(For WSAU/VFF21 Transcript, 7 Nov 02)

Complete Acronyms/Glossary available at and researched/compiled/published by:

Julie Kay Smithson/213 Thorn Locust Lane, London, OH 43140-8844

propertyrights1@aol.com/

- The plan of action to achieve sustainable development that was adopted by world leaders at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992 (United Nations, 1993b). (UN)

- Collective term for land-use systems and technologies in which woody perennials (trees, shrubs, palms, bamboos and so forth) are deliberately used on the same land management unit as agricultural crops and/or animals, in some form of either spatial arrangement or temporal sequence. (UN)

- The variety and variability of life in an area or the diversity of genes, species, and ecosystems, and of plant and animal life within species (genetic diversity), among species (species diversity) and among ecosystems (ecosystem diversity). The latter includes the diversity of structure and function within ecosystems. The variety of life in all forms, levels and combinations. (IUCN) There are three types of biodiversity: ecosystem diversity, species diversity, and genetic diversity." It is thus measure of species richness and variability among living organisms from all sources, including land-based and aquatic ecosystems. Species diversity is vital to the proper functioning of ecosystems and is the basis of biological wealth and adaptability. (UNESCO) (See Biological Diversity)

- Refers to the sum of all species of plants and animals. An ecosystem is generally considered healthy when it supports the maximum biological diversity known to be associated with it. In addition, biological diversity also refers to the genetic diversity found within individuals and populations of species and the diversity of ecosystems within the landscape. The variety of life forms and its processes, including the variety of living organisms, the genetic differences among them, and the communities and ecosystems in which they occur. The variety of life across all levels of organization from genetic diversity within populations, to species, which have to be regarded as the pivotal unit of classification, to ecosystems. The number and abundance of species found within a common environment. This includes the variety of genes, species, ecosystems, and the ecological processes that connect everything in a common environment. Number and kinds of organisms per unit area or volume; the composition of species in a given area at a given time.

- Represents the limit of a known or recognizable quantity, area or scope. Each classification has its own boundary, as do its constituent categories, such as activities, commodities, occupations etc. While it is possible for the boundaries of individual classifications to overlap, there should be no overlap within individual classifications. (UN)

- Organization within the U.S. Department of the Interior responsible for managing land and natural resources. It has exclusive jurisdiction over about 268 million acres of federally owned lands. Approximately one- third of this area is in Alaska. The majority of the remaining acreage is in the Western States.

(1977) - This is the principal law governing pollution of the nation's rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal waters. Originally enacted in 1948 as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (P.L. 80-845), it was totally revised by amendments in 1972 that gave the Act its current name and shape (P.L. 92-500). The objective of the Act is the restoration and maintenance of the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters. The Act is implemented by the EPA in partnership with state and local governments. Programs in the Act have been primarily directed at managing point source pollution (wastes discharged from industrial facilities, sewage treatment plants, and municipal storm sewer systems). Agricultural activities have been less of a focus, but some may be affected by the Clean Water Act. Large confined animal feeding operations are treated like industrial sources and are subject to permit requirements. Programs to manage non-point source pollution (rainfall runoff from farms, rangelands, forests, etc.) may affect agriculture. A program in the Act that regulates discharges of dredged and fill material into wetlands (Section 404) requires permits for activities on agricultural wetlands. Requires consultation with the Corps of Engineers (404 permits) for major wetland modifications.

- Coastal areas are commonly defined as the interface or transition areas between land and sea, including large inland lakes. Coastal areas are diverse in function and form, dynamic and do not lend themselves well to definition by strict spatial boundaries. Unlike watersheds, there are no exact natural boundaries that unambiguously delineate coastal areas. Geologically, continental margins are of two types: active margins where the edge of a continent happens to be at the edge of an oceanic plate (e.g. the west coast of South America); and inactive margins where the transition from continental lithosphere to oceanic lithosphere is within a plate rather than at a plate edge (e.g. the Atlantic). Coastal areas are therefore characterized by the vertical accretion of near-shore land. This depends on several factors: sediment supply from rivers or from the sea; the width of the shelf, or the proximity of a submarine canyon through which currents remove sediments; and the strength of longshore currents and incidence of cyclones, both of which transport and redistribute sediments along the coast. Sedimentation is the major geological activity that shapes coasts, but human-induced land subsidence is having an increasing impact on coastal morphology.

