M - Thousand. Five thousand board feet of timber can be expressed as 5M board feet.

MA - Magnetic Anomaly

MA - Manufacturers Association

MA - Methodical Approach

MA - Membership Alliance

MA - Metropark Authority

MA - Middle America

MA - Military Application

MA - Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (UN)

MA - Mineral Assessment

MA - Mining Association

MA - Monitoring Activity

MA - Morainal Area

MAA - Maryland Aggregates Association

MAA - Metropolitan Area Acquisition (GSA)

MAB - Man and the Biosphere Treaty

MAC - Multi-Agency Coordination

MACD - Montana Association of Conservation Districts

MACNY - Manufacturers Association of Central New York

Macro Climate - The general, large-scale climate of a large area, as distinguished from the smaller scale micro climates within it.

Macroinvertebrates - Large or exceptionally prominent animals that lack a spinal column. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Macrophyte - Any plant that can be seen with the unaided eye, such as aquatic mosses, ferns, liverworts, or rooted plants. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Macrophytes - A megascopic plant, especially in an aquatic environment.

Mad Cow Disease - The common term used for Bovine Transmittable Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).

MA-EPPC - Mid-Atlantic Exotic Pest Plant Council http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ma-eppc/ 

MAEOE - Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education http://www.ed.mtu.edu/new/id65.htm 

MAFF - Ministry of Agriculture, Farming, and Fisheries (England)

MAFFS - Modular Airborne Firefighting System

MAG - Magnetoencephalograph (test)

Maghreb - The Maghreb is comprised of the northwestern most African countries of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The name itself means "Isle of the West." The countries in the Maghreb are sometimes referred to as the Barbary States.

MAGIC - Maryland Alliance for Greenway Improvement and Conservation

Magnetic Azimuth - An azimuth measured with reference to the direction indicated by a magnetic compass needle. Measured from magnetic north, which is east or west of true north as shown by magnetic declination. - Cadastral Data glossary

Magnetic Bearing - The direction of a line within a quadrant, with respect to the magnetic meridian. - Cadastral Data glossary

Magnetic Declination - The angle between the magnetic meridian and the geodetic meridian (true) often referred to as simply "the declination". Magnetic declination is designated by degrees east or west of true north. - Cadastral Data glossary

Magnetite - One of the most widespread oxide minerals with the general formula Fe3O4 (iron oxide) found in a number of geological environments including sand grains in beach or river deposits. Magnetite is magnetic with some forms (lodestone) showing polarity. - BLM (DOI) Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument DEIS Glossary

Magnitude - A measure of the strength of an earthquake or strain energy released by it, as determined by seismographic observations. This is a logarithmic value originally defined by Charles Richter (1935). An increase of one unit of magnitude (for example, from 4.6 to 5.6) represents a 10-fold increase in wave amplitude on a seismogram or approximately a 30-fold increase in the energy released. In other words, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake releases over 900 times (30 times 30) the energy of a 4.7 earthquake - or it takes about 900 magnitude 4.7 earthquakes to equal the energy released in a single 6.7 earthquake! There is no beginning nor end to this scale. However, rock mechanics seems to preclude earthquakes smaller than about -1 or larger than about 9.5. A magnitude -1.0 event release about 900 times less energy than a magnitude 1.0 quake. Except in special circumstances, earthquakes below magnitude 2.5 are not generally felt by humans. - USGS Earthquake glossary

Magnuson Act - The Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

MAH - The Mid-Atlantic Highlands - The Mid-Atlantic Highlands includes portions of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and all of West Virginia.

MAHA - Mid-Atlantic Highlands Assessment

MAI - The Multilateral Agreement on Investment

MAIA - Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment http://www.epa.gov/maia/ 

TMP - The Maine Project. (Formerly known as The Recreational Corridor) The Appalachian Mountain Club is working on a new, model project for outdoor recreation and land protection in Maine. In early June, Gerry Whiting, AMCs Special Projects Manager in Maine, and I held meetings in Portland and Bangor to obtain input from AMC members on the project's concept. While turnout was not as high as we hoped, we did get feedback that's helping to shape the project. One important thing we learned is that the name we have been using, the Recreational Corridor, does not adequately describe the scale of the project. It's a lot more than just recreation. While we have not yet come up with a new name (we're calling it the "Maine Project" for now), the following description of its goals and objectives will let you know what it's all about. The Maine Project is being designed to provide a variety of opportunities for non-motorized, backcountry recreation; for example, hiking, paddling, cross-country skiing, and mountain biking. It will ensure continued public access to large tracts of forestland in the North Woods. The project will be part of a landscape that includes sustainable forestry and protection of ecologically significant lands. We anticipate the timeline of this project to unfold slowly, and be a focus for AMC activities for next 50-100 years. Through this project, we hope to: provide and protect recreational access to the North Woods; create new, and needed, long-distance and day hiking opportunities; create opportunities for quiet paddling and backcountry, nordic skiing, within a framework of already existing uses, such as fishing and hunting; work with conservation partners to ensure protection of important wildlife habitat; provide a physical base for environmental education, especially for school children; provide for low-impact backcountry overnight facilities; protect jobs and ensure the economic viability of Maine's forest land by supporting a model sustainable forestry project. As this project is still very much in its early stages, it will benefit from your continued input. Feedback received so far indicates members are very interested in the AMC playing a lead role to protect North Woods land from development and to ensure continued public access. Members also feel wilderness protection should be an important part of the project mix; that we should create new opportunities for multi-day hiking, paddling, and nordic skiing; that any facilities or camps should be used for many purposes, including environmental education; and that we should work with existing users, such as snowmobilers and sportsmen, to work out compatible use arrangements. Gerry is currently talking with potential partners and looking for land that we might purchase outright or acquire some less-than-full-title interest in (an easement). We are very open to the possibilities for this project. As Maine-based AMC staff, Gerry and I look forward to keeping our members informed about the project as it progresses, and welcome members, the Chapter board and its committees to become involved in this project. The AMC views the Maine Project as an important investment in Maine, the Northern Forest, and ensuring a balance between recreation, conservation, education and sustainable forestry. http://home.gwi.net/amcmaine/articles/article53.htm 

Mainland/Rimland Framework - Twofold regionalization of the Middle American realm based on its modern cultural history. The Euro-Amerindian mainland stretching from Mexico to Panama (except for the Caribbean coastal strip), was a self-sufficient zone dominated by hacienda land tenure. The Euro-African Rimland, consisting of that Caribbean coastal zone plus all of the Caribbean islands to the east, was the zone of the plantation that heavily relied on trade with Europe and North America.

Mainstream Agriculture - See Conventional Agriculture.

Maintenance - Refers to an institution or statistical area which has or has been given the responsibility for maintaining and/or updating or revising the classification. Refer also to Custodian. (UN)

Maintenance and Construction - The Forest Service has adopted new common terms and definitions for maintenance and construction based on standards developed by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board. These generic terms are now being applied in inventorying, budgeting, and accounting for all fixed assets under Forest Service jurisdiction, including the National Forest transportation system. The terms and definitions used in FSM 7705, though slightly different, are not inconsistent with the new common financial management terms and their definitions. The agency is assessing all its transportation directives to determine what changes in Forest Service Manual and Handbook terminology are needed. However, this effort exceeds the scope of these revisions to road management directives. - USDA Forest Service

Maintenance (Cost) Valuation (environmental accounting) - Method of measuring imputed environmental (depletion and degradation) costs caused by economic activities of households and industries. The value of the maintenance cost depends on the avoidance, restoration, replacement or prevention activities chosen. (UN)

Mainstreet - The core area of Canada along the St Lawrence river.

Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) - Major land resource areas are geographically associated land resource units delineated by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and characterized by a particular pattern that combines soils, water, climate, vegetation, land use, and type of farming. There are 204 MLRAs in the United States, ranging in size from less than 500,000 acres to more than 60 million acres. Geographically associated land resource units with particular patterns of soils, climate, vegetation types, water resources, and land uses.

Major Land Resource Areas - MLRAs are geographic areas that have relatively homogeneous patterns of soil, climate, water resources, land use and type of farming. MLRAs can be one continuous area or several separate nearby areas. MLRAs are designated by Arabic numbers and identified by a descriptive geographic name. Some MLRAs are designated by an Arabic number and a letter because previously established MLRAs have been divided into smaller, more homogeneous areas. [Source: USDA-SCS 1982 NRI]

Major Plant Grouping - An aggregation of plant associations with similar management potential and with the same dominant late seral conifer species and the same major early seral species. Late seral rather than climax species are used because late seral species are usually present rather than climax communities and because most old-growth plant communities on BLM-administered lands are made up of late seral species rather than climax species in the upper canopy. (BLM)

Major source - A source that emits, or has the potential to emit, a pollutant regulated under the Clean Air Act in excess of a specified rate in a nonattainment area. - Bioenergy Glossary

Majority interest - The ownership interest(s) that are greater than 50 percent of the trust or restricted ownership interest(s) in a tract of Indian land. - DOI-BIA Glossary

Malaria - Disease caused by the protozoan plasmodium and transmitted by the bite of an infected anopheles mosquito. The disease is rare in the industrialized world but fairly common in many tropical countries. (UN)

MALDEF - Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund

Malnutrition - A condition caused by an imbalance between what an individual eats and what is required to maintain health. The word literally means 'bad feeding' and can result from eating too little, but may also imply dietary excesses or an incorrect balance of basic foodstuffs such as proteins, fats and carbohydrates. A deficiency (or excess) of one or more minerals, vitamins or other essential ingredients in the diet may arise from the inability to digest food properly as well as from actually consuming an unbalanced or inadequate diet. Malnourished people are more vulnerable to infection, disease and general ill health. Poverty is the most immediate indirect cause of malnutrition in both the developed and developing worlds. (UNESCO)

MALT - Marin Agricultural Land Trust (Klamath Basin/Oregon/California)

MAM - Multi Agency Meeting

Managed forest - That portion of the landscape outside forest ecosystem networks in which forestry operations occur. - Biodiversity Guidebook Glossary

Management - Paragraph 63 of the Operational Guidelines clearly states that the characteristics or values, which justified the inclusion of a property in the World Heritage List, should be reflected in its future management (UNESCO February 1996: 19). - Glossary of World Heritage Terms

Management Activity - An activity that humans impose on a landscape for the purpose of managing natural resources. - FS

Management Action - Any activity undertaken as part of the administration of the National Forest.

Management Activity - An activity undertaken for the purpose of harvesting, traversing, transporting, protecting, changing, replenishing, or otherwise using resources. (BLM)

Management Area - Geographic areas, not necessarily contiguous, which have common management direction, consistent with the Forest Plan allocations.

Management Decision - A decision made by the BLM to manage public lands. Management decisions include both land use plan decisions and implementation decisions. - BLM

Management Direction - A statement of multiple use and other goals and objectives, along with the associated management prescriptions and standards and guidelines to direct resource management.

Management Framework Plan (MFP) - A land use plan that established coordinated land use allocations for all resource and support activities for a specific land area within a BLM district. It established objectives and constraints for each resource and support activity and provided data for consideration in program planning. The Resource Management Planning process has replaced this process. (BLM)

Management Indicator Species - A wildlife species whose population will indicate the health of the ecosystem in which it lives and, consequently, the effects of forest management activities to that ecosystem. MIS species are selected by land management agencies. See Indicator Species. http://www.umpqua-watersheds.org/glossary/gloss_m.html 

Management Indicator Species (MIS) - A wildlife species whose population is presumed to indicate the health of the ecosystem in which it lives and of other species sharing similar habitat requirements, and consequently, the effects of forest management activities to that ecosystem. A species of fish, wildlife, or plants which reflect ecological changes caused by land management activities. MIS species are selected by land management agencies. (See "indicator species"). (UN)

Management plan - States Parties to the Convention are encouraged to prepare management plans for the management of each cultural and natural property nominated for inclusion in the World Heritage List (UNESCO February 1996: 6, Paragraph 21). This requirement is reflected in the conditions of integrity for natural properties (UNESCO February 1996: 14-15, Paragraphs 44 (b)(v) and (vi)) and in the requirements concerning protection and management mechanisms for cultural properties (UNESCO February 1996: 7-8, Paragraph 24 (b)(ii)). - Glossary of World Heritage Terms

Management Prescription - A decision about what kinds of resource conditions and visitor experiences should occur in a particular location within a park. Prescriptions are established for each distinctive location (management zone) within a park and specify (1) the desired condition of natural and cultural resources, (2) the desired visitor experience, (3) appropriate kinds and levels of management activities, (4) appropriate kinds and levels of visitor activities, and (5) appropriate kinds and levels of development. (DOI/NPS)

Management Prescription - A set of land and resource management policies that, as expressed through Standards and Guidelines, creates the Desired Future Condition over time.

