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Gulf Guardian Award Winners 2003
Civic/Nonprofit Organization - 3rd Place
| Project #: | GG-03-12 | |
| Company: | Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn, AL | |
| Project Name: | Sustainability of Natural Resources Across the Urban-Rural Interface: An Integrated Approach | |
| Category: | Youth/Education or Civic/Nonprofit Organization | |
| Project Type: | Nutrient Enrichment | |
| Average Rating: | 14.643 |
Our project was initiated in 2000 in response to threats posed to water
quality, forest land, and other natural resources by very high rates of
land development in the southeastern United States. The study is situated
within the basin of the Chattahoochee River, an input source to the Gulf
of Mexico through the Florida Panhandle and uses a creative approach to
link the economic drivers of development to water quality impacts. Approximately
30 Auburn University faculty and students are involved along with participants
from Oregon State University, the US Forest Service, the city of Columbus,
GA, and several citizens groups.
In coming decades, rising human populations and concurrent land development
in the southeastern United States will represent the foremost threats
to water quality and other natural resources there. In particular, rates
of land development along the Gulf Coast and within many of the river
basins that drain into the Gulf of Mexico are among the highest reported
in the United States. Consequently, it is critical that we become able
to predict effects of land development on water quality so that future
trends for inputs to the Gulf of Mexico can be anticipated. To that end,
the present study was designed to develop models that link the economic
factors that drive development with its environmental ramifications. Specifically,
the models will allow water quality to be estimated at future points in
time based on anticipated land use changes that are, in turn, predicted
from future socioeconomic scenarios.
Due to the complexity of urban development issues, it is critical to utilize
comprehensive approaches such as that of the present study so that relationships
between the socioeconomic causes and environmental effects of land development
can be simultaneously assessed. In this way, environmental studies can
be made much more relevant in terms of real-world application. However,
the use of comprehensive, highly interdisciplinary approaches is not common
in environmental studies and, thus, the application of such an approach
here represents creativity and innovation in study design. As a result,
study results will make a more relevant contribution toward our understanding
of relationships between regional development trends and future inputs
to the Gulf of Mexico.
