Watt, Laura
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.1/870
2024-03-29T12:50:40ZThe Bay Area’s Solar Salt Industry: An Unintended Conservationist
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/135741
The Bay Area’s Solar Salt Industry: An Unintended Conservationist
Watt, Laura; Johnck, Ellen Joslin
Now part of a 15,100-acre restoration project, the salt ponds of the southern San Francisco Bay have a long history of industrial use and management. Early developers of these lands in the late 1800s modified the marshy tidal margin of the bay to be productive and profitable; wetlands were not valued for their own sake or for ecological values, but were considered wastelands until they could be “improved” for human utilization. The land barons behind what became the Leslie Salt Company created an elaborate landscape of dikes and ponds, but producing solar salt was considered an interim use, while the owners aimed for further, more lucrative possibilities: first planning a heavily industrialized manufacturing and distribution center, and later considering filling the marshlands to create residential developments. Ironically the vision of a filled-in Bay helped to trigger a wave of environmentalism in the 1960s and ‘70s, resulting first in the creation of a wildlife refuge and later this ambitious restoration project, circling back toward the tidal marshes’ earlier form and function. Examining their history helps us to see not only the potential conservation value of lands previously used for industrial purposes, but also to help us understand that we can live side by side with conservation lands, that their ecological or wildness values are not necessarily diminished by human presence or past.
2014-01-01T00:00:00ZOn Preserving Ecological and Cultural Landscapes
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.1/898
On Preserving Ecological and Cultural Landscapes
Watt, Laura; Raymond, Leigh; Eschen, Meryl L.
This paper highlights the parallel evolution of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966 in the USA. It begins by reviewing the precursors to both laws, noting their shared historical roots in efforts to safeguard the country's national heritage. It then identifies the basic structure and requirements of each law, documenting their differences and similarities. Building on this statutory foundation, the paper traces the evolutionary paths these laws have taken since their passage. It is shown that both laws have moved with difficulty toward a more landscape-focused approach, becoming more alike in the process. The ESA has become fundamentally aimed at protecting ecosystems, not just single species, and the NHPA ultimately seeks to preserve dynamic systems of place and community, rather than just individual buildings or structures. The paper concludes by offering some thoughts on how and why the laws have struggled to achieve their goal of large-scale preservation, as well as some tentative suggestions for future reform.
2004-01-01T00:00:00ZThe Trouble with Preservation, or, Getting Back to the Wrong Term for Wilderness Protection: A Case Study at Point Reyes National Seashore
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.1/871
The Trouble with Preservation, or, Getting Back to the Wrong Term for Wilderness Protection: A Case Study at Point Reyes National Seashore
Watt, Laura
How “untrammeled” must a wilderness be at the time it is designated
as such? Should the intent behind designating wilderness
areas be to protect existing areas that meet the official definition,
or to create new ones through management actions? This question
is explored by looking at the historical evolution of the Philip Burton
Wilderness Area in Point Reyes National Seashore, which
gradually has been transformed from a dairy ranching landscape
to an apparently pristine wilderness. In the process, the history of
human habitation and use of the area has been downplayed or
overlooked. This case raises questions about the interplay between
considerations of ecological functioning, recreation demands, and
simple aesthetics in defining managed wilderness. It also suggests
that new terminology for wilderness protection that differentiates
between varying degrees of previous human use could help to
avoid the erasure of history from preserved natural areas.
Published by and copyright of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers
2002-01-01T00:00:00Z