Management Zone - An area within a park that will be managed distinctively from other areas, to achieve different resource conditions and visitor experiences. (DOI/NPS)

Manatee - A large aquatic plant-eating mammal with a large rounded body, short head and square muzzle. - UNEP Children's Glossary

Mandamus - Judicial order.

Mandatory mobility agreement--Agreement requiring employee relocation to enhance career development and progression and/or achieve mission effectiveness. - GSA

Mangrove Forest - A community of mangrove trees that may consist of the red mangrove, black mangrove and white mangrove. - Everglades Plan glossary

Mangroves - Salt-tolerant trees and shrubs which form dense thickets and low forests on coastal mudflats, salt marshes and estuaries throughout the tropics. Mangroves fringe over half of all tropical shores and are typically associated with river mouths where the water is shallow and the sediment levels high. They form one of the most diverse of all ecosystems and provide a unique habitat for fish, invertebrates and plants. Mangroves also play an important role in desalinating seawater and are one of the major factors in stabilizing shorelines. Throughout the tropics mangroves are under threat from clear-cutting, charcoal production, sand and shale mining, land reclamation for agriculture or aquaculture and coastal pollution. (UNESCO)

Manicole - Large rat that lives in coconut palms. - UNEP Children's Glossary

Manufactured goods - Goods produced using primary goods. Include petroleum, steel, textiles, and baked goods. - WB

Manufactured Products - Goods--for example, shoes, trucks, paper, radios, electric motors, and canned fruit-that are produced from raw materials by hand or by machine. (WB-UN)

Manure - Organic material used to fertilize land, usually consisting of barnyard and stable refuse (livestock excreta), with or without accompanying litter such as straw, hay or bedding. (UN)

MAP - Management Action Plan

MAP - Management, Accountability, and Performance

MAP - Maintain A Presence

MAP - Media Access Project http://www.mediaaccess.org/web/ 

MAP - Mobility Action Plan

Maquiladora - Foreign owned factories (mainly by large U.S. companies) that assemble imported, duty-free components and raw materials into finished industrial products.

MAPS - Mapping Appraisal and Planning System

MAPS - Maximizing Academic and Professional Success

MAR - Maintenance and Repair

MAR - Mandatory Arbitration Rules

MAR - Management Attainment Report

MARA - Mid-Atlantic Regional Assessment (for Global Climate Change) http://www.essc.psu.edu/MARA/ 

MARAD - U.S. Maritime Administration

Marbury v. Madison (1803) - Anything repugnant to the Constitution is null and void and does not have to be obeyed. (Still law of the land)

Marbury vs Madison - Argued on February 11, 1803 -- Decided on February 24, 1803

MARC - Mining And Reclamation Council

Marcescent (plants) - Persisting beyond a single season as dried parts. (NPS Rare Plant glossary)

MAR Conference - See MAR Project

MARENA - Nicaragua's environment and natural resources ministry (not an acronym but the Spanish word for this group, may be confused with an acronym)

Marginal Land - Land of poor quality with regard to agricultural use, and unsuitable for housing and other uses. (UN) Land that is of poor quality and largely unsuitable for cultivation due to its nutrient deficiencies, dryness or susceptibility to erosion. Marginal land is particularly prone to further degradation and even desertification if used for agricultural purposes. However, in many parts of the world people are forced into using these less productive and fragile areas because they may have been displaced by development projects, wars or simply because the needs of the population in an area have exceeded the productivity and availability of arable land. (UNESCO)

Marginal Settlements - Housing units that, lacking basic amenities, are not considered fit for human habitation. (UN)

Mariculture - Harvesting of marine organisms through ocean farming. (UN) The form of aquaculture where fish, shellfish, or aquatic plants are cultured in a salt-water environment.

Marine Bioregional Planning - A strategic framework for identifying marine reserve networks, and planning sustainable use and management. - UN

Marine mammal - Any mammal which is morphologically adapted to the marine environment (including sea otters and members of the orders sirenia, pinnipedia and cetacea), or primarily inhabits the marine environment (such as the polar bear); also includes any part of a marine mammal, including raw, dressed or dyed fur or skin. - MMPA

Marine mammal product - An item of merchandise which consists of, or is composed in whole or in part, of a marine mammal. - MMPA

Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1361-1421h, October 21, 1972, as amended 1973, 1976-1978, 1980-1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992-1994 and 1996. - The Act establishes a federal responsibility to conserve marine mammals, with management vested in the Department of Commerce for cetaceans and pinnipeds other than walrus. The Department of the Interior is responsible for all other marine mammals, including sea otter, walrus, polar bear, dugong and manatee. The Act generally assigns identical responsibilities to the Secretaries of the two departments. The Act establishes a moratorium on the taking and importation of marine mammals and marine mammal products. The Secretary may issue permits for taking and importation for scientific research, public display, photography for educational or commercial use, enhancing the survival or recovery of a species, or importation of polar bear parts (other than internal organs) taken in sport hunts in Canada. Permit applications, except for polar bear parts, must first be reviewed by the Marine Mammal Commission and the Committee of Scientific Advisors on Marine Mammals. The Secretary can waive these requirements and allow taking and importing in accordance with the purposes and policies of the Act, if the Secretary certifies that the marine mammals were taken in their country of origin in a manner consistent with this Act. With limited exceptions, no permits may be issued for the taking or importation of a marine mammal designated as depleted. Incidental taking in commercial fishing operations is allowable either by permit or authorization by the Secretary. The immediate goal is the reduction of incidental kill or incidental serious injury of marine mammals in commercial fishing to insignificant levels approaching a zero mortality and serious injury rate. The Secretary of the Treasury must ban the importation of commercial fish or products from fish caught with commercial fishing technology that results in the incidental kill or serious injury of marine mammals in excess of U.S. standards, and must require reasonable proof from exporting countries of the effects of their technology on these mammals. Specific documentary evidence is required from nations exporting yellowfin tuna harvested with purse seines in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Intermediary nations must certify and provide proof that they have not imported any yellowfin tuna or products that are subject to the U.S. importation ban. Exporting nations also must provide evidence that fish were not harvested with large-scale driftnets. The Act generally does not apply to measures to deter a marine mammal from endangering personal safety or damaging personal property, as long as the measures do not seriously injure or kill the animal. The Secretary must publish guidelines on nonlethal ways to deter marine mammals. It is not a violation of the Act to take a marine mammal if imminently necessary to save a life, provided the taking is reported to the Secretary within 48 hours. The Act sets out procedures for the Secretary to allow incidental taking of small numbers of marine mammals through a specific activity in a specified geographic region, upon certain findings and with protective restrictions. This authorization requires public notice in the affected local communities. The Secretary also may allow incidental taking of depleted marine mammals during commercial fishing, if the impact is negligible, a recovery plan is developed and a monitoring program is established. The Act does not apply to the taking of marine mammals by an Indian, Aleut or Eskimo who resides in Alaska and dwells on the coast of the North Pacific Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, if the taking is done in a nonwasteful manner and is for subsistence purposes or for creating and selling authentic native handicrafts and clothing. These takings may be regulated by the Secretary, however, if the marine mammal is depleted. § 1371.

Marine Park - Permanent marine reservation for the conservation of species. It constitutes an extension, to the undersea world, of the concept of the terrestrial national park. (UN)

Marine Pollution - Direct or indirect introduction by humans of substances or energy into the marine environment (including estuaries), resulting in harm to living resources, hazards to human health, hindrances to marine activities including fishing, impairment of the quality of sea water and reduction of amenities. (UN)

Marine Protected Area (MPA) - Executive Order 13158 defines marine protected areas (MPAs) as "any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by Federal, State, territorial, tribal, or local laws or regulations to provide lasting protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein." There are many different types of MPAs in U.S. waters. A marine protected area has come to mean different things to different people, based primarily on the level of protection provided by the MPA. Some see MPAs as sheltered or reserved areas where little, if any, use or human disturbance should be permitted. Others see them as specially managed areas designed to enhance ocean use. Many accept the definition developed by the World Conservation Union: "Any area of the intertidal or subtidal terrain, together with its overlying water and associated flora, fauna, historical and cultural features, which has been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment" (IUCN, 1988; Kelleher, 1999). Not too different is the definition in Marine Protected Areas Executive Order 13158. This defines an MPA as "any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by Federal, State, territorial, tribal or local laws or regulations to provide lasting protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein" (Federal Register, 2000). Under this broad definition, a wide variety of sites could be considered as MPAs. There are many different types of MPAs in the United States. For example, U.S. MPAs may include national marine sanctuaries, fishery management zones, national seashores, national parks, national monuments, critical habitats, national wildlife refuges, national estuarine research reserves, state conservation areas, state reserves, and many others. MPAs have different shapes, sizes, and management characteristics, and have been established for different purposes. MPAs are used as management tools to protect, maintain, or restore natural and cultural resources in coastal and marine waters. They have been used effectively both nationally and internationally to conserve biodiversity, manage natural resources, protect endangered species, reduce user conflicts, provide educational and research opportunities, and enhance commercial and recreational activities. - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

Marine Protected Area List Site Working Definition - Taken together, these criteria provide the basis for the MPA List Site Working Definition. A. Area - To be included in the MPA List, the site: Must have defined geographical boundaries or a definable geographic location and, a) may or may not be associated with the underlying seabed and b) may be of any size, but must be a subset of the U.S. federal, state, territorial, local or tribal waters. This working definition excludes: Areas of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone that are covered under legal authorities but that have no distinct boundaries with specific authorities for resource protection. Areas subject to generic resource management authorities linked to habitat type but without specific locations. Areas subject to species-specific conservation authorities that are not focused on a definable geographic area. B. Marine - To be included in the MPA List, the site: Must encompass: a) areas of the oceans, coastal waters, bays and/or estuaries; or b) the Great Lakes and their connecting waters. Must have a marine component, which may include an intertidal area and may have an associated land (terrestrial) component. This working definition excludes: Strictly freshwater areas outside the Great Lakes that contain marine species at certain seasons or life history stages. C. Reserved - To be included in the MPA List, the site: Must be authorized by some form of federal, state, territorial, local or tribal law or regulations. This working definition excludes: Privately created and maintained marine areas. D. Lasting - To be included in the MPA List, the site: Must provide year round (12 months) protection. Must be established with an expectation of, or at least the potential for, permanence. Areas with a sunset clause must provide a minimum of four years of continuous protection and must have a specific mechanism to renew protection at the expiration of the sunset period. This working definition excludes: Areas subject to emergency measures designated for fisheries or other purposes. E. Protection - To be included in the MPA List, the site: Must have existing laws/regulations that apply to the MPA and that were designed to afford increased protection to part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein, beyond any general protections which apply outside the MPA. This working definition excludes: Mitigation sites and other temporarily closed areas. Areas set aside to avoid fishing gear conflicts. Areas subject to single species management measures that do not have demonstrable benefits to a broader array of species or habitats. Areas subject to fisheries quota management tools. In addition, the term cultural resources was further defined for those MPAs with these resources: Cultural resources means any historical or cultural feature, including archaeological sites, historic structures, shipwrecks, and artifacts. - NOAA/DOC

Marine Special Management Areas (MSMA) - Marine Special Management Areas are smaller areas designated (formally through legislation or through other management arrangements) for protection of their special natural values, in which fishing and other uses are generally allowed. (DOI)

Marine System - The open ocean overlying the continental shelf and its associated high energy coastline. Marine habitats are exposed to the waves and currents of the open ocean and the water regimes are determined primarily by the ebb and flow of oceanic tides. - National Resources Inventory

Maritime Canada - The eastern provinces of Canada. - UNEP Children's Glossary

Market Access Program (MAP) - MAP, previously called the Market Promotion Program or MPP, is administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service and uses funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation. It helps producers, exporters, private companies, and other trade organizations finance promotional activities for U.S. agricultural products. MAP is designed to encourage development, maintenance, and expansion of commercial agricultural export markets. Activities financed include consumer promotions, market research, technical assistance, and trade servicing. The Export Incentive Program, which is part of MAP, helps U.S. commercial entities conduct brand promotion activities including advertising, trade shows, in-store demonstrations, and trade seminars. MAP is authorized in Section 244 of the FAIR Act of 1996. The program promotes exports of specific U.S. commodities or products in specific markets. Under MAP, program participants are reimbursed for their expenses in carrying out approved promotional activities. Participating organizations include nonprofit trade associations, state regional trade groups, and private companies. Funding authority is limited to $90 million annually for fiscal years 1996- 2002.

