ABSTRACT
Complex, challenging, and important ecological policy issues confront society (National Research Council, 1997; Rapport et al., 1998; Science Advisory Board, 2000). Significant improvements in some aspects of the environment have been realized. Many of the more egregious forms of pollution in North America have been reduced, but the continuing increase in the human population and associated human activities have created a tangled array of ecological policy challenges (e.g., land use alteration, hydrologic modification, climate change, change in biological diversity, introduction of nonnative species [also called exotic or alien species], concern about ecological sustainability, cumulative effects of man-made chemicals, etc.) (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1999). Further, the fact that commerce is increasingly international in scope complicates already befuddled ecological policy issues. Recent treaties, for example, address climate change, biological diversity, waste transport, and environmental equity — and the directives contained in such legally binding agreements must be considered when addressing domestic ecological policy issues.
