Grizzly Bear Economics

I only got around to looking at the Sunday paper this morning and there's an interesting article in the LA times this weekend about Grizzly Bears in Yellowstone.

Grim outlook for grizzlies in Yellowstone region
With milder winters affecting their food and hibernation habits, they're forced into a meat-dependent diet – putting them at odds with humans and livestock. They could end up as despised as wolves.

An interesting connection to our discussion on economics is the suggestion that the resumption of hunting may actually benefit the grizzlies in the long run.


"Public tolerance is starting to wane somewhat," said Mark Bruscino, bear management supervisor for Wyoming's Department of Game and Fish.

To Bruscino, it's simply wise game management to "harvest" animals, and might be better for bears. "Right now there's no value on bears," he said. "If people are allowed to compete for a limited number of hunting licenses, people will start to [ascribe] more value to bears."

The animals may be a victim of the success of conservation efforts. In 2007, the species was considered to have recovered enough to be taken off the endangered species list. But a court overturned that decision last year and returned the bears to "threatened" status, a decision U.S. Fish and Wildlife is appealing.

Wildlife officials meeting last week in Montana concluded the region's grizzly population is about 600, nearly three times the 1975 numbers. Some concluded that the increased bear conflicts signal that the region has reached its carrying capacity for grizzlies.

Ballotpedia again

 

Having recently discovered Ballotpedia I have been meaning to find some time to browse the fate of measures and amendments affecting conservation in the recent election in states other than California. Not exactly comprehensive but here are a couple from neighboring states that caught my eye.

Oregon Lottery Funds for Natural Resources Amendment, Measure 76 called for continuing lottery funding for parks, beaches, wildlife habitats, wastershed protection that are set to expire in 2014. The measure passed by a 2:1 margin. It is interesting that this passed so easily when California's proposition 21 (car license fees to fund State Parks) failed - although they do differ in several important ways.

The Arizona Land Conservation Fund Transfer, also known as Proposition 301, would have transferred $123.5 million from a land-conservation fund to the general fund. The measure was introduced in order to help balance the state budget. In a state that voted for a GOP sweep of statewide offices the proposition failed  by a margin of 3:1. It would be nice to read this as a vote for conservation but the Arizona Republic suggests it shows public distrust of politicians - by refusing to allow the Legislature to raid funding for early-childhood education and health and land-conservation programs - which is, I suppose, a vote for Conservation.

Dam Goats

I'm usually on top of the internet memes but this photograph of goats on a dam was apparently all over the internet recently. Although many people thought it was a fake it is in fact real - albeit not in the US as it was reported. The pictures are in fact from the Cingino Dam in Italy  The goats are attracted to the dam's salt-crusted stones because they don't get enough of the mineral in their vegetarian diets.

There are a couple more pictures at the National Geographic Website. I thought you might enjoy.

Happiness in Bhutan

Last week I briefly mentioned Bhutan, a small country on the Eastern end of the Himalayas, as a country that has a lot of forest left. Bhutan is largely a budhist country and it is one of the few countries in the world to have embraced happiness. Bhutan is the happiest country in Asia and the eighth-happiest in the world based on a global survey. The government must consider every policy for its impact not only on Gross Domestic Product, but also on GNH: "Gross National Happiness".

I mention Bhutan and happiness because it illustrates why this topic is important to conservation - Bhutan's gross national happiness measure has led to decrees that 60 percent of the country remain covered in forest.

However other measures, whether you agree with them or not, involve a lot more government intervention than most Americans would he happy with. The examples are from this BBC article in 2006 but there are lots of articles on Bhutan and its quest for happiness - just google Bhutan and happiness.

• Bhutan was the last nation in the world to introduce television in 1999. Recently they banned a number of channels including international wrestling and MTV, which they felt did little to promote happiness.
• Bhutan has banned plastic bags and tobacco on the grounds that they make the country less happy.
• Bhutan had one traffic light but they got rid of it because people found it frustrating. There's a person directing traffic there now.