Market Aspects of Property Regimes - From an economic perspective it is convenient to distinguish four main types of property regimes affecting natural resources. State property refers to resources that are managed by the state, either directly or by delegating authority to local bodies. State property may consist of both resources that are owned by the state but that are capable of private ownership, and public resources that cannot be privately owned and that the state must manage in the public interest. The seashore and the territorial waters of most countries fall into the category of public resources and, in some countries, public resources also include freshwater and land. Indeed, it is generally believed that all societies originally treated land in this way. This concept is summed up in the remark of a West African chief that `Land belongs to a vast family of which many are dead, few are living, and countless numbers are still unborn' (cited by Simpson, 1976). The state determines the rules of access to state property and, generally, a controlling agency ensures such access is respected. The state may lease the natural resource to groups or individuals under specified conditions and for a specified period. For example, grazers may have access to state pastureland, or a mining company have the right to mine minerals on state land. Where a long-term lease is granted, the regime might resemble private property. On the other hand, short-term leases provide no incentives to the concessionaire to practice conservation. Where rules of access are not enforced, because of a lack of personnel and finance, logistical problems or corruption, such resources become (factually though not legally) open access regimes. Open access regimes refer to situations where no-one controls access to a resource and anyone can exploit it. No one has rights to the resource but neither does anyone determine or enforce norms for its use. As a result, such resources tend to be used opportunistically and no one manages them since there is no incentive to use them prudently. Thus, open access tends to entail overexploitation D the benefits of a greater harvest accrue to an individual (or group) while the cost (diminishing stocks) will be shared by all. Open access regimes are often the result of institutional failures that undermine former collective or individual regimes. Common property refers to situations where a group of co-owners have exclusive rights of access to a resource for specific or general purposes (e.g. to draw water for irrigation or to use land for cultivation or grazing). Such groups are social units that can vary in nature, size and internal structure. The group determines membership, which usually implies some common cultural norms. Internal authority systems usually apply sets of rules and codes of conduct. Groups vary widely but are typically `social units with definite membership and boundaries, with certain common interests, with at least some interaction among members, with common cultural norms and often their own endogenous authority systems' (Bromley and Cernea, 1989). Tribal groups, sub-village groups, small pastoral groups and kin systems are examples of common property regimes. The group, having a common interest and rules, generally shares resources fairly and manages them sustainably. In the case of commonly owned land, customary tenure systems usually identify leaders who allocate specific areas of land to individuals or families from the group who, in turn, have specific rights and duties in respect of that land and retain it for as long as it is productively used. However, there is a risk of `free riding', individuals being tempted to overexploit their share of the resource while counting on others to observe the rules. Such defections should be treated with strong punitive action. Private (alienable) property includes property owned by individuals or legal entities, where owners can exclude others, transfer ownership and manage and invest knowing that good stewardship will bring in long-term benefits. Private owners will usually have an economic incentive to use their property prudently and sustainably. However this is not always the case and the prospect of obtaining high returns in the short term may cause some private owners (particularly absentee owners, who may be investors with high capital mobility) to exploit resources unsustainably. In practice, private owners are often constrained by legal rules that place restrictions on their freedom to exploit their resources (e.g. legislation governing air or water pollution levels from factories). For any property regime, it is essential that an authority system (e.g. state authority or traditional leaders) can meet the expectations of rights holders. When the authority system breaks down, management of the natural resource fails, and the entire system changes (i.e. common property degenerates into open access). The authority mechanisms and capacity to enforce compliance ensure compliance with, and integrity of, the property regime.

Market-based pollution control - The main alternative to command-and-control style regulations, market-based mechanisms attempt to make pollution or the right to create it a tradable commodity. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has had quite a bit of success in reducing acid rain by requiring companies to purchase sulfur dioxide emissions permits on the open market. Companies then have a continuous incentive to find the cheapest and best way to reduce their SO2 emissions, in many cases going beyond what had previously been required by law and often finding innovative and surprisingly cheap ways of doing it. Other examples include charging households a per bag fee for their trash but not for their recyclables. In this way, families and businesses are encouraged to recycle as much as possible or otherwise reduce the amount of solid waste they generate.

Market Basket - Average quantities of consumables, including U.S. farm foods, purchased per household for a given base period, used to compute an index of retail prices.

Market Economy - See Capitalism.

Market failures - Cases when a market economy fails to provide people with a desirable supply of certain kinds of goods and services. Market failures can occur in a market economy when it does not produce enough public goods and goods with positive externalities, when it produces too many goods with negative externalities, when goods are overpriced by natural monopolies, and when market agents do not have access to sufficient information, such as information about the quality of some consumer goods. These market failures usually justify economic intervention by the government. But there is always the risk of government failure, in which faulty political processes or institutional structures prevent government measures from improving social welfare. A divergence between the market outcome, without intervention, and the economically efficient solution. - WB

Market Instruments - (See economic instruments)

Market liberalization - Removing and abstaining from using state controls that impede the normal functioning of a market economy- for example, lifting price and wage controls and import quotas or lowering taxes and import tariffs. Market liberalization usually does not mean that a government completely abstains from interfering with market processes. - WB

Market Price - The price per bushel (or pound or hundredweight) of an agricultural commodity paid in the private sector. It can sometimes refer to the price paid at domestic seaports or large inland terminal markets (such as daily cash prices listed in newspapers) and sometimes refers to the farm price.

Market Value - Market values of crops are based on market receipts. Receipts are larger on irrigated land because yields are higher or quality is higher or because different crops are grown. For the nation as a whole, crop sales average about $145 per acre from non-irrigated land and about $280 per acre from irrigated land. Net profits average about $25 per acre higher on irrigated farms than on non-irrigated farms. Vegetable, orchard, vineyard and nursery crops are high value crops that return higher profits per acre. [USDA-SCS 1982 NRI]

Market Valuation - 1) Market price valuation applied in national accounts; 2) Value of natural resources and of their depletion and degradation, imputed in environmental accounting and estimated on the basis of expected market returns. (See also discounting [of natural assets] and Hotelling rent) (UN)

Marketing (or Crop) Year - Generally, the 12-month period, from the beginning of a new harvest, over which a crop is marketed. For example, for wool, mohair, and Hawaiian sugarcane, the marketing year is January 1- December 31; for honey, it is April 1-March 31; for wheat, barley, and oats, it is June 1-May 31; for flue- cured tobacco, it is July 1-June 30; for cotton, peanuts, and rice, it is August 1-July 31; for sugar beets, it is September 1-August 31; for corn, sorghum, soybeans, mainland sugarcane, all tobacco but flue-cured, and milk, it is October 1-September 30.

Marketing allotments - When in effect, provide each processor or producer of a specified commodity a specific limit on sales for the year, above which penalties would apply. Sugar allotments, for example, were authorized during 1991-95, but were suspended by the 1996 Act. - USDA-Economic Research Service Farm and Commodity Policy Glossary of Policy Terms

Marketing assessments - A fee or charge per unit of domestic production or sales that producers, processors, or first purchasers must pay to the Government in order to help pay for commodity program costs. - USDA-Economic Research Service Farm and Commodity Policy Glossary of Policy Terms

Marketing loan program - Provisions first authorized by the Food Security Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-198) that allow producers to repay nonrecourse commodity loans at less than the announced loan rate whenever the world price or loan repayment rate for the commodity is less than the loan rate. Prior to 1985, commodity loans had to be repaid at the original loan rate, which often resulted in the accumulation of surplus commodities in Government inventories. Marketing loan provisions are aimed at reducing government costs of stock accumulation. Marketing loan provisions were originally mandated only for rice and upland cotton. The Secretary of Agriculture had the option of implementing marketing loans for wheat, feed grains, soybeans, and honey under the 1985 Act and the subsequent farm acts. The 1996 Act mandates that marketing loan provisions be implemented for feed grains, wheat, rice, upland cotton, and all oilseeds. - USDA-Economic Research Service Farm and Commodity Policy Glossary of Policy Terms

Marketing orders - Federal marketing orders authorize agricultural producers in a designated region to take various actions to promote orderly marketing by influencing such factors as supply and quality, and to pool funds for promotion and research. Marketing orders are initiated by the industry, but must be approved by the Secretary of Agriculture and by a vote among affected producers. Once approved, a marketing order is mandatory for all producers in the marketing order area. There are marketing orders for a number of fruits, nuts, and vegetables, and for milk. - USDA-Economic Research Service Farm and Commodity Policy Glossary of Policy Terms

MAR List (or MAR List of Wetlands) - The List of Wetlands of International Importance. (IUCN) http://www.ramsar.org/lib_legal_e_1.htm 

MARPOL - The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 (UN)

MAR Project - In 1960, IUCN received and approved a proposal from L. Hoffmann which called for an international programme on the conservation and management of marshes, bogs and other wetlands. It was designated Project MAR since these are the first three letters of the word for wetlands in several languages - MARshes, MARecages, MARismas. IUCN asked that the International Council for Bird Protection (ICBP) as well as IWRB should be asked to participate, and appointed L. Hoffmann as Coordinator. He directed the MAR project in 1958 (IUCN, IWRB, ICBP), which aimed to promote waterbird monitoring and wetland censuses. Its major outcome was the signature of the international Ramsar Convention in 1971 for the conservation of wetlands. At the beginning of 1962 he became the honorary Director of IWRB, which from then onwards played a central role. L. Hoffmann organized a MAR Conference in the French Camargue, at Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer, from 12 to 16 November 1962. This was attended by some 80 experts from 12 European countries and from Australia, Canada, Morocco and the United States. Nearly 60 papers were presented on the economic, scientific and moral considerations; the criteria for defining wetland areas and reserves; the legal and administrative devices; the management, utilization and restoration of wetlands; the role of man-made aquatic habitats; the international efforts needed for the conservation of wetlands and their fauna. The impressive Conference Proceedings appeared in 1964, in English and French. The participants of the conference, well aware that conference proceedings, however seminal, tend to gather dust on library shelves, made 13 recommendations for action. Very appropriately the first was "that IUCN publish an educational leaflet in which the educational, scientific, economic, recreational and other values of wetlands are clearly set forth and further recommends that UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) or other appropriate international agency be requested to help finance this leaflet for mass circulation in order to present, in unequivocal terms, the values of wetlands to mankind". (IUCN) http://www.ramsar.org/lib_hist_1.htm 

MARSH - Matching Aid to Restore States' Habitat

Marsh - Type of wetland that does not accumulate appreciable peat deposits and is dominated by herbaceous vegetation. Marshes may be either fresh- or saltwater, and tidal or non-tidal. (See also wetland) (UN)

Marshland - A subcategory of the Land cover/use category Other rural land, described as a nonforested area of land partly or intermittently covered with water and usually characterized by the presence of such monocotyledons as sedges and rushes. These areas are usually in a wetland class and are not placed in another NRI land cover/use category, such as rangeland or pastureland. - National Resources Inventory

