Rachel's Precaution Reporter #174, December 24, 2008

FACING UNCERTAINTY: LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND PRECAUTION

[Rachel's introduction: An excellent new report offers a concise summary of the precautionary principle for local governments.]

By Peter Montague

The National Sea Grant Law Center at the University of Mississippi (Oxford, Miss.) has published a concise summary of the precautionary principle for local governments: Facing Uncertainty: Local Governments and the Precautionary Principle (15 pages; no date [2008?]).

This excellent, short report can serve as an introduction to the precautionary principle, its history, its substance, and how it is being used in half a dozen U.S. municipalities.

The purpose of the report is to help communities -- especially coastal communities -- incorporate ecosystem-based management and sustainable development principles into planning and management.

The report fits into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) 2006-2011 strategic plan, which identified ecosystem-based management as one of its five goals.

This is excellent work by author Terra Bowling, J.D.