scholarly journals An interdisciplinary assessment of private conservation areas in the Western United States

AMBIO ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Quintas-Soriano ◽  
Dainee M. Gibson ◽  
Jodi S. Brandt ◽  
María D. López-Rodríguez ◽  
Javier Cabello ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
The United States ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Conservation Easements ◽  
Private Lands ◽  
Priority Areas ◽  
Land Trust ◽  
Conservation Targets

AbstractConservation easements are the fastest growing private conservation strategy in the United States. However, mechanisms to assess private land conservation as well as their support by the general public are not well understood. This study uses the ecosystem services framework for assessing existing private lands in Idaho and identifies areas for future conservation easements. Using conservation targets of the land trust as a guide for selecting ecosystem services, we (a) mapped the spatial delivery of conservation targets across public and private lands, (b) explored public awareness in terms of social importance and vulnerability, and (c) mapped future priority areas by characterizing conservation bundles. We found that public lands provided the highest levels of conservation targets, and we found no difference in conservation target provision between private areas and conservation easements. The spatial characterization of conservation target bundles identified potential future priority areas for conservation easements, which can guide planning of land trust conservation efforts.

Rights Discourse and Assisted Suicide

2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-99
Author(s):  
Penney Lewis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
The United States ◽  
Medical Professionals ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Criminal Trials ◽  
Supreme Courts ◽  
Rights Discourse ◽  
Law Professors

The debate surrounding the legalization of assisted suicide has been galvanized in recent years by reports of specific cases of assisted suicide, primarily involving physicians such as Kevorkian and Quill, and by impassioned pleas for legalization and assistance in suicide from individuals suffering in the throes of terminal or agonizing diseases, such as Sue Rodriguez. Media attention on criminal trials of individuals accused of assisting in a suicide has heightened public awareness of the issue. The constitutionality of criminal prohibitions on assisted suicide has been tested in various jurisdictions, and has recently been considered by the Supreme Courts of both the United States and Canada. Following two narrowly unsuccessful attempts to enact dignified death provisions by referenda in Washington and California, Oregon voters passed the first of such proposed laws in November 1994, providing for physician-assisted suicide under certain specified conditions. Attempts to introduce legislation to legalize assisted suicide in other jurisdictions have been galvanized by the success in Oregon. A model statute has been drafted by a group of law professors, philosophers and medical professionals.

A synoptic survey of ecosystem services from headwater catchments in the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 106-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian H. Hill ◽  
Randall K. Kolka ◽  
Frank H. McCormick ◽  
Matthew A. Starry
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
The United States ◽  
Headwater Catchments

Perceived Discrimination and Health: Integrative Findings

2018 ◽  
pp. 442-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adolfo G. Cuevas ◽  
David R. Williams
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
National Health ◽  
Perceived Discrimination ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Priority Areas

The Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study was the first national health study to include a comprehensive battery to measure both major acute and chronic experiences of discrimination. Studies using MIDUS data have made significant contributions to the growing area of research on discrimination and health. This chapter provides an overview of research on discrimination and health, giving special attention to how findings from the MIDUS study have contributed to this literature. It provides a description of the discrimination instruments in MIDUS and summarizes key MIDUS findings that have examined discrimination in relation to health outcomes. This chapter outlines priority areas for future research. With growing recognition of the need to better understand the conditions under which specific aspects of discrimination are pathogenic for particular social groups, this chapter highlights the importance of using MIDUS to reach these goals.

scholarly journals Delivering on Biden’s 2030 conservation commitment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Alexander Simmons ◽  
Christoph Nolte ◽  
Jennifer McGowan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Performance Metrics ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Executive Order ◽  
Conservation Action ◽  
Priority Areas ◽  
Trade Offs

AbstractOn January 27, 2021, President Biden signed an executive order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, committing the United States to various goals within his campaign’s major climate policy, the Biden Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice. Included in this executive order is a commitment to “conserving at least 30 percent of [the United States’] lands and oceans by 2030.” This ambitious conservation target signals a promising direction for biodiversity in the United States. However, while the executive order outlines several goals for climate mitigation, the ‘30×30’ target remains vague in its objectives, actions, and implementation strategies for protecting biodiversity. Biodiversity urgently needs effective conservation action, but it remains unclear where and what this 30% target will be applied to. Achieving different climate and biodiversity objectives will require different strategies and, in combination with the associated costs of implementation, will lead to different priority areas for conservation actions. Here, we illustrate what the 30% target could look like across four objectives reflective of the ambitious goals outlined in the executive order. We compile several variations of terrestrial protected area networks guided by these different objectives and examine the trade-offs in costs, ecosystem representation, and climate mitigation potential between each. We find little congruence in priority areas across objectives, emphasizing just how crucial it will be for the Biden administration to develop clear objectives and establish appropriate performance metrics from the outset to maximize both conservation and climate outcomes in support of the 30×30 target. We discuss important considerations that must guide the administration’s conservation strategies in order to ensure meaningful conservation outcomes can be achieved over the next decade.

United States

2019 ◽  
pp. 305-312
Author(s):  
Angela M Lunde ◽  
Ronald C Petersen ◽  
John A Lucas
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Research Funding ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
The United States ◽  
Care Quality ◽  
National Plan ◽  
Genetic Studies ◽  
Number Of Treatment

In the United States, the National Alzheimer’s Project Act was signed into law in January 2011, and the first National Plan appeared just over 12 months later, with five goals: to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease by 2025, to enhance care quality and efficiency, to expand support for people with Alzheimer’s disease and their families, to enhance public awareness and engagement, and to improve data to track progress. The National Plan has seen a rise in research funding (currently standing at US$1.4 billion). Individual states, at the same time, began discussions about initiatives aimed at addressing personal, societal, and financial implications of Alzheimer’s disease. An example is from Minnesota where counselling and support for caregivers are provided, with an estimated saving for the state of Minnesota of US$970 million by 2025. In addition, a number of treatment trials are under way, looking at the effect of monoclonal antibodies on Alzheimer’s disease and a series of genetic studies.

scholarly journals The Woods around the Ivory Tower: A Systematic Review Examining the Value and Relevance of School Forests in the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 531
Author(s):  
Kimberly J. Coleman ◽  
Elizabeth E. Perry ◽  
Dominik Thom ◽  
Tatiana M. Gladkikh ◽  
William S. Keeton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
The United States ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Ivory Tower ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Education ◽  
Cultural Ecosystem Services ◽  
Research And Teaching

Throughout the United States, many institutions of higher education own forested tracts, often called school forests, which they use for teaching, research, and demonstration purposes. These school forests provide a range of benefits to the communities in which they are located. However, because administration is often decoupled from research and teaching, those benefits might not always be evident to the individuals who make decisions about the management and use of school forests, which may undervalue their services and put these areas at risk for sale, development, or over-harvesting to generate revenue. To understand what messages are being conveyed about the value and relevance of school forests, we conducted a systematic literature review and qualitatively coded the resulting literature content using an ecosystem services framework. While school forests provide many important benefits to academic and local communities, we found that most of the existing literature omits discussions about cultural ecosystem services that people may receive from school forests. We discuss the implications of this omission and make recommendations for addressing it.

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