MARTA - Metro Atlanta's Clean Air Campaign

Maryland Environmental Trust v. Gaynor, 140 Md. App. 433, 780 A. 2d 1193 (2001), revisedd Maryland Court of Appeals, No. 108, July 19, 2002. EASEMENTS: No wrongful inducement for environmental trust. Failure to state more explicitly that the Maryland Environmental Trust (MET) would accept the conservation easement without a subdivision restriction was not sufficient, by itself, to constitute fraud, as MET had no duty to do so. There was no fiduciary or confidential relationship existing between the property owners and MET that would have required such a disclosure in order to avoid any breach of trust. The letter from MET to the owners truthfully and accurately conveyed the decision made by the Board of Trustees at the meeting and concealed nothing from them, who admitted at trial that MET had never stated to them that the no-sub\-di\-vi\-sion restriction was required. Therefore, as a matter of law, the owners failed to produce proof amounting to clear and convincing evidence that MET committed fraud. Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County Case No. C-1998-44598. Bell, C.J., Eldridge, Raker, Wilner, Cathell, Harrell, Battaglia, JJ. The opinion of the court was delivered by: Raker, J. This case involves a conservation easement [fn 1] upon property donated to petitioner, the Maryland Environmental Trust (MET), pursuant to Maryland Code (1974, 1996 Repl. Vol., 2001 Supp.) § 2-118 of the Real Property Article. Respondents Cathy Cook Gaynor and Kevin Gaynor initiated this action in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, claiming that MET unlawfully induced them into granting a conservation easement on their land by not disclosing that MET would have accepted the easement without also requiring them to surrender their right to subdivide their property. We shall hold that respondents failed to produce clear and convincing evidence that MET committed fraud in inducing them to donate the easement at issue in this case. Accordingly, we shall reverse the judgments of the Court of Special Appeals, Environmental Trust v. Gaynor, 140 Md. App. 433, 780 A.2d 1193 (2001), and the Circuit Court rescinding their Deed of Conservation Easement. MET is a public agency governed by a Board of Trustees and operating as part of the Department of Natural Resources. See Maryland Code (1973, 2000 Repl. Vol., 2001 Supp.) § 3-202 of the Natural Resources Article. [fn 2] MET was created in 1974 to "conserve, improve, stimulate, and perpetuate the aesthetic, natural, health and welfare, scenic, and cultural qualities of the environment, including, but not limited to land, water, air, wildlife, scenic qualities, open spaces, buildings or any interest therein, and other appurtenances pertaining in any way to the State." § 3-201 (a). MET is empowered to "acquire and hold real and personal property, or any interest therein, of aesthetic, scenic, or cultural significance ... by lease, gift, purchase, devise, bequest, or by any other means, and conserve, improve, administer, invest, or dispose of the properties for the purposes of the Trust ..." § 3-203 (3). MET's purpose "is of general benefit to the citizens of this State, and is charitable in nature," by protecting property for the benefit of the public at large thereby preserving the natural environment and preventing sprawl development. § 3-210 (a). One way that MET accomplishes its purpose is by accepting donated conservation easements. By accepting the easement, the State undertakes to enforce the restriction in perpetuity. In 1989, respondents [fn 3] contacted MET to inquire about donating a conservation easement on their twenty-five acre property. They were informed that MET normally accepts easements on property of fifty acres or larger. Thereafter, respondents contacted several of their neighbors about donating easements simultaneously so that the aggregate acreage of the properties donated would qualify them for conservation easements. Several neighbors expressed interest in donating conservation easements to MET. In June 1989, representatives of MET met with respondents and their neighbors. Negotiations between the parties occurred throughout the summer of 1989. Although respondents and their neighbors explored donating conservation easements simultaneously, individual easements were required for each property, and the terms of each of those easements varied. On September 11, 1989, the properties were presented to MET's Board of Trustees. The minutes of that board meeting state as follows: "The Board voted to accept the easements, subject to the following conditions: (1) The donors proposed dispute resolution language should be modified ... ; (2) The deeds must contain a clause to state that MET may unilaterally make the 501(c) local land trust a co-grantee ... ; (3) Staff should ask for a "no subdivision" provision in the Servary deed, and also in the Gaynor and Schumacher deeds. This is most important for the Servary deed. However, the Board will accept the easements without this provision if necessary..." Respondent Kevin Gaynor testified at trial that he spoke to James Highsaw, MET's designated representative, by telephone on September 12, 1989, that Mr. Highsaw told him about the board meeting, and that he got the impression from the conversation that MET would not accept the easements unless the property owners agreed to the subdivision restriction. He testified that Mr. Highsaw told him that the Board of Trustees "wanted" the restriction and "felt strongly" about it. He assumed that this meant that the Board required the restriction as a condition of accepting the easements. On September 15, 1989, Mr. Highsaw sent a letter to respondent Kevin Gaynor stating as follows: "Dear Kevin: As I discussed with Barbara Parker this week, our Board of Trustees agreed to accept the easement offers on the condition that the proposed dispute resolution language be changed to read discuss the matter for 30 days instead of discuss referring the matter to arbitration. The Board also advised that the deeds should contain a provision stating that MET may unilaterally make the 501(c) local land trust a co-grantee of the easements. I will have to get the exact wording to you after further discussion with a Board member. The Board requests that the owners consider adding a "no subdivision" provision to the Gaynor, Schumacker/Parker, and Servary deeds to ensure that the properties remain intact under one ownership. Because of its smaller size, the Board especially recommends this provision for the Servary property. With such a provision, the second home site on each property could not be subdivided off and sold to a new owner as a separate lot. Please report this to each property owner, and discuss this request at your September 18th meeting and get back to me. I will proceed with asking the Board of Public Works to ratify the easements at their October 4th meeting. In the meantime, I will need your response to the "no subdivision" provision." According to respondents, Mr. Highsaw never stated specifically that MET's Board of Trustees would accept the easements without the subdivision restriction. Mr. Highsaw testified that he had no independent recollection of his telephone conversations with respondents in 1989, but that he drafted the minutes of the September 11, 1989 meeting of MET's Board of Trustees because that was one of his duties as the staff person in attendance. Mr. Highsaw also testified that he believed that he told respondents and the other property owners that MET's Board of Trustees had accepted their easements without the no-subdivision provision and that this information was conveyed in his September 15, 1989 letter. One of the other property owners, Barbara Parker, testified at trial as to her understanding of Mr. Highsaw's September 15, 1989 letter. She testified that it was clear that the request for a subdivision restriction was not a requirement and that she was certain that she informed respondents and the other property owners that she and her husband would not agree to a no-subdivision provision. No such subdivision restriction was included in the conservation easement that the Schumacher/Parker family donated to MET. In December 1997, respondents learned that their neighbors, Dale Schumacher and Barbara Parker, intended to build a second home on part of their property and that their conservation easement to MET did not include a subdivision restriction. On February 11, 2000, respondents filed a First Amended Complaint in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County against MET, seeking declaratory judgment for ultra vires action and raising claims of fraud in the inducement, negligent misrepresentation, and deceit, concealment, and nondisclosure. A court trial was held on March 15, 2000 in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County. At the close of respondents' case, MET moved for judgment on all counts. The court granted judgment in favor of MET on the claim for declaratory judgment for ultra vires action. In a written memorandum opinion and order, the Circuit Court found in favor of respondents on their claim for fraud and ordered rescission of the Deed of Conservation Easement, as well as all other written and oral agreements between the parties underlying the conservation easement. The Circuit Court entered judgment for MET on the claims for negligent misrepresentation and deceit, concealment, and nondisclosure. MET noted a timely appeal to the Court of Special Appeals, and respondents noted a timely cross-appeal. The intermediate appellate court held that the trial court did not err in finding that MET was fraudulent in its communications with respondents and, as a result of that holding, did not address the issues raised in respondents cross-appeal. Environmental Trust v. Gaynor, 140 Md. App. 433, 780 A.2d 1193 (2001). The majority of the panel held that the "legal conclusion that a false statement was made is supported by the undisputed fact that Mr. Highsaw affirmatively represented to Mr. Gaynor that he would send him an outline of the board's actions." Id. at 442, 780 A.2d at 1198. The court based its conclusion on its finding that Mr. Highsaw's letter to respondents "gave the impression of being a complete overview of the Board's decision when, in fact, it concealed the truth of the Board's actual decision." Id. at 442, 780 A.2d at 1198. The court concluded that the failure to state expressly that the no-subdivision provision was optional had the effect of defrauding respondents. See Id. at 443, 780 A.2d at 1198. Judge Deborah S. Eyler dissented, noting that the letter sent to Mr. Gaynor fully and accurately conveyed the precise decision made by the Board at the meeting. See Id. at 444-45, 780 A.2d at 1199 (Eyler, J., dissenting). Judge Eyler concluded that no fraud had occurred because "[t]here is nothing whatsoever in the language of the letter to suggest that the owners had to agree to the `no subdivision' provision in their deeds, or the easements would not be accepted." Id. at 444, 780 A.2d at 1199. We granted MET's petition for writ of certiorari to determine whether the courts below improperly determined that MET committed fraud in obtaining the conservation easement from respondents "when the State made no misrepresentation to acquire the donation but rather issued a letter that the trier-of-fact in this case found was `ambiguous' with respect to a proposed restriction on the donation." Environmental Trust v. Gaynor, 367 Md. 88, 785 A.2d 1291 (2001). II. In order to recover in a tort action for fraud or deceit, a plaintiff must show, by clear and convincing evidence: "`(1) that the defendant made a false representation to the plaintiff, (2) that its falsity was either known to the defendant or that the representation was made with reckless indifference as to its truth, (3) that the misrepresentation was made for the purpose of defrauding the plaintiff, (4) that the plaintiff relied on the misrepresentation and had the right to rely on it, and (5) that the plaintiff suffered compensable injury resulting from the misrepresentation.'" VF Corp. v. Wrexham Aviation, 350 Md. 693, 703, 715 A.2d 188, 192-93 (1998) (quoting Nails v. S & R, 334 Md. 398, 415, 639 A.2d 660, 668 (1994)). Except in a few special types of transactions not implicated in this case, Maryland recognizes no general duty upon a party to a transaction to disclose facts to the other party. See Feageas v. Sherrill, 218 Md. 472, 476, 147 A.2d 223, 225 (1958). While it is not necessary to produce proof of wrongful conduct in order to succeed in establishing constructive fraud that justifies the rescission of a contract, a plaintiff still must show the "breach of a legal or equitable duty which, irrespective of the moral guilt of the fraud feasor, the law declares fraudulent because of its tendency to deceive others, to violate public or private confidence, or to injure public interests." Ellerin v. Fairfax Savings, 337 Md. 216, 236 n.11, 652 A.2d 1117, 1126 n.11 (1995) (citations omitted). The facts established at trial in this case were legally insufficient to support a finding, by clear and convincing evidence, that MET made to respondents a misleading or false representation of fact constituting fraud. The minutes of the meeting of MET's Board of Trustees reflect that the Board voted to accept respondents' easement subject to two conditions not involved in the present controversy (regarding dispute resolution language and the local land trust) and that the Board intended that its representative seek a no-subdivision provision. Viewed in the light most favorable to respondents, Mr. Gaynor's testimony regarding the communications from MET's representative, Mr. Highsaw, subsequent to the meeting of the MET Board (namely, that he got the impression from Mr. Highsaw's telephone call after the meeting that the subdivision restrictions were mandatory) was not sufficient, as a matter of law, to constitute fraud. This is hardly sufficient evidence of the misleading statement required for a claim of fraudulent inducement, particularly in light of Mr. Gaynor's admission at trial that Mr. Highsaw's words had been to the effect that the Board "wanted" the restriction and "felt strongly" about it. Furthermore, the letter that Mr. Highsaw sent to respondents made clear, by its plain language, that MET was requesting that respondents and the other property owners "consider adding a `no subdivision' provision" to their deeds (emphasis added). Mr. Highsaw's letter specifically employed the verbs "request," "consider," and "recommend" in conveying the Board's position on the subdivision issue. There was nothing whatsoever in the language of the letter to suggest that respondents had to agree to include a subdivision restriction in their deeds as a requirement of MET's acceptance thereof. This is particularly apparent when the language regarding MET's request for a subdivision restriction is viewed along side the contrasting language requiring the other two mandatory provisions. The letter closed by informing respondents that Mr. Highsaw would be asking the Board of Public Works to ratify the easements and that he would need a response to the no-subdivision provision before doing so. Mr. Highsaw's letter did not ask for a response with respect to the proposed dispute resolution and local land trust provisions because those provisions, unlike the subdivision restriction, were mandatory. Failure to state more explicitly that MET would accept the conservation easement without a subdivision restriction was not sufficient, by itself, to constitute fraud, as MET had no duty to do so. There was no fiduciary or confidential relationship existing between respondents and MET that would have required such a disclosure in order to avoid any breach of trust. See Gingell v. Backus, 246 Md. 83, 92, 227 A.2d 349, 353 (1967). The letter from Mr. Highsaw to respondents truthfully and accurately conveyed the decision made by the Board of Trustees at the meeting and concealed nothing from respondents, who admitted at trial that Mr. Highsaw never stated to them that the no-subdivision restriction was required. Therefore, as a matter of law, respondents failed to produce proof amounting to clear and convincing evidence that MET committed fraud. JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS REVERSED. CASE REMANDED TO THAT COURT WITH DIRECTIONS TO REVERSE THE JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY AND TO REMAND THE CASE TO THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR ENTRY OF JUDGMENT CONSISTENT WITH THIS OPINION. COSTS IN THIS COURT AND THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS TO BE PAID BY RESPONDENTS. Source: http://www.specialtylaw.com/ELC0211/CASES/0436.htm 

