This essay presents a case study of the Regional Gravel Initiative (RGI) workshop, one instance of policy makers using science to inform decision making for sustainable and streamlined processes. The RGI consists of eight agencies, both federal and state, with responsibilities for informing and issuing permits for mining aggregate on...
In what is called participatory democracy scholars and practitioners have been calling for the involvement of citizens in decisions that affect their lives. Citizens who emerge to participate in technically complex, decision-making processes find that their involvement is often minimized, disregarded, or neglected due to barriers such as specialized scientific...
In the past fifty years, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have become alarming global pollutants. In 2019, the United States (U.S.) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ultimately classified them as emerging contaminants and established an action plan to address PFAS and protect public health through developing, identifying, monitoring, and remediating current...
In recent years, participation in outdoor recreation has increased, with nearly half of Americans partaking annually (Thomsen, Powell, & Monz, 2018). The goal of recreation management is to provide diverse opportunities for leisure services through preservation of parks, open space, recreational facilities, and programs for park visitors. Management activities can...
Today, there are six extant species of sea lion around the world, with the seventh (the Japanese sea lion) already having gone extinct due to a lack of proper conservation management. Because each of the surviving 6 sea lion species differ slightly in their anatomy, behavior, reproduction, and local habitats,...
In recent years, participation in outdoor recreation has increased, with nearly half of Americans partaking annually (Thomsen, Powell, & Monz, 2018). The goal of recreation management is to provide diverse opportunities for leisure services through preservation of parks, open space, recreational facilities, and programs for park visitors. Management activities can...
In the process of building international water policies and management institutions, like international treaties and River Basin Organizations, States simultaneously signal the values that they view as most important in these different institutions. Examining expressed and acted-upon values for transboundary freshwater management are currently under-explored areas where overlapping lenses of...
Growing concern regarding the health effects of PFAS exposure through drinking water remains an issue at the forefront of many regulatory hurdles. Current data suggests that PFAS can be the cause of many negative health effects including changes in birth weight, thyroid disease, decreased fertility, and some forms of cancer....
The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) has established two new research programs – the Surface Transportation Environment Planning (STEP) Cooperative Research Program and the Future Strategic Highway Research Program II (F-SHRP II). The creation of these new programs provides an opportunity for transportation...
White paper from the Institute for Natural Resources (INR) is an Oregon University System institute located at Oregon State University and Portland State University.