There are many environmental issues that affect people's lives every day. One environmental policy that concerns me is House Bill 1103, which concerns the transfer of federal lands to the state. The proposed bill would be known as the Public Lands Transfer Act. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay If the bill passes, it would affect everyone in Washington state because it would change how public lands are accessed and managed. Additionally, the transfer would directly impact the amount of revenue generated by tourism in Washington, as people come from around the world to visit and participate in various outdoor recreational activities. Overall, this policy attempts to restructure the current system because the bill's supporters believe the system could be improved. However, modifying the system could potentially change the function of the currently implemented system in a negative (undesirable) way. The bill was authored by its primary sponsor, Republican Washington state Rep. David Taylor. The bill's co-sponsors include a group of Washington state representatives: Matt Shea, Bob McCaslin, Mike Volz, Cary Condotta, Shelly Short and Vincent Buys. The bill was originally introduced and first read on January 11, 2017, and was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Then, on January 8, 2018, by resolution, the bill was reintroduced and retained in its current state in the House Judiciary Committee. The proposed bill is of great concern to the citizens of Washington State because it would affect land accessibility. “Washington State covers more than 40 million acres and the fraction of land owned by the federal government is 28.6% (approximately 11.4 million acres). »[footnoteRef:3] This percentage can be compared to other properties in Figure 1 (Appendix). Federally owned public lands are used for hiking, hunting, fishing, camping, and other recreational activities. Therefore, the possible change to transfer federal lands to the state is attracting public attention from various groups. Most of the attention for this bill comes from hunters, fishermen and environmentalists. Hunting and fishing in Washington State has been a tradition for years. In a news article, Jes Burns said that "sportsmen consider hunting and fishing in these wild places to be their right – a right that previous generations, led by President Theodore Roosevelt, fought to ensure." more than a century ago. If federal lands are transferred to the state, hunting, fishing and other recreational activities could potentially be restricted or closed. This would impact the immense amount of revenue that recreational activities bring to the state through the purchase of equipment, permits, food, hotels and many other expenses. “Overall, spending on outdoor recreational travel and recreation on public lands in Washington is estimated to be approximately $10. 7 billion per year (excluding equipment).” Thus, changing access to land would impact the amount of revenue generated because people visit Washington specifically for its physical features and if the land is inaccessible, people will not bother to visit it. system using a diagram is essential to understanding the entirety of a system. In thisanalysis, the “passage of House Bill 1103” stock is shown in a box in Figure 2 (appendix). This is the foundation of the system, because it is the adoption of the bill that is analyzed and that worries people from both oppositions. The inputs and outputs of the system in Figure 2 are illustrated using arrows and taps. The inflow in this system is "proposing House Bill 1103" and the outflow makes the bill a state law. However, there is a gap between the stock (passage of House Bill 1103) and the citizens of Washington State who share the desire to keep the land public. This gap represents the bill's supporters, who in turn are reintroducing it in the Washington State Legislature. There is a balanced feedback loop because the gap shows who the supporters of the bill are, who end up reintroducing the bill in the Legislature. The loop is classified as a “balancing feedback loop because it opposes the direction of change imposed on the system. »[footnoteRef:6] Thus, the balancing feedback loop stabilizes the stock. One delay that affects the flow of the system is the response time of the legislature, as it takes time for the legislature to read and respond to all bills. There is another balancing feedback loop in Figure 2 between the passage of House Bill 1103, the funding available for the bill, voting on the bill, and making it a state law. Funding and voting (to obtain public opinion) will cause delays in the system. If the bill passes and becomes law, the state would take control of the land. This will cause a long delay as it takes time to create, implement and enforce new state laws/regulations. All elements illustrated in the system diagram in Figure 2 play a key role in understanding the behavior, structure and key functions of the system. By examining the systems diagram, an analysis of the proposed environmental policy, House Bill 1103, can be performed. “Systems thinking is an essential tool for addressing the environmental, political, social and economic challenges we face around the world. A systems approach can help us understand where existing policies are effective by breaking down the elements of the system to identify all the parties involved. The elements of a system are generally easy to find; however, in a complex environmental issue there can be an overwhelming number of elements. By drawing a system diagram, elements can be visualized, helping to avoid forgetting important players. A systems approach can also help us understand areas where existing policies are not effective, as they highlight discrepancies. Gaps between elements represent gaps and inconsistencies, which can slow down a system. The function of the system, House Bill 1103, is to adopt policy; thus, the system attempts to reduce the gap between passing the bill and people opposing it to zero. If that happens, then the bill has a better chance of passing. “Delays can also help show where existing policy is ineffective, because delays in feedback loops are critical determinants of system behavior. it's difficult to understand. This can be a problem because “we cannot begin to understand the dynamic behavior of systems without knowing where and how long the delays are.” Furthermore, “the tragedy of the commons arises from the missing (or too long delayed) feedback from the resource to the growth of ».).