Examples exist where ecological improvements, as measured by objective criteria, occur.

Issues about success:

• Success is a value laden concept.
• There are varying levels of success.
• These deal with single issues, not systems.
• Note the role of interest groups in influencing action.
• Note conflicting mandates, e.g. MFCMA and MMPA
• Identify the use of metaphors

International - Which of these would you define as a success? What additions would you make to the list?

• International Whaling Commission
• Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
• Chloroflurohydrocarbon controls
• Population limitation
• Tuna/Dolphin separation
• Open ocean drift netting
• Rio Summit
• Law of the Sea
• U.S.-Canada International Salmon Treaty
• Tropical forest protection

National - Which of these would you define as a success?

• Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) - particularly burden of proof
• Endangered Species Act - particularly burden of proof
• Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MFCMA)
• National Environmental Protection Act
• Clean Water Act
• Clean Air Act
• Chloroflourohydrocarbon Regulations
• Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
• Ban on DDT Use
• Lead Reduction in Gasoline
• Cleanup of the Great Lakes
• Repopulation of Alligators in Florida
• Reintroduction of animals from zoos into the wild - Calif Condor
• Reintroduction of Wolves in Yellowstone, Sierra Nevada
• Recycling
• Hudson River cleanup
• North American deer herds
• Saving the Whales
• Scenic Rivers
• Forest Practices Act
• Fishery Conservation and Management Act

Oregon

• Bottle Bill
• State Sanitary Authority and Willamette River Cleanup - Discharge Permits
• Land Use Planning
• Ocean Management Plan - Gives priority to renewable resources
• Willamette River Greenway
• Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program
• Public Beaches
• Annual Beach Cleanup
• Underground Storage Tank Cleanup
• Recycling
• Riparian Protection
• Scenic Rivers

Conservation Education - argues for weaving conservation education throughout the curriculum so that the university becomes a leader in shaping the future.

See: David W. Orr. 1990. "Is Conservation Education an Oxymoron?", Conservation Biology 4(2), p. 119-121.