Interesting things to see:

• John Ingram's photos -- John's magic with a camera is manifested in some of his thousands of images of "Nature" at it's finest. Many are from Hornsby Bend, where Austin's sewage creates a food-rich habitat.

Published Resources to Read:

• Food surplus? Why is there hunger and malnutrition? -- Read this article for some insights!

• The Soil Biology Primer  -- This is a must  read  for any biologist! It is now "on the web" or can be purchased for a modest sum in reprint form. It was originally published by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and within less than a year was out of print. Most of this primer was written by Dr. Elaine Ingham, who now owns and operates a company, Soil Foodweb, Inc., serving many agriculturists, organic growers, and foresters worldwide.
  

• "Dirt on Dirt" -- This is an excellent discussion on many aspects of soil organisms. It is limited in not having the relevant discussion on brittleness of the environment, which would change some of the discussion on soil crusts, and also the benefits of having dung beetles (which require a generous supply of dung). 
  

• Corporate Agribusiness Research Project -- CARP is a long standing analysis of effects of corporatization of agriculture in the US. This site has most of the previous studies and analyses available, and current ones may be obtained by subscribing (voluntary contribution accepted). This is a rich resource for student research, and for farmer understanding who is "for" them and who is exploiting them.
  

• Crop Choice -- This site is an excellent source for current information about agriculture. Browse it and learn much that affects your food and fiber supplies.
  

• Animal Welfare Institute -- This site has standards for welfare of many farm and captive animals that consider the social lives as well as physical health and safety of animals confined by humans, primarily for the benefit of humans.
   

• Ecology -- Many links selected by Science Magazine, including LTERs and agency webs.
  

• New Scientist Links -- A selected  set of links for many subjects
  

• Cairns of H.O.P.E. ("Hands- On Phenomenal Ecology") -- Great educational ideas and natural history lessons
  

• Olduvai Theory (Adobe Acrobat) -- a paper that is a "must read" for anyone in resource management, and under the age of 70. If you need a pdf Acrobat file reader, download and install.
  

• Two Futures -- a way to live (essay by Donella Meadows)
  

• Madagascar rice trials (Adobe Acrobat) -- 400-500% increases using traditional varieties without fertilizers or pesticides.  Sustainable agriculture and food production increases are achieved by ecologically sound practices, not imported technology.
  

• University of Essex -- Discussion of genetically engineered crops and pros and cons with respect to sustainable ag.
  

• University of Essex -- (Adobe Acrobat) Thirteen examples of sustainable ag production systems in several countries.

Organizations:

• The Savory Center for Holistic Management ™-- A website focusing on holistic management. Everyone in the class is expected to read it. For quality of life, see "Two Futures" above.

• Holistic Resource Management of Texas -- A website about what is happening holistically in Texas, particularly with respect to agriculture.

• EcoResults! -- Using livestock as restorative tools, along with collaboration and economic rewards. Also, check another  example.

• Target Earth -- Action group of Christians with study sites and internships in California and Belize.

• Green Corn Project -- A local group helping the needy feed themselves, and educating others in the process.

•  Pasture Management -- This site is an example  a couple in Wyoming who are teaching  livestock producers to use the principles of Holistic Management. 

• Defenders of Wildlife  --  The unity of purpose and common approaches to ecological agriculture is illustrated by this site. The ecological services work together, and humans depend on these as much as wildlife. (Maybe we should consider "humans" as a form of wildlife, equally susceptible to "domestication" as other forms, which is a technological form of extinction.)

• US Environment Organization -- a database of information that currently focuses on Texas, but is planned to by nation wide.

• Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration in Ag -- This organization was RAFI (Rural Advancement Foundation International) and has changed the name. It is an important resource about sustainable agriculture globally.

• Agriculture and Civilization -- This is a page copied from an outstanding site (with permission) and the link to the  site remains.

• What is  sustainable Agriculture? -- An excerpt from a paper by J. Pretty, 1998. The Living Land. Earthscan, London

• Examples of Sustainable Ag in Europe -- Many examples exist of sustainable ag in the world, these are some in Europe. 

• Examples of Sustainable Ag in Africa, Asia, Latin America -- A list of 47 examples in many contexts of agriculture.

• American Farm Bureau -- this was once a strong voice for family farms, but has drifted into a corporate farm representative. It still masquerades as representing the family farmers (note the url of www.familyfarmer.org) but has a minor membership of such farmers, and primarily has been found to be an insurance company and investment group for a select few. It is with great disappointment that I have seen this happen, since I once was a county director of the Texas Farm Bureau, an affiliate of the AFB.

• Three agricultural revolutions: Green, Gene, Sustainable --

  1. This link by the Christian Aid organization addresses the issues of food for poor countries, primarily   justice and biodiversity.

