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Tony Prato

Publications and source records attributed to Tony Prato.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2016

Protected area management

Designated protected areas are diverse in scope and purpose and have expanded from Yellowstone National Park in the United States, the world’s first national park, to 157,897 parks and protected areas distributed globally. Most are publicly owned and serve multiple needs that reflect regional or national cultures. With ever-increasing threats to the integrity of protected areas, managers are turning to flexible management practices such as scenario planning and adaptive management.

Book chapter↗
USGS2014

Simulating future residential property losses from wildfire in Flathead County, Montana

Wildfire damages to private residences in the United States and elsewhere have increased as a result of expansion of the wildland-urban interface (WUI) and other factors. Understanding this unwelcome trend requires analytical frameworks that simulate how various interacting social, economic, and biophysical factors influence those damages. A methodological framework is developed for simulating expected residential property losses from wildfire [E(RLW)], which is a probabilistic monetary measure of wildfire risk to residential properties in the WUI. E(RLW) is simulated for Flathead County, Montana for five, 10-year subperiods covering the period 2010-2059, under various assumptions about future climate change, economic growth, land use policy, and forest management. Results show statistically significant increases in the spatial extent of WUI properties, the number of residential structures at risk from wildfire, and E(RLW) over the 50-year evaluation period for both the county and smaller subareas (i.e., neighborhoods and parcels). The E(RLW) simulation framework presented here advances the field of wildfire risk assessment by providing a finer-scale tool that incorporates a set of dynamic, interacting processes. The framework can be applied using other scenarios for climate change, economic growth, land use policy, and forest management, and in other areas.

Montana↗
USGS2007

Preface

No abstract available.

Rocky Mountains↗
USGS2007

Economic Growth and Landscape Change

Prato and Fagre offer the first systematic, multi-disciplinary assessment of the challenges involved in managing the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem (CCE), an area of the Rocky Mountains that includes northwestern Montana, southwestern Alberta, and southeastern British Columbia. The spectacular landscapes, extensive recreational options, and broad employment opportunities of the CCE have made it one of the fastest growing regions in the United States and Canada, and have lead to a shift in its economic base from extractive resource industries to service-oriented recreation and tourism industries. In the process, however, the amenities and attributes that draw people to this “New West” are under threat. Pastoral scenes are disappearing as agricultural lands and other open spaces are converted to residential uses, biodiversity is endangered by the fragmentation of fish and wildlife habitats, and many areas are experiencing a decline in air and water quality. Sustaining Rocky Mountain Landscapes provides a scientific basis for communities to develop policies for managing the growth and economic transformation of the CCE without sacrificing the quality of life and environment for which the land is renowned. This forthcoming edited volume focuses on five aspects of sustaining mountain landscapes in the CCE and similar regions in the Rocky Mountains. The five aspects are: 1) how social, economic, demographic and environmental forces are transforming ecosystem structure and function, 2) trends in use and conditions for human and environmental resources, 3) activating science, policy and education to enhance sustainable landscape management, 4) challenges to sustainable management of public and private lands, and 5) future prospects for achieving sustainable landscapes.

Book chapter↗
USGS2006

Coping with climate change

What have we learned so far about how climate change is affecting our global environment? Studies show that it adversely affects human and natural systems by • reducing biodiversity • altering hydrological systems • impairing biological and chemical cycles • making it more difficult to restore degraded ecosystems Climate is not the only factor in the deterioration of natural systems.We are making big changes to the landscape, altering land use and land cover in major ways. These changes combined present a challenge to environmental management. Adaptive management is a scientific approach to managing the adverse impacts of climate and landscape change.

ActionBioscience↗
USGS2005

National parks and protected areas: Appoaches for balancing social, economic, and ecological values

The balance of nature in any strict sense has been upset long ago…The only option we have is to create a new balance objectively determined for each area in accordance with the intended use of that area.” --Aldo Leopold, 1927, in a letter to the Superintendent of Glacier National Park The planning and management staff of state/national parks and protected areas face a complex set of management problems and an uncertain future. Today, internal and external forces are combining with changes in management philosophy (from a species to an ecosystem focus) to create a new direction in natural resources management. National Parks and Protected Areas: Approaches for Balancing Social, Economic and Ecological Values is peerless in its unified treatment of the issues surrounding this subject. From decision-making for planning and management to the principles of ecology and economics, this text examines the analytical methods, information technologies, and planning and management problems associated with protected area planning and management. Protected area managers and students in undergraduate and graduate courses in natural resource management will appreciate this highly readable book.

Book↗