Congressional Research Service Reports - 68 Matching Results

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Wetlands and Agriculture: Policy Issues in the 1995 Farm Bill

Description: Wetlands protection efforts have been a major concern for agricultural interests since Congress enacted so-called swampbuster provisions in the 1985 Food Security Act. Under these provisions, all producers who alter wetlands risk losing certain farm program benefits. Determining which sites are wetlands and enforcement of penalties remain contentious issues. Controversy has been heightened by confusion over how this program is related to the principal Federal regulatory program to protect wetla… more
Date: December 19, 1994
Creator: Zinn, Jeffrey A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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An Introduction to Major Natural Resource Issues in the 104th Congress

Description: This report introduces natural resource issues that the 104th Congress is likely to consider during the second session or is already considering through authorizations, appropriations, and/or oversight. Many were considered, but not resolved, by earlier Congresses
Date: January 30, 1996
Creator: Library of Congress. Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Forest Fires and Forest Health

Description: Interest in fuel management, to reduce fire control costs and damages, has been renewed with the numerous, destructive wildfires spread across the West during the summers of 1988 and 1994.
Date: June 7, 1996
Creator: Gorte, Ross W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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An Overview of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE)

Description: Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) central contribution to the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). The MTPE program provides scientific information so policymakers and scientists can formulate strategies to mitigate human impacts on Earth's environment, such as ozone depletion, deforestation, and possible global warming.
Date: March 1, 1995
Creator: Radzanowski, David P. & Garber, Stephen J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Salvage Timber Sales and Forest Health

Description: Interest in salvaging timber has increased markedly since extensive forest fires in 1994. The focus is to use the dead and dying timber before it goes to waste and to increase the supply of Federal timber available to the wood products industry. Supporters also note that salvage sales are one tool that can be used to improve forest health. Critics counter that some dead and dying trees are necessary for healthy ecosystems, and that salvage sales are costly to the U.S. Treasury and to the enviro… more
Date: June 7, 1996
Creator: Gorte, Ross W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Ecosystem Management Tools and Techniques: Proceedings of a CRS Workshop

Description: The House Subcommittee on Technology, Environment, and Aviation of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (103rd Congress) requested that Congressional Research Service (CRS) hold a workshop on the tools and techniques of ecosystem management. The purposes of this workshop were to demonstrate tools and techniques used in scientific research on ecosystems and to address technological aspects of developing and administering a national policy for ecosystem management.
Date: March 27, 1995
Creator: Morrissey, Wayne A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Below-Cost Timber Sales: An Overview

Description: The Forest Service sells some timber at prices that are less than the agency costs to administer the timber program. This report discusses these "below-cost" timber sales that have been debated by Congress for more than a decade, but no policy to address the issue has been adopted legislatively or administratively.
Date: December 20, 1994
Creator: Gorte, Ross W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Federal Helium Program: The Reaction Over an Inert Gas

Description: The CRS report describes the battle with natural gas companies on helium gas, being wasted, and released into the environment. Incentives were put in place for natural gas companies sell this helium to the government and for it to be stored in a government facility. Consequently, this also brought up controversy for why funding is being used to store a surplus of helium. Congress would debate on whether government involvement was the best option and a consensus was reached to fund the National … more
Date: October 9, 1996
Creator: Mielke, James E
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Forest Service Timber Sale Practices and Procedures: Analysis of Alternative Systems

Description: The Forest Service currently sells timber by (a) planning and preparing the sale, (b) offering the sale, usually at an oral auction, and (c) administering the timber harvest. Many of the concerns about the timber program have focused on harvest administration, because purchasers have incentives to minimize their costs and to remove only those logs whose value for products exceeds the price paid to the Forest Service. Some critics suggest that this, together with an alleged "timber bias" and oth… more
Date: October 30, 1995
Creator: Gorte, Ross W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Alternative Sources of Wood for Japan

Description: Japan is one of the world's largest wood importers, with two-thirds of its imports as logs (unprocessed timber). Southeast Asia has been the largest log supplier, but supplies (and exports to Japan) have been declining. The United States has become a more important supplier, but concerns about declining domestic timber supplies have led to proposals to prohibit or to tax log exports. Opponents suggest that Japan would simply turn to other sources to replace U.S. logs. One question in this debat… more
Date: August 25, 1994
Creator: Gorte, Ross W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Mahoganies: International Protection?