- Reorganization of a country's agriculture involving political adversaries, such as Thailand between British and French colonial domains. Involves the expropriation of private holdings and their incorporation into relatively large-scale units, which are farmed and administered cooperatively by those who live there. This system transformed agriculture in the former Soviet Union, and went beyond the Soviet model in China's program of communization.

- A statement, including maps, to guide all aspects of development and preservation in a coordinated way for a given jurisdiction. It includes an inventory and analysis of current conditions in and around the area and policies to guide future actions, including development regulations. The general, inclusive plan for future development of a community, identifying needed infrastructure improvements and funding needs for future capital improvements in the area. A long-range vision of how growth should occur in a community, ideally with goals and implementation methods defined.

- The continuous process of preparing, modifying or updating a comprehensive plan.

- The point at which agencies and the public offer their agreement with recommendations or findings. Although unanimous consensus is seldom achieved, continuous coordination throughout the study process is expected to garner support from most agencies and much of the public.

- A natural or restored pathway for a population of organisms to use in order to breed and/or remain contiguous. - NPS Ecology and Restoration Glossary

- The Delphi Technique, or Delphi Process is a name that has been applied to a technique used to attain opinions with the object of obtaining a consensus from a group of experts. Delphi replaces direct confrontation and debate by a carefully planned, orderly program of sequential discussions. Researchers point out that the Delphi Technique "eliminates committee activity altogether, thus further reducing the influence of certain psychological factors, such as specious persuasion, the unwillingness to abandon publicly expressed opinions, and the bandwagon effect of majority opinion.

2. The distribution and abundance of different plant and animal communities and species within the area covered by a land and resource management plan (36 CFR 219.3).

- the regular administration of the law, in which no citizen may be denied his legal rights, and all laws must conform to fundamental, accepted legal principles.

- A set of forest management concepts that seek to maintain or recreate timber stand and landscape biological diversity. Also termed "New Perspectives", "New Forestry" and "Sustainable Forestry." (BLM)

- Improvements in the efficiency of resource use so the same or greater output of goods and services is produced with smaller throughputs of natural, manufactured and human capital. (UNESCO)

- A community of interacting organisms (including people) and their environment that functions together to sustain life. A functional system which includes the organisms of a natural community together with their environment. A complex system in nature where living organisms and their environment operate as one unit. A dynamic and interrelated complex of plant and animal communities and their associated non-living environment. A system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with its environment. Derived from ecological system. An arrangement of living and non-living things and the forces that move among them. Living things include plants and animals. Non-living parts of an ecosystem may be rocks and minerals. Weather and wildfire are two of the forces that act within ecosystems. A functioning community of nature that includes fauna and flora together with the chemical and physical environment with which they interact. Ecosystems vary greatly in size and characteristics; an ecosystem can be a mud puddle, a field or orchard, or a forest. An ecosystem provides a unit of biological study and can be a unit of management.

- Endangered species are identified by the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Any species of plant or animal defined through the Endangered Species Act as being in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range, and published in the Federal Register, other than a species of the Class Insecta determined by the Secretary to constitute a pest whose protection under the Act would present an overwhelming and overriding risk to man. (Author’s note: Can a human be an endangered species?)

Significant resources, facilities, or other features of a study area located in or adjacent to an existing or proposed corridor study area that serve to restrain, restrict, or prevent the ready implementation of proposed improvements in a given area; may include natural or physical resources, important structures, communities facilities, or topographic features.

