Science-based restoration monitoring of coastal habitats, Volume Two: Tools for monitoring coastal habitats

Healthy coastal habitats are not only important ecologically; they also support healthy coastal communities and improve the quality of people’s lives. Despite their many benefits and values, coastal habitats have been systematically modified, degraded, and destroyed throughout the United States and its protectorates beginning with European colonization in the 1600’s (Dahl 1990). As a result, many coastal habitats around the United States are in desperate need of restoration. The monitoring of restoration projects, the focus of this document, is necessary to ensure that restoration efforts are successful, to further the science, and to increase the efficiency of future restoration efforts

Maine Deepwater Offshore Wind Report

This report consists of the compilation and preliminary analysis of relevant data on the Gulf of Maine, to provide important information for parties seeking to respond to the RFP titled: Request for Proposals for Long-Term Contracts for Deep-Water Offshore Wind Energy Pilot Projects and Tidal Energy Demonstration Projects, released September 1, 2010 by the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC)

Putting Forts in their Place: The Politics of Defense in Antigua, 1670-1785

Between 1670 and 1785, the plantation elite on the British island of Antigua built and maintained at least fifty-four fortifications to protect the island from other European competitors. Rather than being commissioned, engineered, and defended by the metropolitan government in London, the defense of the island was the sole purview of the Antiguan legislature. Money, designs, and locations for these defensive sites came from internal deliberations on the island making them unique places to study iterations of seventeenth and eighteenth century British colonialism, elite thinking, and the impact on the landscape. To interpret these sites, I use archaeological, archival, and spatial analyses to investigate their ability to provide the types of external defenses they were designated for, as well as test the corollary explanation that the forts played a role in providing internal security for the island. Neither paradigm, however, adequately explains the spatial distribution, architectural decisions, or addresses the heterogenous fort societies revealed in this research. Therefore, to better interpret Antigua’s fortifications, I develop the concept martial landscape as an explanatory framework whereby the island elites manipulate defense policy to better reflect their own social standings, rather than considering a holistic defensive structure. I conclude by showing how blanket assumptions about military sites like fortifications and the historic trajectory of colonialism in the Caribbean are concepts which need considerable tempering by a more local, island scale, perspective

Transmission-Related Policy Options to Facilitate Offshore Wind in the Great Lakes

Offshore wind power has the potential to play a substantial role in the renewable energy portfolio of the Great Lakes Basin in the coming decades. The Great Lakes are home to a high-quality wind resource that could displace large amounts of non-renewable power generation, having positive environmental and economic impacts in the region. To capitalize on this renewable energy solution with minimal infringement on Great Lakes communities and ecosystems, policymakers in the region must understand the transmission component of offshore wind development. Where it is binding, the transmission constraint can be a major determinant in renewable energy siting decisions, preventing developers from optimizing wind facility location based on economic, social, and environmental parameters alone. Transmission infrastructure, however, has local social and environmental implications of its own. Consequently, strategic transmission planning presents an important opportunity to minimize economic costs and social and environmental impacts of offshore wind integration. In late 2009 the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative, a multi-sector coalition of wind energy stakeholders from the bi-national Great Lakes region, identified a knowledge gap related to transmission needs for offshore wind. This report is intended to be a timely response to this knowledge gap. It aims to answers the research question, ―What transmission-related options are available to policymakers and industry to facilitate offshore wind development in the Great Lakes while maximizing net economic, social, and environmental benefits?‖ To answer that question, this report provides a discussion and preliminary analysis of anticipated transmission constraints that offshore wind development in the Great Lakes will likely encounter; a comprehensive breakdown of barriers to developing new transmission including cost, planning, permitting, and environmental barriers; and an array of transmission-related policy options designed to facilitate offshore wind integration while maximizing net benefits for the Great Lakes region. Taken as a whole, this report is intended to provide the information that regional policymakers, developers, and other stakeholders need to think strategically about the transmission component of Great Lakes offshore wind development in the mid- to long-term.Master of ScienceNatural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/83515/1/Transmission Policies for Offshore Wind in Great Lakes 4-19-11.pd

Aquaculture Perspective of Multi-Use Sites in the Open Ocean: The Untapped Potential for Marine Resources in the Anthropocene

This volume addresses the potential for combining large-scale marine aquaculture of macroalgae, molluscs, crustaceans, and finfish, with offshore structures, primarily those associated with energy production, such as wind turbines and oil-drilling platforms. The volume offers a comprehensive overview and includes chapters on policy, science, engineering, and economic aspects to make this concept a reality. The compilation of chapters authored by internationally recognized researchers across the globe addresses the theoretical and practical aspects of multi-use, and presents case studies of research, development, and demonstration-scale installations in the US and EU

Columbus State University Honors College: Senior Theses, Fall 2020/Spring 2021

This is a collection of senior theses written by honors students at Columbus State University during the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters.https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/honors_theses/1002/thumbnail.jp

Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Mechanical Creation and Maintenance of Emergent Sandbar Habitat in the Riverine Segments of the Upper Missouri River, Vol. 1 and 2

This Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) analyzes the potential environmental consequences of implementing the Emergent Sandbar Habitat (ESH) program on the Upper Missouri River. The purpose of the ESH program is to support least tern and piping plover populations on the Missouri River by supplementing natural habitat through the mechanical creation and replacement of ESH. The PEIS allows the public, cooperating agencies (the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Park Service (NPS)), and Corps decision makers to compare impacts among a range of alternatives. The PEIS is meant to inform the selection of a preferred alternative that allows for the support of tern and plover populations on the Missouri River through creation and replacement of sufficient habitat in a safe, efficient and cost-effective manner, that minimizes negative environmental consequences. The ESH program is a part of the Corps’ Missouri River Recovery Program (MRRP). The PEIS is tiered from the Final EIS and Record of Decision for the Master Water Control Manual Review and Update (March 2004). The Corps has identified an Adaptive Management Implementation Process (AMIP) as the preferred alternative. The key concept to the AMIP is that rather than selecting a specific acreage alternative, actions would be progressively implemented until the desired biological response is attained and sustained. While the exact number of acres needed to be constructed and replaced is uncertain at this time, this document discloses the impacts associated with constructing and replacing up to the acreage of Alternative 3.5 (4,370 acres). As the level of habitats created reach lesser alternative acreages, an assessment of the biological response will be completed to determine if it indicates that adequate habitat is in place to support the species. If the desired tern and plover population and productivity levels are being met and sustained at lower acreage levels, these acreages would be maintained and biological metrics would continue to be monitored to ensure project success. The preferred AMIP alternative provides a flexible approach to meeting the biological metrics for the least tern and piping plover identified in the 2003 BiOp Amendment. The success of the preferred alternative in meeting the needs of the species will be evaluated annually and refined through monitoring, assessment and the use of predictive models through a formal Adaptive Management process. The Corps will be coordinating with the Cooperating Agencies (USFWS and NPS) on an ongoing basis to establish and refine the timeline to meet benchmark acres. The alternatives considered represent a range of ESH acreage goals from Alternative 1 (11,886 acres) through Alternative 5 (1,315 acres). Two “no action” alternatives are considered: 1) the implementation of the ESH Program at current levels of construction, approximately 150 acres per year (Existing Program), and 2) the environmental impacts of not implementing any construction program for ESH (No Program). The “no action” alternatives are consistent with the two definitions provided by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) of “continuing with the present course of action” and “taking no action”, respectively [46 Fed. Reg. 18026 (March 23, 1981), as amended]. Neither of these levels of implementation meets the purpose and need for the project. As part of consultation with USFWS under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Corps has made a commitment to work within its authorities to contribute to species recovery. Specifically addressed in this PEIS is the commitment to promote the recovery of the species in segments of the Missouri River identified in the 2000 BiOp, as amended (2003). However, “recovery” in the sense of de-listing the species from endangered or threatened status is outside of the scope of this document because the action area is just one portion of each of the birds’ ranges. Only Alternative 1 would fully meet proposed acreage recommendations for habitat goals of RPA IV(b)3 (11,886 acres); however, based on more recent monitoring data, the five remaining alternatives could reasonably meet biological metrics for the least tern and piping plover. In addition, all of the action alternatives require the creation of habitat within the 39-mile and 59-mile Districts of the Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR), potentially affecting the outstandingly remarkable values for which these Districts were originally designated for protection. The National Park Service (NPS) has expressed concerns that implementing the program within the MNRR may create unacceptably significant and permanent effects to the MNRR. The displayed alternatives provide a broad range of alternatives to evaluate the environmental consequences of, and benefits from, different acreage goals juxtaposed with the potentially conflicting agency missions. The lesser acreage alternatives minimize or avoid environmental impacts associated with implementation of the ESH program. This approach, in addition to being consistent with the CEQ’s guidance on reasonable alternatives currently outside an agency’s jurisdiction to implement, also allows the program to be developed in an Adaptive Management context where the flexibility to consider new information is an essential component for program implementation

Federal Register

Daily publication of the U.S. Office of the Federal Register contains rules and regulations, proposed legislation and rule changes, and other notices, including "Presidential proclamations and Executive Orders, Federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other Federal agency documents of public interest" (p. ii). Table of Contents starts on page iii

Urban Blue Spaces

This book presents an evidence-based approach to landscape planning and design for urban blue spaces that maximises the benefits to human health and well-being while minimising the risks. Based on applied research and evidence from primary and secondary data sources stemming from the EU-funded BlueHealth project, the book presents nature-based solutions to promote sustainable and resilient cities. Numerous cities around the world are located alongside bodies of water in the form of coastlines, lakes, rivers and canals, but the relationship between city inhabitants and these water sources has often been ambivalent. In many cities, water has been polluted, engineered or ignored completely. But, due to an increasing awareness of the strong connections between city, people, nature and water and health, this paradigm is shifting. The international editorial team, consisting of researchers and professionals across several disciplines, leads the reader through theoretical aspects, evidence, illustrated case studies, risk assessment and a series of validated tools to aid planning and design before finishing with overarching planning and design principles for a range of blue-space types. Over 200 full-colour illustrations accompany the case-study examples from geographic locations all over the world, including Portugal, the United Kingdom, China, Canada, the US, South Korea, Singapore, Norway and Estonia. With green and blue infrastructure now at the forefront of current policies and trends to promote healthy, sustainable cities, Urban Blue Spaces is a must-have for professionals and students in landscape planning, urban design and environmental design. Open Access for the book was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 66677