  2. This link is to an Editorial in Lancet, a leading medical journal regarding genetically modified foods.

  3. This link by the British Medical Association addresses the issues of health from genetically modified foods (Gene Revolution) in developed countries.

  4. This link is an analysis by a pair of the world's leading authorities of resource utilization. We are a long way from having a sustainable balance between people and food, which must be reconciled sooner or later. Nature's way is typically starvation or disease of the population that exceeds its carrying capacity. We have, at least theoretically, an alternative for conscious management of our own species. The requirements are fundamental, and well understood theoretically. However, the way to move toward sustainability is controversial, and generally unknown. The natural process is already in progress.

  5. This link is a series of reports and analyses of news media and government programs that illustrate how "Big Business" (multinational corporations) influence the use of public money for special interests and the media fails to protect political freedom with accurate reporting,  the reason for the Constitutional protection of freedom of the press. Among other issues, it show how ABC's 20/20 and John Stossel were inaccurately representing organic agriculture to improve the appearance of agribusiness and industrial agriculture.

  6. This link is to a Power Point presentation comparing kinds of food production systems and sustainability.

• Earth Summit +5 -- The international organization working under the leadership of the UN will be continuing to achieve further sustainable development in the world. If you do not consider "sustainable development" to be an oxymoron, then you need to read much of the material of this site. Many leaders still consider "development" to be developing a consumptive lifestyle patterned after the US, and this is the international "ship" that will run the planet into the shoals of the ecosystem -- unless more enlightenment is shed on the leaders. This is an important international forum, and in my opinion, is a critical place to begin steering the ship into deeper ecological, social and economic waters.

• Redefining Progress --  organization that works with governmental units, from towns to countries and the United Nations to help redefine what "progress" means. The Ecological Footprint is one of the tools they use.

• Ecological Footprint for Kids  --  this link is about a group that tours to schools and helps students understand the ideas of resource use in an ecologically sound way.

• Environmental Consultants -- this link has several useful components, Life Cycle Analysis, Eco indicators, Eco Design, etc.

•  AdBusters -- This organization, and its web site have a number of interesting examples of advertising that encourages inappropriate living, assuming that one wishes to have the planet support life sustainably. The question is, "Is economic progress killing the planet?" Take a look.

• GAP -- Global Action Plan, an international neighborhood movement to reduce our Ecological Footprint.

• Urban Sprawl -- Urban sprawl, along with other environmentally and socially erosive features of our time, often are paid for by various governmental subsidies, and thereby from the public tax coffers. Many times the subsidy was well intentioned, but now are maintained by influential lobbies in the halls of Congress, the State Legislatures, and even the City Halls.

• The Natural Step --  Part 1 & Part 2 Gil Friend has written a two-part description of this approach to avoid destroying our ecological foundations.
  
  "Imagine the following," Robert Gilman writes in the quarterly journal In Context. "The scientists of an entire nation come to consensus on the roots of our environmental problems and the most critical avenues for action. The nation's head of state then gives his endorsement to their consensus report. An educational packet based on that report is prepared and sent to every household and school, so that citizens and students can learn the basics of sustainability. Then a roster of famous artists and celebrities goes on television to promote and celebrate the birth of this remarkable national project--a project that, in the long run, promises to completely reorganize the nation's way of life to bring it into alignment with the laws of nature.
  
  "While this scenario may read like a fairy tale, it is already an historical fact. The name of this project is The Natural Step, the country is Sweden--and the catalyst behind this remarkable effort is Karl-Henrik Robert."

• Ecological Operating Systems -- This site relates to Gil Friend and Associates company, and some background. This is one of the leading companies working with industry to reduce the "footprint" of our technological infrastructure. Also a newsletter written by Gil Friend is available.

• Rocky Mountain Institute -- Amory and Hunter Lovins have lead the parade to sustainable lifestyles and uses of technology. The RMI is a world recognized center for development of these ideas. Amory Lovins is the author of "Soft Energy Paths" and an innovator in composites body vehicles that operate very efficiently. They co-author a recent book with Paul Hawken, Natural Capitalism : Creating the Next Industrial Revolution.

• Center for Conservation Biology Network -- An excellent source for information on conservation biology and natural resource management. It duplicates some of the links in this list, or vice versa.

• Forest Conservation -- An "activist" web site with interesting information and links to loss of forests.

• Mycorhizal fungi in forest & a second article -- The soil organisms are vital to forests, and most perennials in the grasslands also. Many articles are found in this electronic journal.

• Union of Concerned Scientists -- An organization of scientists that gives, in my opinion, information that is relatively unbiased by political agendas. It originated with a focus of opposing nuclear proliferation and nuclear power plants. At the time, it was a highly politically "hot" topic, but time has supported the validity of the early stands based on scientific evidence, or lack of it.

