Lisa M. Butler Harrington

Effectiveness of Conservation Reserve Programs and Land ‘Slippage’ in Southwestern Kansas

Historically land reserve programs have been used to reduce soil erosion. Slippage, which occurs when the number of acres enrolled in a reserve program is not met by an equivalent reduction of acreage in production, has limited reserve success, however. This study addresses the effect of slippage on conservation reserves in southwestern Kansas from 1988–1994. Slippage has varied considerably on both spatial and temporal bases. At one extreme the programs were 100% successful in removing land from production, but at the other extreme, slippage rendered reserve programs nearly useless. Overall, slippage in the study area has greatly reduced conservation reserve effectiveness.

Groundwater Depletion and Agricultural Land Use Change in the High Plains: A Case Study from Wichita County, Kansas*

Abstract Shifts in resource availability and resulting land use changes are important research themes for coupled human and natural systems and human dimensions of global environmental change. This study examines the relationship between groundwater depletion and agricultural land use change within a single county in the High Plains, where agro-economic systems and populations are dependent on access to reliable groundwater supplies. Results indicate a significant relationship between high proportionate decreases in groundwater and land being removed from irrigation. This case study strengthens the links among local, regional, and global environmental change, and contributes to a greater understanding of the High Plains in the context of regional sustainability and vulnerability concerns.

Beef feedlots in southwestern Kansas: local change, perceptions, and the global change context

Abstract Cattle feedlots, some of which have a capacity of tens of thousands of head, have become a major driving force in the local economy and changing landscape of southwestern Kansas. The feedlot industry also is one of the regions most important sources of carbon-equivalent greenhouse gases. Changes to the beef industry are described, and the perceptions and attitudes of feedlot operators regarding climatic change issues and industrial change are analyzed based on a 1998 survey. The results indicate that a majority of feedlot respondents believe ‘global warming’ is mostly an unproven theory, and efforts to mitigate it are unwarranted.

Implications of management strategies and vegetation change in the Mount St. Helens blast zone

The 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens provided an excellent opportunity for scientists to investigate the recovery of vegetation communities following a major geologic disturbance. An important and often overlooked aspect in these studies is the human factor in recovery processes, and specifically, the different management approaches taken towards re-establishment of vegetation on lands under the control of various owners. This study examines vegetation changes throughout the 1980 blast zone using a time series of Landsat-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) images and change detection methods to assess the changes over 25 years, from 1980 to 2005, as a function of human management combined with ecological factors. This long-term tracking of change indicates that differences in the speed of vegetation re-establishment and consequent rates of change substantially reflect human involvement and varying management strategies.

Vegetation change in the Mount St. Helens (U.S.A.) blast zone, 1979–1992

Abstract Mount St. Helens, Washington, erupted in May 1980 leaving thousands of acres “devastated”; by its lateral blast. Vegetation recovery has taken place through both natural processes and replanting efforts on corporate and public lands. However, an area‐wide assessment of vegetation change has been lacking. Landsat MSS data have been used to calculate NDVI for 1979 and for even years from 1980 through 1992, and to determine date‐to‐date NDVI change. The largest area showing major vegetation cover increase is Weyerhaeuser property to the northwest of the mountain. Initial analysis indicates that timing of replanting is the most important factor in determining vegetative cover increase—the faster an area was replanted after the eruption, the more recovery is evident. Three‐date images indicate rapid green‐up by 1986 in quickly replanted areas of the blast zone. Natural regeneration has been much slower, although it is evident in parts of the National Volcanic Monument.

Sustainability Theory and Conceptual Considerations: A Review of Key Ideas for Sustainability, and the Rural Context

ABSTRACT Sustainability and sustainable development have become important concepts and goals across science and society. Sustainability, connected to desirable long-term conditions, is an inherently applied pursuit in geography and other fields. An integrative statement of essential concepts on which sustainability studies and applications are being built has been lacking, however. Based on the literature, a number of key ideas or theoretical concepts are discussed here, including the importance of choice, place, scale, systems, limits, change, connected concepts, and the identity of sustainability. The rural context is used to present examples illustrating key ideas for sustainability, but the concepts apply broadly to applications and research related to improving the directions of environmental and social changes within local, regional, and global systems under the influence of human actions.