Mass Balance - This term describes a scientific method for evaluating the sources, transport and fate of contaminants entering a water system, and the effects of those contaminants on water quality. In a mass balance budget the amounts of a contaminant that enters a river or lake--minus the quantity that is buried in sediment or otherwise stored, transformed or broken down -- must equal the amount leaving the system. Once a mass balance budget is determined for a particular pollutant, its long-term effects on water quality can be simulated by mathematical models and that information can be used to set priorities for research and remedial action. - Great Lakes glossary

Mass burn facility - A facility in which the pretreatment of MSW includes only inspection and simple separation to remove oversize, hazardous, or explosive materials. Large mass burn facilities have capacities of 3000 tons of MSW per day or more. Modular plants with capacities as low as 25 tons per day have been built. Mass burn technologies represent over 75% of all the MSW-to-energy facilities constructed in the United States to date. The major components of a mass burn facility include refuse receiving and handling, combustion and steam generation, flue gas cleaning, power generation, condenser cooling water, residue hauling, and storage. - Bioenergy Glossary

Mass curve - A graph of the cumulative values of a hydrologic quantity (such as precipitation or runoff), generally as ordinate, plotted against time or date as abscissa. (See Double-mass curve, and Residual-mass curve.) - USGS

Mass Flow - Movement of nutrients with the overall flow of water to plant roots.

Mass Loading - The mass of material entering an area per unit time, such as phosphorus loading, generally expressed as metric tons per year. - Everglades Plan glossary

Mass Movement/Wasting - The down-slope movement of large masses of earth material by the force of gravity. The downslope movement of earth caused by gravity. Includes but is not limited to landslides, rock falls, debris avalanches, and creep. It does not include surface erosion. (BLM)

Mast - The fruit of flowering trees used by wildlife for food. - USDA/FS

Master Program Management Plan (MPMP) - A document which describes the framework and processes to be used by the USACE and the SFWMD for managing and monitoring implementation of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. - Everglades Plan glossary

Master Title Plat - A graphic representation of each township showing all actions affecting title. (BLM)

MAT - Federal Aid-Management Assistance Team

MAT - Military Acoustic Testing

Match - State or local funds required by the Federal government to complement Federal funds for a project.

Materials and Energy Balance - Accounting tables that provide information on the material input into an economy delivered by the natural environments, the transformation and use of that input in economic processes (extraction, conversion, manufacturing, consumption) and its return to the natural environment as residuals (wastes). The accounting concepts involved are founded on the first law of thermodynamics, which states that matter (mass/energy) is neither created nor destroyed by any physical process. (UN)

Materials recovery facility (MRF) - A recycling facility for municipal solid waste. - Bioenergy Glossary

MATHCOUNTS - NSPE program for 7th and 8th grade students

Matric Potential - The amount of work an infinitesimal quantity of water in the soil can do as it moves from the soil to a pool of free water of the same composition and at the same location. This work is less than zero, or negative work, thus reported in negative values. Matric potential nearly equals water potential in non-salty soils.

Matrix - The least fragmented, most continuous pattern element of a landscape; the vegetation type that is most continuous over a landscape.

Matrix Lands - Federal land outside of reserves and special management areas that will be available for timber harvest at varying levels. (BLM)

Matrix Organization - An organizational structure that uses functional supervisors as well as project supervisors to manage the same people, depending upon the assignment. - Everglades Plan glossary

MATS - Metropolitan Area Transportation Study

Mature Seral Stage - The period in the life of a forest stand from culmination of mean annual increment to an old-growth stage or to 200 years. Conifer and hardwood growth gradually decline, and larger trees increase significantly in size. This is a time of gradually increasing stand diversity. Understory development increases in response to openings in the canopy from disease, insects, and windthrow. Vertical diversity increases. Larger snags are formed. Big game hiding cover, thermal cover, and some forage are present. - BLM 2. Forests composed primarily of co-dominant trees, with canopies that vary vertically, horizontally, or both. Generally refers to trees 80 to 120 years old or greater, depending on species and site conditions. The age and structure of mature seral vary significantly by forest type and from one biogeoclimatic zone to another. - Biodiversity Guidebook Glossary

Mature Timber - Trees that have attained full development, especially height, and are in full seed production.

Maturity - The date at which the final repayment of a loan is due; by extension, a measure of the scheduled life of the loan. - Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) Glossary

Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) - The maximum permissible level of a contaminant in water delivered to any user of a public water system. MCLs are enforceable standards. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) - A number that is associated with no adverse health effects from drinking water containing a particular contaminant over a lifetime; a nonenforceable, ideal health goal issued as part of the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Maximum Sustained Yield - Maximum use that a renewable resource can sustain without impairing its renewability through natural growth or replenishment. (UN)

May (in place of the verbs Will or Must) - Term used to free a document or its author from legal repercussions.

MB - Migratory Birds

MB - Morally Bankrupt

MB - Mountain Bicycle

MBCC - Migratory Bird Conservation Commission

MBCC - Migratory Bird Conservation Committee (1993)

MBCC - Migratory Bird Conservation Council

MBCC - The Migratory Bird Conservation Commission (DOI/USFWS partner in land acquisition, couched in the phrase 'migratory bird habitat expansion.')

MBF - Thousand Board Feet

MBITA - Monterey Bay International Trade Association

MBL - Multinational Bank Loans

MBM - meat and bone meal

MBNAD - The Moccasin Bend National Archaeological District (a unit of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park in Tennessee. The Moccasin Bend National Archaeological District will preserve extensive Native American cultural and historical resources located there -- including the Trail of Tears -- in addition to Civil War battlefield sites and other related historical resources.)

MBNMS - Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

MBNMS - The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, also known as 'The Sanctuary' http://bonita.mbnms.nos.noaa.gov/ 

MBO - Malheur Bird Observatory

MBONE - Multi-Cast Internet Backbone

MBR - Mutually Beneficial Relationships

MBTA - The Migratory Bird Treaty Act

MBWG - Marine Boundary Working Group of the U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)

MC - Market Capital

MC - Material Collection

MC - Measuring Change

MC - Mid-sized Companies

MC - Mineral Commodities

MC - Mission Critical

MC - Mitigation Crediting

MC - Moisture Coalescence

MC - Multi-Culturalism

MC - Museum Collections (DOI)

MCA - Maryland Coal Association

MCA - Multi-Commodity Association

MCAWQP - Mammoth Cave Area Water Quality Project (Kentucky)

MCB - Mitigation & Conservation Banking http://www.mitigationbankingconference.com  and http://nepa.fhwa.dot.gov/RENepa/renepa.nsf/0/482d20a58b006ae985256c790001f562?OpenDocument 

MCC - Mississippi Chemical Corporation

MCC - Montana Consensus Council

MCC - Municipal Code Corporation

MCCF - McCune Charitable Foundation

MCDF - Master Code Description File

MCF - Madison Conservation Foundation

MCI - Multinational Corporate Interests

McIntire-Stennis Act of 1962 - P.L. 87-788 (October 10, 1962) makes funding available to the state agricultural experiment stations and to forestry schools and programs at the land grant colleges of agriculture for forestry research. The research covers such areas as reforestation, woodlands and related watershed management, outdoor recreation, wildlife habitats and wood utilization. Many of the research projects are performed cooperatively with scientists at the laboratories of USDA's Forest Service. USDA distributes McIntire-Stennis funds by a formula that allocates $10,000 to each state, with 40% of the remainder being distributed according to a state's share of the nation's total commercial forest land, 40% according to the value of its timber cut annually, and 20% according to its state appropriation for forestry research.

MCITAC - Marietta College International Trade Assistance Center

McKelvey Box - Two dimensional scheme that combines criteria of increasing geologic assurance (undiscovered/possible/probable/proved reserves) with those of increasing economic feasibility (sub-economic "resources" as compared with economic "reserves" depending on price and cost levels and available extraction technologies). (UN)

The McMahon Act of 1946 - Established the Atomic Energy Commission. Commission uranium purchases created an industry boom, until purchases ended in 1970.

MCN - Manure and Crop Nutrients

MCP - Management Control Program (DOI)

MCP - Mega-Cities Project

MCP - Municipal Compliance Plan

MCPAs - Marine and Coastal Protected Areas (UNEP)

MCPP - Mackinac Center for Public Policy

MCRL - Mid-Continent Regional Laboratory

MCS - Mineral Commodity Specialists

MCS - Mineral Commodity Studies

MCSC - Monell Chemical Senses Center

MCSP- Major Civil Society Partner(s) (UNFPA)

MCTR - Missile Technology Control Regime

MCUASCC - McGill University Avian Science and Conservation Center

MCW - Marine, Coastal and Watershed

MCWMF - Mission Critical Water Management Facilities

MD - Manifest Destiny

MD - Market Data

MD - Market Driven

MD - Meteorological Discussion

MD - Mineral Deposits

MD - Mole Drain

MDA - Model Design and Assumptions

MDB - Multilateral Development Banks

MDCB - The Methods and Data Comparability Board (aka The Methods Board) USGS/USEPA

MDCST - Marital Deduction Credit Shelter Trust

MDF - The Mule Deer Foundation (also TMDF) http://www.muledeer.org/ 

MDGs - United Nations (UN) Development Goals

MDM - UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme (yes, this acronym is correct) http://www.unesco.org/webworld/mdm/index_2.html 

MDR - Medium Density Residential

MDT - Mobile Data Terminal (GPS)

MDZ - Main Discovery Zone (mining)

ME - Management Emphasis

ME - Management Entity

ME - Market Environmentalism

ME - Mechanical Engineer

ME - Mechanical Engineering

ME - Mineral Economics

ME - Mineral Exploration

ME - Multifaceted Education

ME - Multiplier Effect (of the dollar)

ME - Mutually Exclusive

MEA - Multi-scale Ecological Assessment

Mean annual increment - The annual average growth rate for a tree, computed over its entire life cycle. - Bioenergy Glossary

Mean annual increment of growth - The total increase in size or volume of individual trees. Or, it can refer to the increase in size and volume of a stand of trees at a particular age, divided by that age in years.

Mean disturbance size - A measure of natural patch size in this Natural Disturbance Type relative to other NDTs. - Biodiversity Guidebook Glossary

Meander - To follow a winding course of a stream. A line (usually the center) that follows the sinuosities of a stream. "Meander" is not synonymous with "meander line". If a deed runs "to a stream; thence with the meanders of said stream", etc., it usually means the line which follows the sinuosities of that stream, and the stream is the boundary. So the deed would be running to the center of the stream (but only if the stream is not navigable), not merely to the banks or the surveyed meander line. - Cadastral Data glossary

Meander amplitude - Distance between points of maximum curvature of successive meanders of opposite phase in a direction normal to the general course of the meander belt, measured between centerlines of channels. - USGS

Meander belt - Area between lines drawn tangential to the extreme limits of fully developed meanders. - USGS

Meander breadth - The distance between the lines used to define the meander belt. - USGS

Meander Corner - Corner monuments established according to the U.S. Public Land Surveys at the intersection of section lines with the meander lines of all meanderable bodies of water. - Cadastral Data glossary

Meander Length - Distance in the general course of the meanders between corresponding points of successive meanders of the same phase. Twice the distance between successive points of inflection of the meander wave. (Leopold and Wolman, 1957, p. 55.) - USGS

Meander Line - The traverse of the margin of a permanent natural body of water. In original surveys, meander lines were not run as boundary lines, but for the purpose of defining the sinuosities of the bank or shoreline, and for ascertaining the quantity of land remaining after segregation of the water area. - Cadastral Data glossary

Measure of Economic Welfare (MEW) - Adjusted measure of total national output, including only the consumption and investment items that contribute directly to economic well-being. Calculated as additions to gross national product (GNP), including the value of leisure and the underground economy, and deductions such as environmental damage. It is also known as net economic welfare (NEW) (Samuelson and Nordhaus, 1992). (UN)

MEB - Management Institute for Environment and Business-World Resources Institute (part of the World Resources Institute)

MEC - Mendocino Environmental Center

MEC - Mineral Exploration Company

Mechanical Erosion Control - Use of such produced structures to control erosion as terraces, dams, retards, baffles, and so forth, in contrast with vegetative control. (UN)

Mechanical Treatment Technology - Waste water treatment of a physical and mechanical nature that results in decanted effluents and separate sludge. Mechanical processes are also used in combination with biological and advanced unit operations. Mechanical treatment includes processes such as sedimentation and flotation. (UN)

MECRI - Maine Conservation Rights Institute

MEDC - Montana Ecosystems Defense Council

Mediation - Involves the intervention into a dispute of an impartial and neutral third party, who has no decision-making authority but who will procedurally assist the parties to reach voluntarily an acceptable settlement of issues in dispute. - DOI - alternative dispute resolution glossary

Medium - Medium (in connection with pollution) - The substance in which pollution is located or through which it is transported, especially, air, water and soil.

