Upland policy and archaeological resources in North Wales
Abstract Implementation of post-war policies for the uplands has resulted in considerable impacts upon archaeological resources, which have gone largely unrecorded. A study of western Clwyd, North Wales has identified forestry and the improvement of upland vegetation for agriculture as primary causes of damage to archaeological sites. Both involve deep ploughing which is particularly destructive. Evidence suggests, albeit on a small number of samples, that Scheduled Ancient Monuments, despite their statutory protection against damage, are equally at risk as other sites of lesser importance.
Assessing the impacts of policy: A framework and an application
Abstract The paper describes a framework for policy appraisal and its application to a retrospective assessment of the EC LFA policy. Appraisal is shown to be dependent upon the ability not only to predict the effects of a policy during its formulation, but also to assess its impacts after implementation. During policy formulation it is important to describe the baseline situation and to identity potential impacts, conflicts with other policies, and appropriate monitoring schemes. Methods previously used in project EIA, namely matrices and flow diagrams, appear to have an application in policy appraisal. After implementation, appraisal should follow a strict sequence of legislative, procedural and substantive review. In assessing policy impacts, environmental change and the causal factors responsible for change must be identified and dissociated from the effects of other policies. The main impacts of the LFA policy in the U.K. have been on upland vegetation and farm amalgamation, but indirect effects on upland landscapes, recreation, wildlife and water resources have also probably occured. In the U.K., application of the policy has not realised its objectives.
Some winter and nesting season foods of the common raven in Virginia
LITTLE is known of the ecology of the Common Raven (Corvus corax) population that inhabits the narrow belt of mountains from north Georgia to northern Pennsylvania. This disjunct group is a remnant of a previously larger, contiguous population (A.O.U. 1957). To our knowledge, only one account of the food habits of this isolated population has been published. Murray (1949) reported the animal remains found below two cliff nests in Rockbridge County, Virginia. Included were the bones of flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans), gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), a Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus), a Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), a Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), a Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus), a snake, and remains of grasshoppers. Reports from other regions indicate that Common Ravens rely heavily on carrion (Ratcliffe 1962, White and Cade 1971, Dorn 1972). Some students believe the raven has considerable potential as a predator (Craighead and Craighead 1956: 339; White and Cade 1971; Dorn 1972). That ravens frequent garbage dumps is well-known (Bent 1946: 227-262). Our objectives of the research were to determine the food habits of Common Ravens in Virginia during two critical periods of the yearwinter and the nesting season. Of particular interest were (1) the importance of prey as a food source, (2) possible economic implications of their food habits, and (3) the importance of garbage dumps as a food source. The study was made possible by the discovery of a nocturnal winter raven roost and the relocation of the apparent nonbreeding segment of the roost following the dispersal of the winter roost at the beginning of the nesting season. A concurrent study of nesting habitat made possible a search of 20 active nest sites for castings. The research was conducted in the Ridge and Valley Physiographic Province of Virginia, a region of parallel ridges that rise 1000 to 2000 feet above the intervening valleys. The ridges are covered by oak forests (Braun 1967) while the valleys are interspersed forest and pastures. The numerous cliffs and remote woodlands have provided a refuge for the species at a time when its numbers were being reduced throughout the eastern United States.