Alternative and Virtual Rurality: Agriculture and The Countryside as Embodied in American Imagination

Abstract Affection for agrarian livelihoods and rural and small‐town environments has long been held by residents in many of the worlds “more developed” countries. Although the rural proportion of the U.S. population has shrunk to a minority over the last century, fondness for rurality continues to manifest itself in a number of ways. Attachment to the rural ideal or rural idyll can be considered as attachment to the idea of a type of place, rather than specific place attachment. Based on literature, field observation, computer searches, and data from the U.S. Census of Agriculture, connections to idea(l)s of rurality apparent in popular culture are identified and illustrated. These include rural and agricultural tourism, small‐scale farming and large‐lot rural subdivisions, urban agriculture, farmers’ markets and community‐supported agriculture, creation of housing developments around farm activities, and rural‐named housing and business developments. Idealized relationships with rurality call upon health and well‐being, connecting to nature, aesthetics, privacy, and respect and nostalgia for rural livelihoods.

Understanding agents of change in amenity gateways of the Greater Yellowstone region

Abstract Recognition of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem – lands that surround Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks – was hoped to facilitate regional sustainability. However, with over 30 federal, tribal, state, and local agencies; thousands of private businesses and landowners; over 175 non-government organizations; and more than 16 million users annually, the region has proven difficult to manage comprehensively. It is increasingly important to understand how local stakeholders perceive control over change and the responsible agents and actors. This is particularly important in amenity gateway communities where the relationship between public lands management and local community development have become increasingly complex in recent decades. Findings suggest that not only does community proximity and dependence on Yellowstone National Park and its policies influence perceptions of the actors and agents of change, but also perceptions directly influence how gateway communities address the challenges they face.

A Review of “The Rural–Urban Fringe in Canada: Conflict and Controversy”

households in the conflict-affected areas based on the experiences of those living in Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslim villages in Ampara district. Hazel Lang and Anita Knudsen examine humanitarian agencies’ approaches to protect people exposed to risks and threats in Trincomalee district. The specific challenges confronting humanitarian agencies as they worked in the highly politicized, difficult, and insecure environment are discussed. Suzanne Y. A. Tete highlights the narratives of conflict-displaced displaced persons in Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka. A major challenge is how to incorporate voices of the displaced people in developing a solution to their displacement. Kalinga Tudor Silva compares the social and political consequences of two disasters that struck Sri Lanka seventy years apart—the malaria epidemic of 1934–1935 and the tsunami of 2004. The state and civil society responses to the malaria epidemic led to the establishment and development of a Sri Lankan welfare state with rapid advances in quality of life of rural people, but the more elaborate and well-funded tsunami response failed to facilitate speedy recovery. The conflict between the government forces and the LTTE might be partly responsible for the failure. A conflict-sensitive approach, along with greater coordination among agencies involved in reconstruction, was required for better disaster management. Jennifer Hyndman analyzes the posttsunami response in two areas affected by war and tsunami—Eastern Sri Lanka and Aceh, Indonesia. In Aceh, the tsunami accelerated and facilitated peace, whereas in Sri Lanka, the tsunami intensified political crisis. Sarah Khasalamwa analyzes the posttsunami humanitarian interventions and concludes that the tsunami response did not live up to expectations and did not reduce the vulnerability of people to minimize the impact of future disasters, especially in the northern and eastern parts of the island. The government, however, has encouraged construction and development of tourist facilities along the coastline since the end of the civil war in areas devastated by the tsunami. The miles of sugary white sand flanked by bamboo groves that were off limits to visitors until recently are accessible as a by-product of the war and tsunami reconstruction. Among the most scenic is the Nilaveli Beach in the Tamil north, which offers renovated bungalows with private terraces. An international airport in Matara, on the island’s southern shore, is under construction, which will make the gorgeous beaches near the seaside village of Galle easier to access. Decimated by the tsunami of 2004, the surrounding coastline is now teeming with stylish guesthouses and boutique hotels. This book is quite simply the best, most comprehensive geographic research on the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka written by leading Norwegian and Sri Lankan scholars. Various chapters synthesize diverse perspectives on the impacts of the tsunami in the shadow of civil war. Major challenges of humanitarian crisis, particularly the settlement of civilians displaced by the conflict and tsunami, persist, even as the government faces the tasks of pleasing the Sinhalese majority, and reducing the social and economic inequality that fueled the civil war.