Medium Density Housing - Comprehensively designed, two- and three-story housing developments. (UN)

Medium Density Residential - Areas for and single-family detached residential development, but may include limited low-density office and/or retail uses, provided that the nature of the commerce is to support the surrounding neighborhood and that the area is sufficiently buffered from adjacent residential property.

Medium textured soil - Very fine sandy loam, loam, silt loam, or silt. - USDA

MEEA - Missouri Environmental Education Association http://www.meea.org/ 

MEEF - The Marine Environmental Education Foundation

Meeting of Members of the UN Security Council - Like the Arria meeting, this meeting is not a meeting of the Council but a meeting of members of the Council. The modality is used to enable the Council members to hear the views and representations of dignitaries from outside of the Council. The format was used when the members of the Council met the Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Mr. Jesse Helms, in January 2000. Chair - UNSC President. Involvement - Non-Council members are allowed to attend as observers, but only members of the Council can make statements or interventions. There is also no official representative of the Secretariat who would attend the meeting. Venue - UNSC Chamber. However, the country plaques are removed to emphasize the fact that it is not an official meeting of the Council. Record - No official records are taken. Publicity - Although notice of the meeting is not posted in the UN Journal, the member proposing the meeting is charged with informing the public about the meeting.

Megafauna - Large extinct fauna, generally from the late Quaternary period.

Megalopolis - Term used to designate large coalescing super-cities that are forming in diverse parts of the world; used specifically to refer to the Boston-Washington multi-metropolitan corridor on the northeastern seaboard of the United States, but the term is now used generically with a lower-case m as a synonym for conurbation.

Mega-Reg - A term meaning a large set of regulations that some have used to describe the extensive new rules issued by USDA in July 1996 that are aimed at controlling pathogens in meat and poultry products, including mandatory hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) plans.

MEIC - Montana Environmental Information Center

MEIS - Michigan Education Information System (student ID numbers)

MEJF - Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation

MELP - Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks

MEMA - Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association

Member States - Countries that are members of the United Nations. - United Nations Charter / Human Rights Glossary

Memoranda of Understanding - A memorandum of understanding is an international instrument of a less formal kind. It often sets out operational arrangements under a framework international agreement. It is also used for the regulation of technical or detailed matters. It is typically in the form of a single instrument and does not require ratification. They are entered into either by States or International Organizations. The United Nations usually concludes memoranda of understanding with Member States in order to organize its peacekeeping operations or to arrange UN Conferences. The United Nations also concludes memoranda of understanding on cooperation with other international organizations. (UN)

Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) - An agreement between federal agencies, or divisions/units within an agency or department, which delineate tasks, jurisdiction, standard operating procedures or other matters which the agencies or units are duly authorized and directed to conduct. Sometimes referred to as a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) - A type of short-term agreement documenting mutual assistance relationships where no funds are obligated (NPS 2001a). The Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) typically uses this type of agreement to manage park buildings (NPS 1994a). - DOI/NPS http://www.nps.gov/cuva/management/rmprojects/ruraleis/ 

MEMS - Mineral Economics and Management Society

MEP - The Massachusetts Environmental Police

MEP - Maximum Ecosystem Protection

MERC - The Chicago Mercantile Exchange

Mercado Commun del Sur (MERCOSUR) - A customs union between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, which came into effect on January 1, 1995. Chile and Bolivia have become associate members.

Merchant Marine Act of 1920 - P.L. 66-261, also known as the Jones Act, provides for the promotion and maintenance of a U.S. merchant marine. Provisions dealing with cabotage (i.e., with coastal shipping) require that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed wholly by U.S. citizens. In addition, amendments to the Jones Act, known as the Cargo Preference Act, provide permanent legislation for the transportation of waterborne cargoes in U.S.-flag vessels.

Merchantable - Logs from which at least of the volume can be converted into sound grades of lumber ("standard and better" framing lumber). - Bioenergy Glossary

MERCI - Management and Evaluation of River Catch and effort Information

Mercosur - Launched in 1995, this Southern Cone Common Market established a free trade zone and customers union linking Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.

Mercury - Heavy metal that can accumulate in the environment and is highly toxic if breathed or swallowed. (UN)

Mercury - A very toxic heavy metal unique because it is liquid at room temperature. - UNEP Children's Glossary

MERIT - Multi-Species/Ecosystem Recovery Implementation Team http://www.nps.gov/ever/current/ever2000.pdf 

Meromictic lake - A lake in which some water remains partly or wholly unmixed with the main water mass at circulation periods is said to be meromictic. The process leading to a meromictic state is termed meromixis The perennially stagnant deep layer of a meromictic lake is called the monimolimnion. The part of a meromictic lake in which free circulation can occur is called the mixolimnion. The boundary between the monimolimnion and the mixolimnion is called the chemocline. (Hutchinson, 1957, p. 480. ) - USGS

Mesa - A flat-topped natural elevation or broad terrace. - NPS Ecology and Restoration Glossary

Mesic - Describing sites with a moderate amount of moisture, which support plants that require a moderate amount of moisture. - USDA/FS

Mesophilic - An optimum temperature for bacterial growth in an enclosed digester (25ø to 40øC). - Bioenergy Glossary

Mesohaline - The next salinity region (after Oligohahine) of an estuary, of typically five to fifteen parts per thousand. - Everglades Plan glossary

MET - Minorities in Education for Tomorrow

Metadata - Information about data. - Everglades Plan glossary

Metadata - data about data. Geospatial metadata describe the content, quality, and other characteristics about geographic data sets, and also how to locate and acquire the geographic data sets. - Cadastral Data glossary

Metallic-Mineral - A mineral containing one or more metals such as copper [malachite - Cu2(CO3)(OH)2], lead [galena - PbS], or zinc [sphalerite - (Zn, Fe)S]. - BLM (DOI) Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument DEIS Glossary 2. Those minerals whose native form is metallic or whose principal products after refinement are metallic. - BLM

Metamorphic Rock - Igneous or sedimentary rock that has changed because of high temperature, high pressure, and the chemical environment while deep in the crust of the earth. Examples: marble, slate, gneiss.

Metapopulation - Multiple populations of an organism within an area in which interbreeding could occur, but does not due to geographic barriers. - NPS Ecology and Restoration Glossary

Metapopulation - A set of interacting populations. - DOI/USFWS http://rcwrecovery.fws.gov/finalrecoveryplan.pdf 

Metavolcanics - An informal term for volcanic rocks that show evidence of having been subjected to mineralogical, chemical or structural change.

Metes - The exact length of each line and the exact quantity of land in square feet, rods or acres; however, when used in the term "metes and Bounds" it does not necessarily mean that the length of a boundary is given. A parcel of land bounded in the deed description by the lands of named persons, rather than by bearings and dimensions would qualify as land described by metes and bounds. - Cadastral Data glossary

Metes And Bounds - The boundaries of land established by reference to natural or artificial monuments along the boundaries as distinguished from boundaries established by beginning at a fixed starting point and running stated compass courses and stated distances. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Metes and Bounds States - Not on the US Public Land Survey System are the six New England states, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Hawaii and parts of Ohio.

Methane - Colorless, non-poisonous and flammable gaseous hydrocarbon created by anaerobic decomposition of organic compounds. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. (UN) A gas created by anaerobic decomposition of organic compounds. Natural gas is composed mostly of methane. Methane is a so-called greenhouse gas (see greenhouse effect). Agricultural wastes, especially animal wastes, are a major source of methane releases to the atmosphere.

Methanogen - A methane-producing organism. - Bioenergy Glossary (Note: This may even be a COW.)

Methanol - A liquid alcohol (also known as methyl alcohol or wood alcohol), formed in the destructive distillation of wood or made synthetically, and used especially as an alternative fuel, a gasoline additive, a solvent, antifreeze, or a denaturant for ethyl alcohol. As a gasoline additive it lowers the carbon monoxide emissions but increases hydrocarbon emissions.

The Methods and Data Comparability Board (Methods Board) - A partnership of water-quality experts from Federal agencies, States, Tribes, municipalities, industry, and private organizations who all share a commitment to developing water-quality monitoring approaches that facilitate collaboration and comparability among all data-gathering organizations. Both the Methods Board, and its parent organization, the National Water Quality Monitoring Council are co-chaired by USGS and USEPA. The Council and Board are workgroups under the Advisory Committee on Water Information (ACWI), chartered in 1997 to develop a voluntary, integrated, and nationwide water quality monitoring strategy. ACWI member organizations see NEMI as an important element of this strategy. A second tool developed by the Methods Board is a common set of data elements for documenting the content and quality of monitoring data, adopted by ACWI in May 2000. These Water Quality Data Elements , also available on the Web, were also recently adopted by the Environmental Data Standards Council, a USEPA, state, and tribal partnership, and the Environmental Commissioners of the States. "The State regulators who manage the nation's water quality programs are pleased to see the development of this database because we expect it to assist environmental professionals in selecting appropriate analytical methods for water quality investigations," said Robbi Savage, Executive Director of the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators.

The Methods Board - See The Methods and Data Comparability Board

Methods and Procedure Analysis - See Reengineering.

Methyl Bromide - A fumigant used for soil treatment, to control pests in post harvest storage, for killing pests on fruits, vegetables, and grain going into export trade, for plant quarantine treatment, and for fumigation of buildings. Because methyl bromide contributes to depletion of stratospheric ozone, it is subject to phase out requirements of the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting Substances and Section 602 of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Montreal Protocol and Vienna Adjustments require a complete phase out in industrialized countries by the year 2010, and a future freeze in developing country use. The Clean Air Act bans U.S. production and import as of January 1, 2001. The produce industry in the United States and abroad are seeking exemptions for some agricultural applications after the phase out dates. U.S. growers have petitioned the EPA to extend the domestic phase out date to be the same as other industrialized countries under the Montreal Protocol. All methyl bromide regulations so far exempt quarantine and pre-shipment treatment of agricultural commodities; however, this exemption is being reevaluated after completion of additional scientific assessments. Methyl bromide is regulated as a pesticide under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as a hazardous substance under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and is subject to reporting requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA).

Methylmercury - A particularly toxic organic form of mercury that concentrates in aquatic food webs. - Everglades Plan glossary

Metric Ton - 1.102 short tons or 2,204 pounds. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

METRO - METROpolitan

Metropolis - Urban agglomeration consisting of a (central) city and its suburban ring.

Metropolitan County - One that is included in an MA (see metropolitan area). - USDA/FS

Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) - The forum for cooperative transportation decisionmaking for the metropolitan planning area, as defined by Federal Transportation Planning Regulation 23 CFR 450.104. MPOs designated prior to the promulgation of this regulation remain in effect until redesignated in accordance with 450.106 and nothing in this part is intended to require or encourage such redesignation. NPS - DOI

Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) - An agency designated by the governor (or governors in multi-state areas) to administer the federally required transportation planning process in a metropolitan area. An MPO must be in place in every urbanized area over 50,000 population. The MPO is responsible for the 20-year long range plan and the Transportation Improvement Program. The official name for an MPO may also be Council of Governments, Planning Association, Planning Authority, Regional or Area Planning Council, or Regional or Area Planning Commission. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) Provides procedures under which local governments and governors may designate or redesignate an MPO. - DOT 2. That organization designated as being responsible, together with the State, for conducting the continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive planning process under 23 U.S.C. 134 and 49 U.S.C. 1607. It is the forum for cooperative transportation decisionmaking for the metropolitan planning area. 40 CFR § 51.392; 23 CFR § 450.104.

