As population increases and per capita consumption rises, secondary effects in the form of pollutants, which originate from the production of goods and services, have become increasingly evident. More of the nation's energies are required to bring about the proper management and utilization of these pollutants. Until recently, most pollutants were considered something to be disposed of at minimum or no cost. Further analysis has revealed that they are to a large extent “misplaced resources.” Many can be utilized, thus reducing the cost of waste management and the use of virgin materials.

Over the past decade, a fundamental transformation has occurred in the attitudes of our citizens regarding the range, quantity and quality of services desired of all levels of government. One result has been a dramatic rise in public expenditures to provide the diverse set of services desired. For example, between 1960 and 1972, expenditures of federal, state and local governments increased from $151.3 billion to $410.3 billion, about 171 percent. Local government expenditures, which were pushed upward by expanding school enrollments and welfare caseloads, maintained their relative importance by growing from $29.0 billion to $75.4 billion, about 169 percent.

In recent years, rural development has become an increasingly important domestic issue. External diseconomies such as congestion, water and air pollution, transportation problems have underscored the gravity of this issue. One proposed strategy of coping with this issue is that of promoting growth in existing small cities and towns in nonmetropolitan areas.

Debate over how one “does” Community Resource Development (CRD) extension undoubtedly dates back to the moment the field consisted of more than a single practitioner. And the debate goes on. Gratto recently outlined five roles the public policy educator can assume, ranging from one with a pure “process” orientation to one where the subject matter is everything. Another recent publication describes six approaches to community development.

Rural and urban communities alike are adopting, formally or informally, “no-growth” policies. The residents of these communities share a set of beliefs concerning the impact of economic growth and development on their community. These residents also share a set of values concerning what constitutes the good life for them. The “no-growth” policies result because of a conflict between the values held by the residents and their beliefs concerning the impacts of economic growth and development. One of the beliefs shared by many of these residents is that economic growth and development will require an expansion of various public service systems such as water and sewer. In addition, these residents believe that they will be required to pay much of the cost involved in expanding the systems even though they will receive few, if any, of the benefits. In essence, the residents of these communities are concerned with the incidence of the cost of system expansion.

Until recently, nutrient losses from livestock manure have been of little concern. Manure, a valuable by-product in the past, is now regarded as a waste product to be disposed of in the cheapest manner possible. The cost of manure handling frequently exceeds the value of the nutrients in it. This is still true in 1974 even though the price of fertilizer has increased substantially.

Some kinds of research dealing with environmental problems are faced with the need to measure the relative qualities of different environmental situations. The assessment of environmental impact for resource development projects (including the no-build alternative) when alternative locations are considered implicity involves a comparison of the qualities of different environments. Russell Train, Head of the EPA, has made a plea for the development of environmental indices. There have been a number of attempts to quantatively rank or rate environmental situations. Economists are emphasizing the need to objectively measure the value of environmental attributes, and considerable work has been done in trying to understand the way in which people perceive environmental attributes.

In the eyes of environmentally concerned citizens, Oregon has set a splendid example. Their “bottle bill” was instrumental in reducing can and bottle litter on beaches, highways, and recreational and camping sites by 49 percent. A field burning ban becomes effective in 1975 to protect air quality. Legislation enacted in 1972 will remove billboards from its highways and interstate roads by 1975. A regulation to protect 820,000 acres of wilderness area from development was also adopted in 1972. Last year (1973) senators Robert Packwood and Mark Hatfield of Oregon and senators Frank Church and James McClure of Idaho jointly introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate to create a unique Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.

As the most densely populated area of the nation, New Jersey and the Northeast stand as a laboratory in which concepts and institutions might be developed and tested to preserve valuable nonrenewable farmland for multiple social uses including an ability to provide open space and life-sustaining food and fiber. In this context, there is a need to carefully consider the idea that actions by government and society generate or destroy economic values in property through the creation or modification of institutions and social organization. It is also true that the lack of action by government may result in the wasteful destruction of amenities which may be held in high regard by many individuals in society.

The motivation of this study is to provide and solve a decision model for land use planning for an existing regional situation. The chosen framework views the task of floodplain management as a constrained optimization problem capable of solution by standard mathematical programming techniques. The framework is sufficiently flexible to permit incorporation of, in addition to floodplain zoning, such non-structural flood control measures as flood proofing, insurance, and flood warning systems. Further, the framework can be modeled so as to include political restraints and a broad range of socially desirable goals. In a larger regional context, the framework permits the internalization of the value of the externality commonly associated with development of floodplain lands.

Traditionally coal has held the distinction of being West Virginia's bedrock industry. With the exception of 1971, West Virginia has lead the nation in coal production consistently since 1931. In recent years many changes have occurred in the coal industry, one of these changes being the relative importance of strip mined coal. In 1960, 6.8 percent of West Virginia's coal was produced by surface mining. By 1971 surface mined coal accounted for 21.9 percent of total production, an increase of 15.1 percentage points. During the same time period the percent of total mining industry employment engaged in surface mining increased from 4.5 to 14.1 percent, an increase of only 9.6 percentage points, indicating the higher relative efficiency of labor in surface mining as compared to underground mining.