  • What? A Population Implosion? (Oh, come on. Let's get Real!)

• World Resources Institute -- A highly respected site for global information relating to resources, governmental policies, and population issues. It is NOT to be confused with The Worldwatch Institute, however, which publishes well known and highly credible publications such as "The State of the World" and "Vital Signs."

• Native Plant Society of Texas  --  An organization that may be of interest to some of you. Has local information on native information, and activities related to native plants.

• Seedballs -- Check out t his web site! Jim Bones, is well known naturalist photographer and student of Masanobu Fukuoka, who  wrote The One Straw Revolution and developed the "seedball" for planting a variety of kinds of seed without cultivation. Also check out the links from this site. Jay Kane is a local expert on seedballs who can supply them, teach kids of all ages how to make them, and consult with prairie restoration.

• Sustainability, Canadian style -- This is an organization of people dedicated to changing the environmentally disastrous features of Canadian society and government to "deep sustainability". Canada and the US are similar in their consumptive life styles, but have significantly different governmental forces.

• IGC: EcoNet -- An international source of information, web sites, discussions, news reports on environmental issues.

• Santa Fe Institute -- This is a famous mathematical "think tank" with many theoretical studies on biological systems. This group is one of the world's leaders in the development of "chaos theory."

• Alternative Agriculture Information -- An extensive linked list of information on crops, animals, aquaculture, you name it. Check the presentation "The Real Economics of Factory Livestock" by  John Ikerd. He has another on factory hog production.

• Other Environmental Servers -- An Australian site with many links of interest in natural resource management and sustainability.

Examples:

• Colville Federated Tribes -- A description about the use of holistic management decision-making and consensus building to govern a mini-nation

• Patterns of Choice: A Journal of People, Land, and Money   (general discussion Managing Wholes) -- Articles on holistic management in practice

• Wilbur Wood  writes about HRM in In Context -- A well known writer on environmental issues in the West gives a personal perspective.

• Magic -- a Palo Alto residential community -- Holistic Management used in this community has found that the hazards of fire can be avoided by proper use of livestock.

• Hart Environmental Data -- A company that works with communities to achieve sustainability with a high quality of life and healthy economies and ecosystems.

• Australian Keyline Farming -- P.A. Yeomans developed the basis of water management in a watershed in the mid-50's, and it has been further refined and used in many countries. The principles apply in urban areas as well. Land managers need to be familiar with this planning approach.

• W. Edwards Deming -- A site at Massachusetts Institute of Technology devoted to works and principles developed by the father of quality management. The Deming Award was initiated in Japan for any company in the world with outstanding quality development, analogous to the Nobel Prize.

Reading:

• Ishmael -- A web site that has discussion about Ishmael by Daniel Quinn; this book is a "must read" for everyone.

• Green Roofs -- Roof space in urban areas can be used for water collection, and for growing plants. This site shows how the energy for heating and cooling is greatly reduced by having soil and plant cover on the roof, as well as growing food for residents.

• Infomercial "news" -- In many issues of environmental and social significance there are conflicts between parts of the "story" and the economic interests of many multinational, or even national, corporations. These large organizations often own controlling stock, have interlocking boards of directors, or have economic ties through advertising or sponsorship in the news media. When this happens, there is a conflict of interest between effective public information supplies, and the economic interests of the media. The freedom of the   press was important enough to be protected by the ?? Amendment to the US Constitution, but loss of freedom as we see today has no protection. Below are some examples of the dangers:
  New Yorker Magazine -- chemical carcinogens that we purchase

• "A Modest Proposal to Save the World" -- A web site developed and growing by Jay Hanson, who has written extensively about the implications of our addiction to fossil fuels, and the upcoming shockwaves.   It is an excellent place to spend time reading and thinking.

• Local Currency -- Local currency is a concept that allows communities to increase the local economic health, by using local labor, services, and products preferentially. It is a counter force to the "Wal-Mart Effect" which is a parasite of local economies. Good natural resource management includes such principles, and sometimes the best actions are possible only with a healthy local economy. See also.

• Sustainable Earth Electronic Library

• Conflicts: Population, Energy Use & Agriculture -- This paper is well documented and highly informative of the problems today that are "controversial" but tomorrow will be "critical" and possibly "catastrophic" if not addressed effectively in time.

• Scott Simmerman, Performance Management Company -- A great web site, but first check this linked page on teaching leadership.

Academic Courses and Research:

• Global impacts of nitrogen -- Not only CO₂ but Nitrogen is causing global changes. In this instance, Green Revolution Agriculture is the major culprit, and developing countries are planning massive increases in use of fertilizers.

• Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry -- This site gives massive amounts of information in a searchable form on the topics of it's name. It is a valuable resource in the management of natural resources, particularly in the regulatory or consulting contexts.