continues to be that the number of species is

diminishing rapidly. Because human activities such as deforestation, extensive

plowing and widespread contamination have caused many of these declines,

some look upon humans as an enemy to natural systems rather than the solution

to environmental problems.18 While the importance of biodiversity as a measure

of environmental health has not diminished, conservation ideas are changing to

an understanding that humans are here for the long run so let us make the best

of it. Concepts such as sustainability and ecosystem values have been added to

biodiversity as buzzwords. If humans are going to be here, then let us do what

we can to minimize the environmental damage caused by their activities
in

fact, let us develop programs of learning so that humanity will develop a greater

sense of stewardship and acceptance of its role in the environment. So we

have sustainable agriculture, sustainable forestry, sustainable energy production

and use, and so on. This approach does not replace biodiversity as a measure of

environmental health, but is arguably more realistic than banking entirely on that

premise.

Chapter 2 takes a close look at the history of conservation in the United

States and Canada. We focus primarily on wildlife conservation because

its history with humankind reflects that of natural resources in general, and

there is considerable information available on this topic. Much of the history

of Canadian natural resource legislation has paralleled that of the United

Introduction xxi

States, with a lag period of about 20
30 years. Politics may be involved

with this lag, but we should also acknowledge that Canada’s smaller popula￾tion may have slowed the rate of anthropogenic environmental damage

which, in turn, facilitated the lag between the nations. For the most part,

Canada and the United States have made great progress in the management

and concern for natural resources. We certainly don’t have all the answers,

but we have come to know a great deal since the English, Spanish and

French colonists first arrived.

Part II: Environmental Law

Chapter 3 demonstrates that in many ways the different forms of government

in Canada and the United States can be observed in the historical progression

of environmental laws, but it is very interesting that both nations have

converged in societal concepts about natural resources. In the United States,

the early history of environmental laws gave precedence to the states. The

doctrine of Public Trust with regard to wildlife in the broad sense was

formulated with one of the earliest Supreme Court decisions, and exists until

this day. The doctrine can be succinctly expressed as “no one owns a wild ani￾mal until it is reduced to possession”. It is when the animal is in possession of

a human that our laws can determine if taking that animal was legal. Another

way of expressing this is that wildlife is “owned by everyone and no one in

particular”. The concept of Public Trust pertains in both countries, and through

time has led to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. While

wildlife is owned by society in general, the laws of ownership of other natural

resources are very different. For example, minerals, fossil fuels, and lands

such as forest, grasslands or cultivated lands, can be privately owned. Thus,

the trees in a forest, arable land in a grassland, or a pond enclosed by private

lands can be owned outright. Any fish in that pond also are the property of the

landowner. However, if the same species of fish is in a body of water that

flows through a region or in a lake surrounded by multiple property owners,

the fish are treated by the Public Trust Doctrine in the same way as wildlife.

Depending on the state, mineral rights either come with the purchase of

property or can be owned separately. On public lands, including federal, state

and Crown lands, the concept is that resources are administrated for the good

of all, although this is not always done with perfection.

Chapter 4 is a more intense examination of specific federal laws dealing

with natural resources. Individual states and provinces have their own laws,

and it would take a much larger volume to report on all the particulars. At this

point, it may be worthwhile to remind ourselves that these laws have been

enacted to protect us from ourselves. It seems to be human nature to take

more than one ought, for federal, state and provincial laws exist to assure that

there are sufficient resources for all.

xxii Introduction

Part III: The Bureaucracy of Natural Resources

During the development of conservation, the legislatures in the United States

and in the House of Commons in Canada have established agencies and

departments to administer these natural resources. At the same time, states

and provinces have established their own agencies that in many ways mirror

federal counterparts. Descriptions of these agencies, including specific details

of their histories and authorities, their missions, goals and business opera￾tions, budgets, and infrastructure are presented in this chapter. The focus is

on the federal level because, once again, a detailed inventory of state and

provincial agencies would be excessive.

Chapter 5 includes accounts of Canadian ministries that oversee natural

resources. Compared to the United States, Canadian federal bureaucracy is more

condensed and often more involved in support functions to the provinces than in

actual management of resources. Again, these approaches are due to constitu￾tional differences in the distribution of federal and state (provincial) authorities

between nations. There are three principal ministries that deal with conservation

issues. Environment Canada has sub-ministries dealing with weather-forecasting

for the nation, waste management, pollution, wildlife, sustainable ecosystems,

water resources, biodiversity and enforcement. It also houses the national park

system as an independent agency supervised by the same minister of the environ￾ment. Natural Resources Canada is the principal Canadian federal agency for

energy, forests, minerals, metals and earth sciences, topographical mapping, and

remote sensing. Fisheries and Oceans oversees marine fishing, commercial fresh￾water fisheries and regulates shipping and boating.

The US department most involved with fisheries, wildlife, parks, minerals

and mining, and grazing lands is the Department of the Interior, which is

covered in Chapter 6. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is the lead for endan￾gered species conservation in the nation; it also encompasses the national

wildlife refuges, most of the federal conservation law enforcement authority,

and ecological services offices across the country that provide guidance on a

host of conservation topics, including contaminants, wetlands, endangered

species and legal matters. The National Park Service manages the National

Parks in the United States, but also oversees the various monuments, national

historical sites and national parkways. The Bureau of Land Management has

oversight responsibilities for millions of acres of grazing lands in the west.

The US Geological Survey, which for a long time was composed of sections

dealing with minerals, monitoring of waterways including major rivers, and

cartography, now in addition conducts all of the biological research activities

for the Department. The USGS also houses the Cooperative Research Units

that provide educational opportunities for graduate students across the country.

The other agencies within the Department deal with Amerindian affairs, and

mining regulations on land and in the sea.

Introduction xxiii