ENVC 412 - Natural Resource Policy Analyses

Credits: 5
Variable Credit Course: No

Lecture Hours: 55
Lab Hours: 0
Worksite/Clinical Hours: 0
Other Hours (LIA/Internships): 0

Course Description: Evaluate and analyze a broad range of contemporary natural resource policies, case studies, and controversies using bioeconomic resource management models. Includes the indigenous history of the Salish Sea with emphasis on indigenous perspectives and practices relating to natural resources. Topics include wildlife and fisheries policies, forestry policies, tropical deforestation, water rights/management policies, endangered species and nature preservation, and sustainable development.

Prerequisite: Admission to BASEC or Department Chair permission.
Meets FQE Requirement: No
Integrative Experience Requirement: No

Student Learning Outcomes

Describe how ideas like wilderness, conservation, and ecosystem science developed and have changed over the past 150 years.
Analyze the role of interest groups, administrative agencies, and Congress in the policy making process.
Discuss how an environmental policy should be applied from the perspectives of different stakeholders and agencies.
Evaluate consequences of natural resource and environmental policy decisions for various stakeholders, especially indigenous communities.
Evaluate the consequences of federal, state, and tribal policies on natural resources, environmental issues, and ecosystem functioning.

Course Contents

Overview of natural resource economics.
The natural resource economics discipline.
World views of natural resource economics.
Classifying natural resource economics.
State and federal policy making processes.
History of natural resource management and conservation.
Equity issues and environmental justice.
Interest groups and lobbying in the natural resource management arena.

Instructional Units: 5