Description: This report is on The issue for 18 mahogany species is whether any qualifies for regulation under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). (1) Pessimists on this issue say "yes," while optimists see the abundance of species in parts of their range and therefore say "no." Both camps question the accuracy of data supplied by the other side. Both agree that the presence of mahogany trees may provide local governments with an incentive to retain rain forests, especially … more
Date: October 20, 1994
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Restricting Softwood Log Exports: Policy and Legal Implications

Description: The Pacific Northwest is a major exporter of unprocessed softwood logs to foreign countries, such as Japan, that are often sold at premium prices. Consequently, some local mills have had difficulty obtaining unprocessed logs, which has contributed to the loss of timber industry jobs in the Pacific Northwest. Thus, many believe that exporting logs is the economic and moral equivalent of exporting U.S. jobs.
Date: August 13, 1993
Creator: Gorte, Ross W. & Thomas, Kenneth R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Ecosystems, Biomes, and Watersheds: Definitions and Use

Description: This paper describes the meaning and applications of ecosystem and of the related terms watershed and biome. It discusses the pros and cons of all three as organizing principles for land management, and the major issues that are likely to arise in the debate over ecosystem management.
Date: July 14, 1993
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clearcutting in the National Forests

Description: Congressional interest in clearcutting has increased in the past few years. Several bills have been introduced in the current and preceding Congresses to ban the use of clearcutting and/or all even-aged management systems in the national forests. The issue, however, transcends the use of clearcutting and focuses on how to assure the choice of a silvicultural system and the implementation of the management practices that will achieve the stated goals for public land and resource management.
Date: July 29, 1992
Creator: Backiel, Adela & Gorte, Ross W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Deforestation: An Overview of Global Programs and Agreements

Description: In recent years, global environmental concerns have figured prominently on the American political agenda. In particular, tropical deforestation and its implications for global climate change and biological diversity loss have prompted public outcry. Concerns have since grown to include other forest types as well. The Congress has considered a variety of legislation to stem the tide of increasing deforestation and the United States has supported a number of bilateral and multilateral initiatives… more
Date: October 21, 1992
Creator: Lyke, Julie & Fletcher, Susan R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Marine Dead Zones: Understanding the Problem

Description: Very low levels of dissolved oxygen (hypoxia) in bottom-water "dead zones" are natural phenomena, but can be intensified by certain human activities. The largest hypoxic area affecting the United States is in the northern Gulf of Mexico near the mouth of the Mississippi River, but there are others as well.
Date: November 23, 1998
Creator: Dandelski, John R. & Buck, Eugene H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Agreements to Promote Fishery Conservation and Management in International Waters

Description: Declining fish populations threaten an important food source. Natural catastrophes, pollution, habitat destruction, and overfishing contribute to the depletion of fish stocks. Overexploitation of fishery resources often occurs when management allows expanding and increasingly efficient fishing fleets to continue harvesting dwindling supplies. Although prevalent, overexploitation is not universal and its extent varies among areas, species, and fisheries. This report discusses the issue of overfi… more
Date: January 5, 1996
Creator: Buck, Eugene H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Deep Seabed Mining: U.S. Interests and the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea

Description: On July 29, 1994, the United States signed the Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982. This agreement substantially reforms the seabed mining provisions of the 1982 Convention, which the United States found objectionable. In signing the Agreement, President Clinton accepted provisional application of it which enables the United States to participate in the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and its organs … more
Date: April 7, 1995
Creator: Mielke, James E
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Abandoned Mine Land Fund: Grants Distribution and Issues

Description: The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA, P.L. 95-87), enacted in 1977, established reclamation standards for all coal surface mining operations, and for the surface effects of underground mining. It also established the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) program to promote the reclamation of sites mined and abandoned prior to the enactment of SMCRA. To finance reclamation of abandoned mine sites, the legislation established fees on coal production. These collections are divided into federa… more
Date: March 26, 1997
Creator: Bamberger, Robert L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Role of Designation of Critical Habitat under the Endangered Species Act

Description: On June 14th, 1999, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) called for public comment on its current procedures for designating critical habitat. In addition, a proposal is before the Senate (S.1100) to move the time at which critical habitat must be designated for a species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) from being (basically) concurrent with the listing of the species to the time a recovery plan is finalized for that species. This report is written as background for considering the curren… more
Date: July 16, 1999
Creator: Baldwin, Pamela
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Pacific Salmon Treaty: The 1999 Agreement in Historical Perspective

Description: On June 30, 1999, after many years of diplomatic struggle to resolve disagreements over resource conservation and harvest arrangements, the United States and Canada signed an agreement for the long-term conservation and equitable sharing of their salmon resources. Most of the new fishery arrangements will be in effect for 10 years, beginning in 1999. The arrangement for Fraser River sockeye will be in effect for 12 years, also beginning in 1999. This report provides background about the Pacific… more
Date: October 18, 1999
Creator: Waldeck, Daniel A. & Buck, Eugene H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Pacific Salmon and Anadromous Trout: Management Under the Endangered Species Act

Description: Along the Pacific Coast, 26 distinct population segments of Pacific salmon and anadromous (sea-run) trout are listed as either endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). A variety of human activities have combined to greatly reduce or eliminate historic fish habitat, degrade remaining habitat, and otherwise harm anadromous fish populations. In addition, natural phenomena stress fish populations and contribute to their variable abundance
Date: October 27, 1999
Creator: Buck, Eugene H. & Dandelski, John R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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