A ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS

Municipal Natural Resource Inventories:



An Analysis and Suggested Methodology

by ROBERT CHARLES ZIEGENFUS, Ph.D.

Thesis Director:  Professor Robert M. Hordon



Natural resource inventories (NRI's) represent one of the by-products of the Conservation Commission Movement that began in Massachusetts in 1957 and spread throughout the other Northeastern states by 1973.  The earliest known municipal NRI within the state of

New Jersey appeared in January of 1973, and from then until mid-1979 approximately 100 inventories had been completed.  A sample of 14 NRI's were studied in detail in order to determine the major characteristics of these documents.  Foremost amongst the findings was the tremendous variation in the amount and quality of 1-we organizational structure, the mode of presentation, and the interpretation of inventory data for the protection of resources.  Lack of a commonly defined methodology for the development of an inventory is thought to be the reason for the diversity in characteristics.  Consequently, the central objective of the dissertation was to propose a methodology that would assist municipalities in the preparation of effective inventories.



In addition to the evaluation of NRI characteristic, an assessment of the impacts of inventories on the municipal planning process was also conducted as a foundation for the development of the methodology.  This assessment was based on the replies to a survey instrument sent to the chairpersons of all 244 environmental commissions in New Jersey.  Four principal conclusions were drawn from a statistical analysis of the responses:  1) the six municipal resource decision makers use an inventory in direct proportion to the quality of the document; 2) the application of an inventory to municipal planning occurs in direct proportion to the quality of the document; 3) the environmental commission with paid assistance is the most effective preparer of an inventory of the six common preparers; and 4) the advocacy role of the environmental commission and the existence of a specific environmental problem are the two primary stimuli to the development of an effective inventory.  Conclusions one and two strengthen the case for the establishment of a systematic NRI methodology.



As a standard against which to judge the relative importance of NRI topics, two sets of subjects were discussed in terms of why the topics in each are fundamental to an inventory and what degree of reliability is associated with the techniques of measurement inherent to each.  One set of suggestions were considered rather traditional for an NRI and these were thus called the standard attributes while the less well-known set were termed the non-standard attributes.  Lastly, a four step conceptual framework was proposed for an NRI methodology.



This methodology is considered to be extremely adaptable to different operational structures and is scale-independent.  A potential disadvantage is its diminished value if the environmental commission does not work in harmony with other municipal resource decision-makers.