- The following natural and cultural resources, the disturbance of which tends to impair the physical, biological, social, or aesthetic quality of the resource. (1) aquifer recharge and well head protection areas, (2) coastal dunes, beaches, barrier islands, and shorelines, (3) Critical Slope Areas, (4) Flood Plains, (5) habitats of endangered and threatened species, (6) habitats with wide diversity of resident species, (7) historic sites and areas, (8) public water supply reservoirs, (9) ridge lines or ravines, (10) scenic vistas and corridors, (11) staging areas for migratory species, (12) stream corridors, (13) wetlands and ponds, (14) wildlife corridors. (15) any area that exhibits one or more of the features used to delineate Planning Area 5, whether or not greater than one square mile in extent: (a) trout production waters and trout maintenance waters and their watersheds, (b) pristine non-tidal Category I waters and their watersheds upstream of the lowest Category I stream segment, (c) watersheds of existing or planned potable water supply sources, (d) aquifer recharge areas of potable water supply sources and carbonate formations associated with recharge areas or aquifers, (e) habitats of populations of endangered or threatened plant or animal species, (f) coastal wetlands, (g) contiguous freshwater wetlands systems, (h) significant natural features such as beaches, coastal spits and barrier islands critical slope areas, ridge lines, gorges and ravines, unique geological features (including limestone outcrops) or unique ecosystems, and (I) prime forested areas, including mature stands of native species, OR (j) natural landscapes of exceptional value, in combination with one or more other environmentally sensitive features pursuant to these criteria, and (16) Critical Habitat.

- Directs Federal agencies to 1) minimize destruction, loss, or degradation of wetlands and 2) preserve and enhance the natural and beneficial values of wetlands when a practical alternative exists.

(1994) - Establishes environmental justice as a Federal government priority and directs all Federal agencies to make environmental justice part of their mission. Environmental justice calls for fair distribution of environmental hazards.

- According to the USDA, anyone who sells more than $1,000 in agricultural commodities--one horse or 250 bushels of wheat--is a farmer.

- Land used for agricultural purposes. The federal government recognizes prime farmland and unique farmland as the most important categories. According to USDA, the United States has had roughly 1 billion acres of farmland. Farmland consists of cropland, pastureland, and grazing land.

- Land that is now, or is capable of becoming, at least ten percent stocked with forest trees and that has not been developed for non-timber use. (BLM)

- A relatively new word that is commonly used to describe the ongoing, multidimensional process of worldwide change. It describes the idea that the world is becoming a single global market. It describes the idea that time and space have been shrunk as a result of modern telecommunications technologies which allow almost instantaneous communication between people almost anywhere on the planet. It describes the idea that cultures are blending and mixing and where cultural icons and values from dominant Northern cultures are being adopted in the South, while at the same time unique ethnic differences are being strengthened and local identities are being exerted. It describes that idea that the planet as a whole, rather than individual continents or landscapes, is considered as 'our home' and that some human activities can have a negative effect on people and environments far from their source or have an negative effect on the planet as a whole. (UNESCO)

- The conscious public effort to restrain, accommodate or induce development in any geographic setting and at any governmental level. Growth management systems provide a means for government to establish comprehensive goals and objectives designed to address the problems of growth through an integrated system of administrative, financial and regulatory programs.

- Includes, where the context so requires, any buildings, trees or other fixtures thereto. 2. Real property not including improvements and fixtures on, above, or below the surface. (See Development Rights)

- The process of organizing the use of lands and their resources to best meet people’s needs over time, according to the land’s capabilities.

- The level of government that is responsible for the day to day running of a ward, district, province or city. Local government responsibilities often include the provision of public transport and public recreational facilities as well as the monitoring and enforcing of many environmental regulations. (UNESCO)

- Natural assets (raw materials) occurring in nature and are essential or useful to humans, such as water, air, land, forests, fish and wildlife, topsoil, and minerals, and that can be used for economic production or consumption.(UN) (UNESCO)

- Organizations formed by people outside of government. NGOs monitor the proceedings of human rights bodies such as the Commission on Human Rights and are the "watchdogs" of the human rights that fall within their mandate. Some are large and international (e.g., the Red Cross, Amnesty International, the Girl Scouts); others may be small and local (e.g., an organization to advocate for people with disabilities in a particular city; a coalition to promote women's rights in one refugee camp). NGOs play a major role in influencing UN policy, and many of them have official consultative status at the UN. - United Nations Charter / Human Rights Glossary 2. A non-profit group or association organized outside of institutionalized political structures to realize particular social objectives (such as environmental protection) or serve particular constituencies (such as indigenous peoples). NGO activities range from research, information distribution, training, local organization, and community service to legal advocacy, lobbying for legislative change, and civil disobedience. NGOs range in size from small groups within a particular community to huge membership groups with a national or international scope. - UNDP/WRI

- A municipally adopted law or regulation.