Easterlin Paradox

The data I presented in class about happiness is actually so well discussed that it has its own name - The Easterlin Paradox

1) Within a society, rich people tend to be much happier than poor people.
2) But, rich societies tend not to be happier than poor societies
3) As countries get richer, they do not get happier.

Richard Easterlin offered one explanation to his paradox, arguing that only relative income matters to happiness not absolute income.

Recently two young economists from the University of Pennsylvania presented a rebuttal of the paradox arguing that money indeed tends to bring happiness, even if it doesn’t guarantee it. This debate, with a response Richard Easterlin is nicely summarized in a NY Times article, Maybe Money Does Buy Happiness After All. For a more in depth analysis the Freakonomics blog had a six part series on the economics of happiness which reanalyzes the traditional story.

• The Economics of Happiness, Part 1: Reassessing the Easterlin Paradox
• The Economics of Happiness, Part 2: Are Rich Countries Happier than Poor Countries?
• The Economics of Happiness, Part 3: Historical Evidence
• The Economics of Happiness, Part 4: Are Rich People Happier than Poor People?
• The Economics of Happiness, Part 5: Will Raising the Incomes of All Raise the Happiness of All?
• The Economics of Happiness, Part 6: Delving Into Subjective Well-Being

My yacht is bigger than your yacht

Oh Internet, is there any question you can't answer? The ludicrously large yacht that was seen in Santa Barbara this summer was the 'A' - a mere 390' super yacht owned by the Russian Andrey Melnichenko.

This doesn't even crack the top ten of super yachts, by size at least, with the Eclipse owned by Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich currently topping the chart at 557'.

Neither of these yachts is thought to be James Bond proof.

Harry Potter killed my owl

Owls with "ears" are thought to possess greatest magical powers, so birds like this owlet are given false decorations

A former student in this class passed on this news report to me from the Time newsfeed:
Are Harry Potter Fans Killing India's Owls?
India has a problem, an owl problem, and the government is blaming Harry Potter.
Following a report released by conservation group Traffic this week, Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh blamed fans of the Harry Potter series for the dwindling number of wild owls.

Check out the linked report, Black magic behind illegal owl trade in India, it's interesting and eye opening (albeit less Harry Potter related).

Shri Jairam Ramesh, Hon. Minister of Environment and Forest said at the launch, “Diwali should be a time for celebration across our nation, not one when our wildlife is plundered to feed ignorant superstition. India's wildlife already faces many pressures; the additional burden of being killed out of ignorance and fear is not one that has any place in our modern society.”

“Owls are as important to our ecosystem as the Tigers or any other better known charismatic species. It is important that the threat to owls is brought to light during the festival of Diwali and concrete ground action is undertaken to curb such trade” he further added.

The TRAFFIC investigation also finds that besides black magic, owls are trapped and traded for use in street performances; killed for taxidermy and for their meat; their parts are used in folk medicines; even their claws and feathers are sometimes used in headgear. Live owls are also used as decoys to catch other bird species. 

Just as an aside if any of you would like to see an owl in action then take a walk up the road that goes from the bridge between Devereaux Slough and the Ocean Meadows golf course towards the Venoco Oil storage containers at dusk. You access this road from Storke Road opposite the Santa Catalina Dorm. There are at least two large owls that hang out there that will silently swoop down at your head. I'd always heard this about owls but it is worth experiencing to find out just how silent they really are when they fly.  If you continue on into the Eucalyptus you'll then encounter a lot of bats at dusk which seem tiny after you've just been mugged by an owl. The bats tend to fly right at you and swerve at the last minute.

Great undergraduate research opportunities: Presentation Nov 4th

Interested in Field Research Experience?

Track lions and elephants in South Africa, dive with Whale Sharks in Mozambique or study the behavior of Howler Monkeys in the Amazon Rain Forest. Take your pick!

