With Hawaii's population growing and its forests shrinking, the potential for overuse of this natural resource is a challenge facing the State's policy makers and resource managers. This article examines the conditions necessary to entice members of a user group to voluntarily switch to alternatives. The user group consists of hula dancers, who gather plant materials in the forest foradornment lei on Oahu, Hawaii. The two alternatives to forest gathering were community gardens for which work time was required and commercial purchase at a given price. If the alternatives to forest gathering are made attractive enough, some hula teachers indicate a willingness to switch, while others do not. Policy makers may find it more cost effective to formulate policies that will make alternatives more attractive to user groups than to attempt to change their preference structure. The diversity found among the preferences of hula practitioners indicates that a variety of approaches should be considered. In the case of those not willing to switch, a more participatory forest management system could be examined that includes all user groups. For those willing to switch, programs that lower the labor intensity of the community garden and the price of commercial purchase have considerable appeal.

Most of us were brought up to clean our plates at the dinner table. We find the lesson hard to unlearn. We apply this to books as well—if we haven't time to read the whole thing, we don't pick it up at all. In this note, I offer a list of heavy, very thorough books as a buffet—suggesting that you read only the parts that interest you. Then, I list a few shorter ones offering easier reading but still filled with ideas and insights. Many of these will be valuable for people wanting to lead discussions and workshops on applied ethics.

One important result of electric power deregulation in the United States has been a growing potential for small, distributed sources of electrical power that may serve a single home, neighborhood, business, or business complex more efficiently and reliably than centrally located power plants, and at lower cost. The expectation that distributed generation (DG) can provide reliable electrical power more efficiently and less expensively than conventional power plants is complicated, however, by the high levels of air pollution and low efficiency generally associated with the most affordable and accessible DG technologies. Therefore, the prospect of greater reliance on distributed sources of electrical power raises a number of important questions, among them, these: (1) How can a state's energy and environmental regulatory system best encourage the economic success of clean and efficient DG? (2) Exactly which DG technologies are the cleanest and most efficient? (3) What kind of policy is most likely to yield the most favorable level of DG usage in a given state? In answer to these questions, we present the development of DG policy in California as a study in establishing and deepening a network of state agencies, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, and individuals committed to the integration of clean, efficient DG into the state's electric utility system. More specifically, the California Energy Commission, the California Air Resources Board and most local air districts, the California Public Utilities Commission, environmental and professional organizations, DG manufacturers and other businesses, and interested individuals have responded to the rising demand for electricity in the state by advocating clean and efficient DG. Although the many agencies, organizations, and individuals involved in the “clean DG” network have not been overtly identified as such, we argue that administering the currently favored technology-forcing, clean DG policy will require ongoing and pervasive coordination among the members of this nascent network.

The Chemistry and Technology of Magnesia. M. A. Shand. 2006. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 266 pp. $89.95 cloth.

When information about specific materials, chemicals, and chemical technology is desired, those references beyond Lang's Handbook of Chemistry and the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics that are traditionally consulted are the Kirk Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Mellor's A Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry, and the American Chemical Society's Monograph Series. Therefore, any new text regarding a specific material and its technology is usually compared with these classics: What information is new? Have there been new advances of knowledge? How comprehensive is the discussion of the subject matter?

Although the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided $8 billion in federal grants for passenger rail development, no national policy framework yet exists to guide this investment. Integrating new high-speed rail lines with existing railroad infrastructure and connecting them with air, road, and transit systems will be of utmost importance. As most of the world's cheap and accessible oil has already been consumed, transportation modes that depend exclusively on oil can be expected to decline, while energy-efficient, low-impact modes such as passenger trains will advance. A new model railroad that shifts more passenger travel to rail will develop through an incremental adaptation of current passenger services, a comprehensive transformation using high-speed train technology, or a combination of these two trajectories. North American designs for high-speed rail will need to incorporate the European innovation of providing multiple air, auto, and rail connections in the form of four station types: the city-center and airport stations seen in Europe, as well as suburban stations at business parks and at suburban commercial centers. To create an effective synergy between transportation and local land use, three broad categories of policy tools will need to be deployed.

Environmental Practice 13:47–57 (2011)

Like most other United States (US) governmental agencies, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) was established and its purposes defined in US statutory law. Specifically, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) gave the CEQ responsibility for pursuing the development and implementation of policies that support and encourage environmental stewardship and sustainability. In this article, we examine what has happened to CEQ over the 40 years from its birth on January 1, 1970, to January 1, 2010. Among the key findings of the study is that the CEQ energetically and effectively pursued its assigned statutory goals during the 1970s, the first decade of its existence, but its capacity to do so was dramatically reduced during most of its second decade, the 1980s. The CEQ's capacity improved somewhat at the end of the second decade. Then the CEQ's fortunes declined again in the early years of the 1990s, its third decade, before recovering modestly in the middle of the decade. During most of its fourth decade, 2000–2008, the CEQ's energy level was elevated, but its presidentially assigned task seemed to be an inversion of its statutory purposes. These findings illustrate the malleability of statutory law in the American political context, and they illuminate gaps that exist in two prominent agency life-cycle theories.