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) - A Census Bureau-defined urbanized area of at least 50,000 inhabitants with a total metropolitan population of at least 100,000. Additional contiguous counties are included in the MSA if they meet certain requirements of commuting to the central counties and other selected requirements of metropolitan character (such as population density and percent urban). - USDA/FS

Metropolitan transportation plan - The official intermodal transportation plan that is developed and adopted through the metropolitan transportation planning process for the metropolitan planning area. 23 CFR § 450.104.

MF - Mississippi Flyway

MFA - Management Focus Area

MFA - Multi-Functional Agriculture (UN)

MFCMA - Magnuson Act - The Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act

MFE - Managing For Extinction - (BLM)

MFE - Mineral Filler Extenders

MFF - The Merck Family Fund

MFM - Modern Farm Movement

MFMU - Montanans For Multiple Use

MFN - Most Favored Nation

MFNS - Most Favored Nation Status

MFOA - Montana Forest Owners Association

MFP - Management First Program

MFP - Management Framework Plan (DOI)

MFP - Multifamily Property

MFRC - Methods For Resolving Conflict

M4X4A - Montana 4X4 Association

MFS - Marine Forests Society

MFSA - Metal Finishing Suppliers' Association

MFZ - Melones Fault Zone

MG - Matching Grant

MG - Media Gatekeepers (the Ad Council)

MGD - Million Gallons Per Day

MGL - Marginal Grazing Land

MGPP - Mission, Goals, and Purposes Policy (USFWS)

MGPUNWRS - Management and General Public Use of the National Wildlife Refuge System

MH - Manufactured Housing

MH - Mental Hold

MH - Migration Habitat

MH - Mitigation Habitat

MH - Modular Housing

MHA - Metropolitan Housing Authority

MHC - Millennial Housing Commission

MHEP - Modified Habitat Evaluation Procedure

MHEPR - Mitigation Habitat Evaluation Procedures Report

MI - Manhattan Institute

MI - Manipulation of Intelligence

MI - Micro-Irrigation

MI - Mineral Inventory

MIB - Main Intergovernmental Bodies

MIC - Maintain, Improve and Custodial allotment management categories - BLM

MIC (Maintain, Improve and Custodial) Allotment Category Criteria - Maintain Category Criteria: a. Present range condition is satisfactory. b. Allotments have moderate or high resource production potential and are producing near their potential. c. No serious resource-use conflicts or controversies exist. d. Opportunities may exist for positive economic return from public investments. e. Present management appears to be satisfactory. f. Other criteria appropriate to Environmental Impact Statement area. Improve Category Criteria: a. Present range condition is unsatisfactory. b. Allotments have moderate to high resource production potential and are producing at low to moderate levels. c. Serious resource-use conflicts and controversies exits. d. Opportunities exist for positive economic return from public investments. e. Present management appears unsatisfactory. f. Other criteria appropriate to Environmental Impact Statement area. Custodial Category Criteria: a. Present range condition is not a factor. b. Allotments have low resource production potential, and are producing near their own potential. c. Limited resource-use conflicts and controversies exist. d. Opportunities for positive economic return on public investment do not exist or are constrained by technological or economic factors. e. Present management appears satisfactory or is the only logical practice under existing resource conditions. f. Other criteria appropriate to Environmental Impact Statement area. - BLM

MICE - Management Information Capability for Enforcement

Microbes - Minute organisms such as viruses, bacteria, fungi and protozoa, some of which cause disease. They are also called microbiota or micro-organisms. (UN)

Microbial Metallurgy - Use of bacteria for separating metals from ores. (UN)

Microclimate - The distinctive climate of a restricted geographic area as defined within the more encompassing climate of a region. - NPS Architecture, Fortifications, and Preservation glossary

Micro Climate - Climatic structure of a small area. (UN) The climate of a small site. It may differ from the climate at large of the area due to aspect, tree cover (or the absence of tree cover), or exposure to winds.

Microearthquake - An earthquake having a magnitude of 2 or less on the Richter scale. - USGS Earthquake glossary

Microhabitat (Microsite, Microenvironment) - A small area with physical and ecological characteristics that distinguish it from its immediate surrounding area. - NPS Ecology and Restoration Glossary

Micronutrient - A chemical element necessary in only small amounts (usually less than several parts per million in the plant) for the growth of plants. Examples: boron, copper, iron, and zinc.

MicroREMS - Micro-Remote Environmental Monitoring System

Microseism - A more or less continuous motion in the Earth that is unrelated to an earthquake and that has a period of 1.0 to 9.0 seconds. It is caused by a variety of natural and artificial agents. - USGS Earthquake glossary

Microtine - Refers to an assemblage of small rodent species. - DOI/NPS http://www.nps.gov/cuva/management/rmprojects/ruraleis/ 

Mid seral species - Shade intolerant species, primarily Douglas-fir trees and vine maple shrubs. These species typically follow the early seral species in natural succession. - Bioenergy Glossary

Mid Seral Stage - The period in the life of a forest stand from crown closure to first merchantability. Usually ages 15 through 40. Due to stand density, the brush, grass, or herbs rapidly decrease in the stand. Hiding cover is usually present. - BLM 2. A plant community with a species composition that is 26-50% of the potential natural community one would expect to find on that ecological site. - BLM

Mid seral treatment - A treatment in which a stand of predominately mid seral species will be established. - Bioenergy Glossary

Mid-Term - A scope of activity or action including the present through at least 10 to 15 years into the future.

Midden - An archaeological term meaning "garbage pile."

Middle Ground - A term used in the management of visual resources, or scenery. It refers to the visible terrain beyond the foreground where individual trees are still visible but do not stand out distinctly from the stand. That part of a scene or landscape, which hits between the foreground and background zones.

Middle-Income Country - A country having an annual gross national product (GNP) per capita equivalent to more than $765 but less than $9,386 in 1995. The standard of living is higher than in low-income countries, and people have access to more goods and services, but many people still cannot meet their basic needs. There are currently about 67 middle-income countries with populations of one million or more. Their combined population is more than 1.5 billion. (UNESCO)(WB-UN)

Midpoint (Rectangular Survey) - Halfway between two section corners; halfway between a 1/4 corner and a section corner, etc. - Cadastral Data glossary

Migratory - A group of people, or of birds, fishes, or plants that move from one region to another with the change of seasons or climate. - BLM (DOI) Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument DEIS Glossary

Migratory Bird Conservation Act (1929) - Establishes procedures for acquisition by purchase, rental, or gift of areas approved by Migratory Bird Conservation Commission.

Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act (1934) - Authorized the opening of part of a refuge to waterfowl hunting.

Migratory Bird Treaty Act (1918) - Designates the protection of migratory birds as a Federal responsibility. This Act enables the setting of seasons, and other regulations including the closing of areas, Federal or non-Federal, to the hunting of migratory birds.

MII - Mineral Information Institute

MILC - Milk Income Loss Contract (authorized by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002)

Militarization - The process of establishing and maintaining a large military establishment and arsenal. (UNESCO)

Milk marketing orders - See Federal milk marketing orders. - USDA-Economic Research Service Farm and Commodity Policy Glossary of Policy Terms

Mill - A plant in which ore is treated for the recovery of valuable minerals or valuable minerals are concentrated into a smaller bulk for shipping to a smelter or other reduction works. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Mill residue - Wood and bark residues produced in processing logs into lumber, plywood, and paper. - Bioenergy Glossary

Millsite - A site located on nonmineral land and used for mining or milling purposes. Millsites are limited to 5 acres and may be located either by metes and bounds or by legal subdivision. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

MILSATCOM - Military Satellite Communications

MIMA - Mineral Insulation Manufacturers Association

Mine Drainage - Any water forming on or discharging from a mining operation. See Acid Rock Drainage. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Mine Tailing Impoundment - An area closed at its lower end by a constraining wall or dam into which mill effluents are run and from which, after solids have settled out, clear water may be returned via penstocks and piping. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Mineral - Any solid or fluid inorganic substance that can be extracted from the earth for profit. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Mineral Claimant - A person, association, corporation, or government that claims minerals rights or title in the public lands. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Mineral Entry - The location of mining claims by an individual to protect his/her right to a valuable mineral. - BLM (DOI) Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument DEIS Glossary

Mineral Estate - The ownership of the minerals at or beneath the surface of the land. (BLM)

Mineral Materials - Refer to saleable minerals. - BLM (DOI) Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument DEIS Glossary 2. Materials such as common varieties of sand, stone, gravel, pumice, pumicite, and clay, that are not obtainable under the mining or leasing laws but that can be acquired under the Mineral Materials Act of 1947, as amended. See Common Variety Minerals. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Mineral Potential Classification System - Method for assessing the potential for the presence of a concentration of one or more energy and/or mineral resources. (BLM)

Mineral Potential -

Mineral Potential, High - Those lands currently producing oil or gas or having high current industry interest. - BLM (DOI) Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument DEIS Glossary

Mineral Potential, Moderate - Those lands which have had oil and gas shows in favorable geologic environments. - BLM (DOI) Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument DEIS Glossary

Mineral Potential, Low - Those lands where either the geologic environment appears to be favorable for the accumulation of oil and gas, or where little or no information is available to evaluate the oil and gas potential. - BLM (DOI) Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument DEIS Glossary

Mineral Prospect - A mineral property whose value has not been proved by exploration. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Mineral Rights - Ownership of all minerals, including all rights needed for access, exploration, development, mining, ore dressing, and transportation. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Mineral Soil - Soil that consists mainly of inorganic material, such as weathered rock, rather than organic matter.

Mineral Withdrawal - A withdrawal for public lands that are potentially valuable for leasable minerals. This precludes the disposal of the lands except with a mineral reservation, or unless the lands are found to not be valuable for minerals. - BLM (DOI) Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument DEIS Glossary 2. A formal order that withholds federal lands and minerals from entry under the Mining Law of 1872 and closes the area to mineral location (staking mining claims) and development. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs. 3. Closure of land to mining laws, including sales, leasing and location, subject to valid existing rights. - BLM

Minerals - Mineral deposits having some resource value such as coal, sand and gravel, precious and semi-precious metals, fossils, and gemstones.

Mines, quarries, and pits - Uses of land for extraction of ores, minerals, and rock materials; a subcategory of the Land cover/use category Barren land. - National Resources Inventory

Mineralization - The processes taking place in the earth's crust resulting in the formation of valuable minerals or ore bodies. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Mini-trial - A structured settlement process in which the disputants agree on a procedure for presenting their cases in highly abbreviated versions (usually no more than a few hours or a few days) to senior officials for each side with authority to settle the dispute. This process allows those in senior positions to see firsthand the relative strengths and weaknesses of their cases and can serve as a basis for more fruitful negotiations. Often, a neutral presides over the hearing, and may, subsequently, mediate the dispute or help parties evaluate their cases. - DOI - alternative dispute resolution glossary

Minimum Flows and Levels (MFLs) - A calculation that uses the best available information to calculate a minimum flow and minimum level for each water body, and that reflects seasonal variations when appropriate; Florida Statute requires water management districts to set water levels for each major body of water at which further withdrawals would be significantly to the water resources or ecology of the area. - Everglades Plan glossary

Minimal Habitat Conditions - Major alterations in a watershed, in water quality or quantity, in natural stream habitat, or in riparian areas, characterized by few or no large trees or mature native vegetation in riparian areas, little or no large woody debris, few and shallow pools, and excessive sedimentation of the streambed. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Minimum Heights - The amount of plant material remaining during the grazing season. BLM-DOI

Minimal Nutritional Value - Refers to foods that may not be sold in competition with the school lunch and breakfast programs. These are foods that USDA has determined contain little if any nutritional value. For example, sugar candy, soda pop without fruit juices, and chewing gum are considered to be foods of minimal nutritional value. Candy containing nuts or chocolate is considered to have some nutritional value.

