Renewable Resource Policy is a comprehensive volume covering the history, laws, and important national policies that affect renewable resource management. The author traces the history of renewable natural resource policy and management in the United States, describes the major federal agencies and their functions, and examines the evolution of the primary resource policy areas. The book provides valuable insight into the often neglected legal, administrative, and bureaucratic aspect of natural resource management. It is a definitive and essential source of information covering all facets of renewable resource policy that brings together a remarkable range of information in a coherent, integrated form. David A. Adams is an Island Press author. Renewable Resource Policy The Legal-Institutional Foundations By David A. Adams ISLAND PRESS Copyright © 1993 David A. Adams All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-59726-173-9 Contents About Island Press, Title Page, Copyright Page, Preface, Acknowledgments, CHAPTER I - Ancient Foundations, CHAPTER II - Our Constitutional Government,, CHAPTER III - The Public Domain, CHAPTER IV - Grazing Lands, CHAPTER V - Forestlands and National Forests, CHAPTER VI - Outdoor Recreation and the National Parks, CHAPTER VII - The Nation's Wildlife and the National Wildlife Refuge System, CHAPTER VIII - Wilderness, CHAPTER IX - Soil Conservation,, CHAPTER X - Water Law, CHAPTER XI - Federal Water Resource Development, CHAPTER XII - Water Resource Protection, CHAPTER XIII - Fisheries, CHAPTER XIV - The Coastal Zone, CHAPTER XV - A National "Environmental Policy, APPENDIX A - Federal Government Organization., APPENDIX B - Treaties and Federal Statutes Cited, APPENDIX C - Cases Cited, Index, Island Press Board of Directors, CHAPTER 1 Ancient Foundations As precedent for natural resource actions we often cite recent court cases, legislation of the environmental decade of the 1970s, or the awareness of profligacy that arose in the mid- to late 1800s. But all these are merely the last stages in an evolution that dates to the dawn of history. The ethics that govern our use of natural resources are as much a part of our heritage as those that govern work, charity toward the unfortunate, and tolerance of those of different race or religious persuasion. These roots are not buried in the past; they form the foundation of modern legislation and frequently are referenced in contemporary legal decisions. This chapter discusses three sources of our legal heritage: the Judeo-Christian background of most Americans, the Roman Code of Justinian, and the Magna Carta of King John. Each has contributed differently; combined, they provide the foundation of our modern legal system. THE BIBLE Those who have searched the Bible for a strong conservation or natural resource stewardship ethic have come away largely empty-handed; those seeking reasons for Western civilization's consumptive attitude toward these resources (White 1967) have had somewhat more success. Authors of the Old Testament were more concerned with chronicling Jewish history and prescribing rules of conduct for the Jewish people, while those of the New Testament concentrated on salvation through Jesus Christ. Abundant natural resources were frequently considered gifts of the Almighty to deserving mankind, whereas scarcity, drought, and plague were attributed to mankind's transgressions. God's intention that mankind was to be separate from and superior to other creatures and the ecosystems that support them is supported by the classic quotation from Genesis: Then God said "Let us make man—someone like ourselves, to be master of all life upon the earth and in the skies and in the seas." And God blessed them and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; you are masters of the fish and birds and all the animals." (Living Bible 1971, Gen. 1:26, 28) Clearly, God was apart from and superior to the creatures he created. Mankind, created in his image, must be likewise and was directed to exercise dominion over the environment that surrounded him. Much of the Old Testament emphasizes that natural resources were gifts of God placed on earth for the enjoyment of mankind: "I have given you the seedbearing plants throughout the earth, and all the fruit trees for your food." (Living Bible 1971, Gen. 1:29) ... [T]he Lord God has given us this land. Go and possess it as he told us to. Don't be afraid! Don't even doubt! (Deut. 1:21) And he will love you and bless you and make you into a great nation. He will make you fertile and give fertility to your ground and your animals, so that you will have large crops of grain, grapes, and olives, and great flocks of cattle, sheep, and goats. (Deut. 7:13) For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land of brooks, pools, gushing springs, valleys, and hills; it is a land where ... nothing is lacking; it is a land where iron is as common as stone,