Environmental Practice 13:1–9 (2011)

In December of 2009, the nations of the world who contribute much of the greenhouse gas (GHG) that is emitted into the atmosphere will gather in Copenhagen to work collectively on a treaty to succeed the Kyoto pact. The last time they gathered was in Amsterdam in December of 2000 to put the final touches on what became the Kyoto Treaty. The United States (US) was something of an outlier in the drawn-out discussion that had preceded the meeting in Amsterdam. But the differences between the US and the vast majority of other nations were being worked out. At the end of the conference, the US delegation returned to Washington, DC, with a sprinkling of optimism. It reported to the president that a couple of more months of negotiations in the new year could lead to a document that the US could sign.

Seventh Generation Thinking is attributed to Native American lore. Specifically, the Six Nations of the Iroquois (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Cayuga, and Tuscarora) are given the most credit for developing and codifying the idea here in the North American continent. The idea is that we do not inherit the land from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.

In the fall of 2005 and spring and summer of 2006, The Nature Conservancy, in cooperation with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Cascadia Research Collective, conducted a mammal inventory on McChord Air Force Base (MAFB). The military has a vested interest in maintaining habitat and species by congressional mandate and the corresponding burden of recovery. Six major habitat types were designated for trap-line transects; additional directed efforts were employed to target specific species. The resulting effort documented the presence of 36 species, eight of which were bats. Documented species of note include the western gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus), a state “threatened” species, detected by hair-snag tubes; long-eared myotis (Myotis evotis); long-legged myotis (Myotis volans); and the Yuma myotis (Myotis yumanensis). Mammalian diversity on MAFB was influenced by three factors: water (either open water or wetland habitat); large, contiguous tracts of undeveloped acreage; and continuity with Fort Lewis, a large military base immediately adjacent to MAFB. Additionally, Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), an invasive woody shrub, was found to support limited mammalian diversity, with the fewest species documented in this habitat type. Given the impending changes due to development, ownership, and climate, this survey will be useful to managers as a baseline for focused species efforts and future comparisons.

Environmental Practice 10:116–124 (2008)

Forty-one years ago, in 1969, the air in St. Louis was fouled by emissions from a variety of smokestacks. Meatpacking plants, power plants, chemical plants, and other manufacturers discharged without restriction. Sanitary sewer plants pumped sewage treated to basic levels directly into the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, as well as local feeder streams, where it mixed with liquid discharges from manufacturing interests. Landfills accepted whatever people no longer wanted, and people who didn't want to wait for trash pickup just tossed garbage and waste out the window of their car.

I don't know about you, but to me the world in which we live appears to be faster and more full of information than in years past. The pace of information being provided to us is increased by modern conveniences like television and the Internet. While it is amazing the speed with which we can receive information, I am concerned that the information is not getting processed properly. In some cases, I am convinced that the information provided is faulty.

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was signed into law by Richard M. Nixon on January 1, 1970; this year marks its 35th birthday. NEPA was the first of the major environmental statutes passed during the Nixon and Ford administrations. Its requirement that the environmental consequences of actions be evaluated before implementation has been copied by a number of states, some municipalities and tribal governments, and over 100 other jurisdictions around the world. We believe this is an appropriate time to look at some of the issues surrounding NEPA and make suggestions regarding future directions.The authors acknowledge the contribution of ideas by Helen Ingram, University of California, Irvine; Jo Ann Beckwith, Michigan State University; and Jon Allan, CMS Energy Corp. The Editorial Staff is grateful to Michael R. Thomas, Environmental Practice Advisory Board, for his role in obtaining this manuscript. A portion of this article first appeared as a letter to the editor in Science 307:674 (February 4, 2005).

In the Pacific Northwest, state agencies have adopted definitions of mature and old-growth forest, with minimum size and age criteria for the largest trees, as part of a program to protect rare forest habitats. State wetland rating and priority habitat protection guidelines use these criteria to identify mature and old-growth forested wetlands; however, these definitions are based on the characteristics of upland habitats and may not be applicable to wetlands. In this study, data from forested wetlands in western Washington were analyzed to estimate growth rates for five tree species: western red cedar, Sitka spruce, western hemlock, red alder, and shore pine. Estimated average diameter for mature forest is 46 cm (18 inches) and for old-growth 69 cm (27 inches), significantly smaller than the standard size criteria of 53 cm (21 inches) and 81 cm (32 inches), respectively. These results may be more appropriate as size criteria for these forest stages; however, growth rates varied widely between different wetlands and between trees in the same wetland. The great variation in growth rates calls into question the validity of estimating the age of a stand based on the size of trees. Consideration should be given to applying a higher degree of protection to all forested wetlands dominated by coniferous trees, regardless of the size of the trees.

Environmental Practice 11:68–83 (2009)

Modern Groundwater Exploration: Discovering New Water Resources in Consolidated Rocks Using Innovative Hydrogeologic Concepts, Exploration, Drilling, Aquifer Testing, and Management Methods. R. A. Bisson and J. H. Lehr, eds. 2004. John Wiley and Sons, New York. 309 pp. $74.95 cloth.

Worldwide, a myriad of reasons prevent adequate water supplies: lack of exploration or employment of modern techniques, bureaucratic and political dysfunctions, poverty, and war. Over one billion people currently lack access to clean water. What will happen as the population increases by adding two billion people over the next forty years (based on current projections)? Locating sustainable reserves of potable groundwater is essential to the survival of all life on earth. Although many books are available that discuss the plight and consequences of water shortages, it's refreshing to find a technically optimistic book that describes success stories for greatly increasing water supplies.