- President Clinton was unhappy with the dictatorial war-making powers surrendered to the Executive by Congress, and sought to systematize those extra-constitutional powers in two secret presidential decrees: Presidential Decision Directives (PDDs) 13 and 25. While neither of these documents have been made public, portions of PDD-13 were leaked in the press and a 15-page "unclassified summary" of PDD-25 has been made available by the Administration.

- Radical change, requiring fundamental change, rapid progress toward radical goals and selective use of appropriate information technology. It is revolution, both in end and means. Once known as Methods and Procedure Analysis.

Government ownership of the sources of production.

A pattern of development characterized by inefficient access between land uses or to public facilities or services and a lack of functional open space. Typically sprawl is an auto-dependent, single use, often discontinuous, low-density development pattern.

The holder(s) of the stakes in a wager. Major stakeholders (or partners) are defined as those who stand to gain the MOST in an economic change. Minor stakeholders are defined as those who stand to LOSE the most in an economic change.

Companies may consider standards proposed by international, regional or local stakeholder groups. Several human rights organizations have engaged in dialogue with companies in recent years, and the output of some of these conversations has been proposed standards for business. A global example is Amnesty International's Human Rights Principles for Companies. Amnesty's ten Principles are based on international standards and are designed "to assist companies in developing their role in situations of human rights violations or the potential for such violations." Human Rights Watch and Global Witness, amongst others, have developed country specific recommendations for oil companies operating in Nigeria and Angola, respectively, and a coalition of US-based companies and NGOs, led by the International Labor Rights Fund and Global Exchange, have established draft principles for companies operating in China.

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). It assumes the conservation of natural assets for future growth and development. Industrial development that does not detract from the potential of the natural environment to provide benefits to future generations.

The ability of an ecosystem to maintain ecological processes and functions, biological diversity, and productivity over time. A concept generally defined as meeting the current needs of society without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

A classification in the natural resources inventory, now called developed areas, that includes cities, villages, other build-up areas of more than 10 acres, industrial sites, railroad yards, cemeteries, airports, golf courses, shooting ranges, institutional and public administration sites, and similar areas. The 1992 national resources inventory placed over 92 million acres in this category, an increase of 14 million acres since 1982.

- An area having a City Center population of 50,000 or more as defined by the 2000 US Census; may also include other major population concentrations where a systems planning study is deemed necessary.

State-adopted and EPA-approved ambient standards for water bodies. The standards prescribe the use of the water body and establish the water quality criteria that must be met to protect designated uses, and contain policies to protect against degradation of water quality once standards are attained and maintained. Standards for water quality established under Section 303 of the U.S. Clean Water Act. The water quality standards program is covered by an implementing regulation in 40 CFR 131. A water quality standard is a rule or law consisting of three elements: (1) the designated use (or uses) to be made of the water body or segment; (2) the water quality criteria needed to protect that use (or uses); and (3) an antidegradation policy. Standards are to protect the public health or welfare, improve water quality, and serve the purpose of the Clean Water Act. Criteria are usually established thresholds that when violated may result in harm to beneficial uses of water.

- Process in physical planning or the results thereof, in which specific functions or uses are assigned to certain areas (for example, industrial zones, residential areas). (UN) One of the municipal police powers. A municipal ordinance that defines types and locations of land uses within a community, addressing such elements as lot sizes and setbacks from the street. Purpose is to promote the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the community and protect and preserve places and areas of historical, cultural or architectural importance and significance. Zoning should support the goals of a comprehensive plan. Zoning decisions are based upon a review of the following: appropriate use of land/compatibility with surrounding properties, traffic circulation or congestion, adequate light and air, overcrowding/density, adequate transportation, water, sewer, schools, parks, and other public requirements, conserve value of property. Municipalities adopt zoning ordinances which may in general regulate the following: the height, width, size, and number of stories of buildings and structures; the percentage of a lot or tract that may be occupied; the size of yards (setbacks), courts, and other open spaces; the location and use of buildings, other structures, and land; and population density. The division of a municipality (or other governmental unit) into districts, and the regulation within those districts of 1) the height and bulk of buildings and other structures; 2) the area of a lot that can be built on and the size of required open spaces; 3) the net density of dwelling units; and 4) the use of buildings and land for trade, industry, residence, or other purposes.