1st Edition
Mountain Resorts Ecology and the Law
Mountains are the home of significant ecological resources - wildlife habitat, higher elevation plant systems, steep slopes, delicate soils and water systems. These resources are subject to very visible and growing pressures, most of which are caused by the unique features of mountains. Using as case studies four mountain resorts in the US and Canada, this book analyzes the extent to which the law protects the ecological systems of mountains from the adverse impacts associated with the development, operation and expansion of resorts. In order to examine these issues, Mountain Resorts takes an interdisciplinary approach, with contributions from ecologists and lawyers who focus on ski-related activities, increasing four-season use of the mountains and expanding residential, commercial and recreational development at the mountains' base. Its analysis of an array of US and Canadian federal, state and local laws provides a multifaceted exploration of the intersection of ecology and the law at mountain resorts.
Biography
Janet E Milne is a Professor of law at Vermont Law School, USA.
'Reading this book has made me want to read others in the Ecology and the Law in Modern Society series...' Mountain Research and Development 'A lucid analysis of the effects of mountain ski resorts on the environment. Applying the ecosystem concept - analyzing the movements of organisms, materials and water between landscape positions - to case studies in New England and Canada, Milne et al. provide an important critique of how ecology can work with the law to protect mountain ecosystems.' William H. Schlesinger, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, USA 'Ski resorts are often focal points of conflict, with lawyers and ecologists in opposing camps. This fascinating book shows that their perspectives are complementary, and that such an interdisciplinary approach is required to understand and move forward with the management of mountain areas in a complex and increasingly uncertain world.' Martin Price, University of the Highlands and Islands, UK 'As a boy my friends and I skied at Killington in Vermont every chance we got. We didn't ski a collection of trails; we skied "the mountain" . The authors of Mountain Resorts challenge environmental law to do the same thing - to manage mountain resort areas not as a forest here, a stream there, a meadow there, but as ecosystems. Using four mountain resort case studies, including my boyhood slopes at Killington, the book meticulously evaluates existing approaches and finds them lacking. The authors chart a clear path for the evolution of legal regimes and scientific research. The result is a book that offers lessons in ecosystem management law going far beyond mountain resorts.' J.B. Ruhl, Florida State University, USA