Operation Wallacea runs biodiversity monitoring and conservation management research in various remote forests (eg Honduras, Peruvian Amazon, Guyana, Indonesia, Madagascar) deserts (Egypt), savannah (South Africa) and marine sites (Indo-Pacific, Indian Ocean, Caribbean).

Students can join these projects either for experience/course credit or to gather data for a senior thesis over their summer vacations.

Learn more
Thursday November 4th at 3pm
Marine Science Research Building Auditorium
Room 1302
and visit www.opwall.com for more info

Turtle Excluder Device or Trawler Eliminator Devices

Turtle excluder devices turn out to be fairly cheap -you can buy one here for $240. The main problem is that fishermen, who believe that the device causes their nets to dump 20 percent or more of the shrimp as well, call them "trawler eliminator devices" and have a variety of ways to avoid using them even if they are installed.

During this years Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill the New York Times had an article claiming that most of the dead turtles found in the Gulf of Mexico were a result of shrimp boats taking advantage of more lax marine enforcement during the Gulf oil spill:
Turtle Deaths Called Result of Shrimping, Not Oil Spill.

Dr. Brian Stacy, a veterinary pathologist who specializes in reptiles, said that more than half the turtles dissected so far, most of which were found shortly after the spill, had sediment in their lungs or airways, which indicated they might have been caught in nets and drowned. 

“The only plausible scenario where you would have high numbers of animals forcibly submerged would be fishery interaction,” he said. “That is the primary consideration for this event.” 

Many times the usual number of turtles have been found stranded this year, but NOAA has cautioned from the beginning that the oil spill is not necessarily to blame. 

Shrimp boats are the chief commercial fishing danger for turtles because they tow their nets underwater for long distances, and turtles trapped in them are unable to come up for air. Shrimpers are supposed to equip their nets with turtle excluder devices, which help turtles escape. But environmentalists have complained that some shrimpers disregard the law or do not install the devices properly.

Proposition 21

California Proposition 21 on the ballot tomorrow is likely to have some fairly direct consequences for conservation in the state. The measure is a proposal to increase vehicle license fees in the state by $18 a year in order to raise about $500 million a year in a dedicated fund for the state's 278 parks. The new fee would apply to about 28 million vehicles.

It's a relatively easy proposition to sell - who doesn't like the State Parks?

So why have numerous papers in the state recommended a No vote on this proposition?

San Francisco Chronicle: "With Proposition 21, California is taking the wrong path for a good cause. The measure carves out a hands-off budget for state parks, which badly need financial support. But this piecemeal approach to budgeting via the ballot box is not the way to set priorities in a state with myriad pressing needs, especially in these lean years."

LA Times "California's sprawling network of state parks, covering 1.5 million acres and one-third of its coastline, preserves natural space and historical sites and provides a democratic, low-cost form of recreation. But as proud as we are of our parks, are we willing to increase their funding at the expense of, say, medical treatment for children whose parents have no insurance? Are they a higher priority than home health aides for elderly people who otherwise would have to go to a nursing home? Or the public college and university systems that no longer can afford to offer needed courses? These are difficult questions, and the problem with Proposition 21, the car tax for state parks, is that it pretends to make the answer simple. It is another well-intentioned effort at ballot-box budgeting that limits the Legislature's ability to set spending priorities."

So it seems like a worthy cause but the wrong way to go about things. Or is the system so broken that the only way to get funding is to bypass the budget process?

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: "Let's be straight. There are some good reasons to oppose Proposition 21 on the Nov. 2 ballot. Chief among them is a reluctance to contribute to the delinquency of California's absurd system for funding public programs, resources and everything else. Why add another bell and whistle to this Rube Goldberg-like piecemeal system? Here's why: Because the alternatives are worse. And we saw hints of what could be worse last year when the governor proposed shutting down 212 of the state's 278 park." 

Newspaper endorsements were all found at Ballotpedia a very useful website. Check out their Prop 21 page.


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