Minimum Harvest Age - The lowest age of a forest stand to be scheduled for final harvest. (BLM)

Minimum Impact Filming - A filming activity which does not involve: impact to sensitive habitat or species; impact to Native American Indian sacred rites; use of explosives or major use of pyrotechnics; more than minimum impacts to land, air, or water; use of exotic species with danger of introduction into the area; adverse impacts to sensitive surface resources including historic, cultural, or paleontological sites; sensitive soils; relict environments; wetlands or riparian areas; or ACECs; or use of heavy equipment. In addition, if filming activity is proposed to occur in a Wilderness Study Area, Wild and Scenic River corridor, HR 1500 area, or National Historic Register Site, to be "minimum impacting", none of the following can occur: use of vehicles off designated routes; set construction; significant restriction of public access; significant use of domestic livestock; aircraft taking off, landing, or flying less than 1,000 feet above the site; 15 or more production vehicles, or 75 or more people; continue in excess of 10 days - BLM (DOI) Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument DEIS Glossary

Minimum Management Requirements - Minimum standards for resource protection to meet the goals and objectives of the National Forest System.

Minimum Stocking - Reforestation level lower than target stocking. Does not achieve full site occupancy in young stands but is capable of achieving optimal final harvest yield and reduced commercial thinning yield. (BLM)

Minimum Streamflow - The quantity of water needed to maintain the existing and planned in-place uses of water in or along a stream channel or other water body and to maintain the natural character of the aquatic system and its dependent systems. (BLM)

Minimum Tillage - The minimum soil manipulation necessary for crop production. Conservation tillage, reduced tillage, and no-till farming are related terms.

Minimum Viable Population - The smallest isolated population having a good chance of surviving for a given number of years despite the foreseeable effects of demographic, environmental, and genetic events and natural catastrophes. (The probability of persistence and the time of persistence are often taken to be 99 percent and 1000 years, respectively.) - UNDP/WRI

The Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970 - Fosters private mineral development, and wise and efficient use, and reclamation.

Mining Claims - Portions of public lands claimed for possession of locatable mineral deposits, by locating and recording under established rules and pursuant to the 1872 Mining Law. (BLM)

Mining Claim Validity Examination - An examination of a mining claim by a mineral examiner to determine if the claim has a discovery or if all requirements for a millsite claim have been met. All claims for which a patent application has been filed must undergo such an exam. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Mining District - An area, usually designated by name, with described or understood boundaries, where minerals are found and mined under rules prescribed by the miners, consistent with the Mining Law of 1872. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Mining Law of 1872 - See General Mining Law of 1872. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Mining Location - A mining claim on the public lands. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Mining Wastes - Mining-related by-products of two types: a) mining-and-quarrying extraction wastes which are barren soils removed from mining and quarrying sites during the preparation for mining and quarrying and do not enter into the dressing and beneficiating processes and b) mining-and-quarrying dressing and beneficiating wastes which are obtained during the process of separating minerals from ores and other materials extracted during mining-and-quarrying activities. These wastes occupy valuable land and cause harm to stream life when deposited near the drainage area of a stream. (UN)

MINO - Money Is No Object

Minor - An individual who is less than 18 years of age. - DOI-BIA Glossary

Minor Crops - Crops that may be very high in value but that are not widely grown. Many fruits, vegetables, and tree nuts come under this definition. The IR-4 program is one publicly funded program to help producers of minor crops with their unique problems.

Minor land cover/uses - See Other rural land. A miscellaneous group of land cover/uses that is sometimes used in NRI tables and reports but not in data collection. - National Resources Inventory

Minor Oilseeds - Oilseed crops other than soybeans and peanuts; usually a reference to the other oilseeds eligible for marketing assistance loans under the FAIR Act of 1996 (sunflower seed, canola, rapeseed, safflower, mustard seed, and flaxseed).

MIP - Model Interdisciplinary Project

MIP - Multimedia Information Provider

Mire - Marsh or bog. (UN)

MIS - Major Investment Study

MIS - Management Indicator Species

Misanthropic - Marked by a hatred or contempt for mankind. Integral byword of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement.

Miscellaneous area - An area that has little or no natural soil and supports little or no vegetation. - USDA

Miscellaneous Federal Land - Federal land other than national forests. - USDA/FS

Mission - The reasons why a park is so important that it has been set aside as a unit of the national park system. The terms mission and purpose are generally the same concepts. (DOI/NPS)

Mission (of the USDA Forest Service) - "To Care for the Land and Serve the People". As set forth in law the mission is to achieve quality land management under the sustainable multiple-use management concept to meet the diverse needs of people.

Missouri v. Holland 252 U.S. 416 (1920) - Many of the concerns shared by the American Bar Association (ABA) and other proponents of what would become the Bricker Amendment can be traced to the obscure and seemingly innocuous case of Missouri v. Holland in 1920. Its rulings on state regulation of the treatment of certain species of migratory birds were ripe with significance for the future conduct of American foreign relations. The dispute dated back to 1913, when Congress passed a measure establishing federal regulations over the killing, capturing, or selling of such birds. At the time, federal courts ruled it a usurpation of rights reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment. But when President Woodrow Wilson codified these regulations in a 1916 treaty with Great Britain, the Supreme Court upheld them by citing the 'supremacy clause' in the Constitution. The Court concluded that if "the treaty is valid there can be no dispute about the validity of the statute ... as a necessary and proper means to execute the power of the Government." The decision was a fateful one, for it would be cited in several subsequent cases that served to expand the power of the central government. Decades later, in the wake of U.S. ratification of the United Nations Charter, the precedent set in Missouri and subsequently elaborated in United States v. Pink (1942) took on a profound significance. The Charter had been ratified with the explicit assurance that it authorized no UN interference in the domestic concerns of the United States, or of any other member nation. These Court decisions raised difficult questions regarding that portion of American sovereignty that UN membership may have forced the United States to relinquish. One short year after the ratification of the U.N. Charter, the National Lawyers Guild, citing Missouri v. Holland, concluded that lynching fell under federal jurisdiction and hence anti-lynching legislation within federal authority, on the grounds that such legislation would serve to satisfy America's human-rights obligations under the United Nations Charter. In 1948, four Supreme Court justices concurred in the case of Oyama v. California, citing the UN Charter as a rationale for the abolition of a California law that restricted land ownership among aliens ineligible for citizenship, since in practice it applied only to Japanese aliens. The case of Sei Fujii v. California had a like outcome in 1950. - See The Bricker Amendment

MIST - Minimum Impact Suppression Tactics (USDA Forest Service, regarding firefighting and the ESA)

MIT - Managing Information Technology

MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Miticide - Pesticide used for killing mites on animals or humans. (UN)

Mitigating Measures - Modifications of actions which (a) avoid impacts by not taking a certain action or parts of an action; (b) minimize impacts by limiting the degree or magnitude of the action and its implementation; (c) rectify impacts by repairing, rehabilitating or restoring the affected environment; (d) reduce or eliminate impacts over time by preservation and maintenance operations during the life of the action; or (e) compensate for impacts by replacing or providing substitute resources or environments. (BLM)

Mitigation - Actions taken to avoid, minimize, reduce, eliminate, replace, or rectify the impacts of a land management practice.

Mitigation - 1.) "Mitigations" are theoretically offsets to the impact of a project required of a developer by government. These are commonly imposed in connection with wetlands infringements and often require the creation of new wetlands equal to a multiple of the acreage that is to be disturbed. Another way that government agencies impose mitigations is to require the purchase of land from a land trust followed by its donation by the developer to government. Monetary or land donations to non-profits may be required as enforcement or project "mitigations." Or unrelated wildlife habitat set-asides may be required as mitigations for wetlands infringements. Infinite variations of these themes are possible. These conditions are related to the variance (see). "Mitigations" and exactions (see) are closely related and often indistinguishable. See Nexus, Proportionality - Zoning (Case Law) Glossary 2.) Restoring, replacing, or creating ecological habitats (usu. wetlands) in one area to compensate for loss of natural habitats in another area due to development. Syn: compensatory restoration 3.) Avoiding, minimizing, or reducing ecosystem losses. - NPS Ecology and Restoration Glossary 4. Steps taken to avoid or minimize negative environmental impacts. Mitigation can include: avoiding the impact by not taking a certain action; minimizing impacts by limiting the degree or magnitude of the action; rectifying the impact by repairing or restoring the affected environment; reducing the impact by protective steps required with the action; and compensating for the impact by replacing or providing substitute resources. - Bioenergy Glossary

Mitigation Banking - Creates "mitigation credits" that can be purchased by developers in lieu of compensatory restoration. - NPS Ecology and Restoration Glossary

Mitigation Banks - 1.) Sites selected for habitat restoration or creation. 2.) Market-based banks that exchange "mitigation credits" on the developing site for wetland restoration/creation requirements on another site. - NPS Ecology and Restoration Glossary

Mitigation Compensation Plan - A written mitigation plan submitted by a local government with land use regulatory authority or by an Indian tribe that recommends specific mitigation measures to reduce the heightened risks of wildfire, flood or other natural hazards resulting from fire or seeks compensation for the cost of such measures expended before August 28, 2000, or both. The Mitigation Compensation Plan may address property specific mitigation measures and community level mitigation measures. - FEMA

MIW - Man-Induced Wetlands (Corps of Engineers) http://www.wes.army.mil/el/wetlands/pdfs/wlman87.pdf 

MIWB - Modified Index of Well-Being (DOI/USFWS)

Mixed Cropping - System of sowing two or three crops together on the same land, one being the main crop and the others the subsidiaries. (UN)

Mixed Farm - Farm on which both crop production and livestock keeping are practiced simultaneously. (UN)

Mixed-mesophytic - A characterization of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) forest type that includes a variety of deciduous and coniferous tree species that are together adapted to moderate soil and climate conditions (i.e., not too wet, dry, cold, or hot). - DOI/USFWS http://rcwrecovery.fws.gov/finalrecoveryplan.pdf 

Mixed property - 17 properties are currently included in the World Heritage List on the basis of both their natural and cultural values (UNESCO-ICOMOS Documentation Centre 1996). Although these types of World Heritage properties are generally known as mixed properties, the Operational Guidelines does not use, refer to, or define this term. The Operational Guidelines do however state that "States Parties should as far as possible endeavour to include in their submissions properties which derive their outstanding universal value from a particularly significant combination of cultural and natural features" (UNESCO February 1996: 5, Paragraph 18). - Glossary of World Heritage Terms

Mixed site - See Mixed property - Glossary of World Heritage Terms

Mixed Stand - A stand consisting of two or more tree species.

Mixed Use - A category intended for comprehensively planned and coordinated development intended for medium-to-higher-intensity office buildings, hotels, commercial activities, retail centers, and residential uses. Nuisance-free, wholly enclosed light manufacturing and assembly uses that have no outdoor storage are permitted if designed to be compatible with adjacent uses. Other suitable activities are those permitted in the Public Parks/Open Space, Public/Semi-Public, Low Density Residential, Medium Density Residential, Retail, Commercial, and Office Commercial categories.

Mixed-Use Development - A form of development that incorporates multiple uses within a neighborhood, such as housing, stores, and workplaces.

MKF - The Mitchell Kapor Foundation

ML - Martial Law

ML - Migrant Labor

ML - Migrant Laborer

MLA - Mineral Leasing Act (1920)

MLA - Meeteetse Livestock Association

MLCI - Maine Lakes Conservancy Institute

MLE - Multimedia Learning Environment

MLF - Major Lacking Factor (wildlife habitat)

MLLW - Mean Lower Low Water (flood plain)

MLS - Marginal Local Support

MLS - Market Loss Support

MLS - Missouri League of the South

MLUI - Michigan Land Use Institute

MLW - Mean Low Water

MM - Major Market

MM - Makeshift Morgue

MM - Market Manipulation

MM - Media Manipulation

MM - Media Messaging

MM - Million.

MM - Mountain Media

MM - Multiple Myeloma

MM - Municipal Marina

MMA - Man made alterations

MMBTU - Million BTU

MMH - Mid-Migration Habitat

MMM - Major Muzzled Media

MMM - Merril Mail Marketing, Inc.

MMP - Model Mine Program

MMPA - Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972

MMMC - Mineral Materials Mining Claims

MMMR - Metallic Mines and Mineral Resources

MMR - Minimum Management Requirement

MMRA - Michigan Mineral Resources Association

MMS - Minerals Management Service (DOI branch)

MMSI - Mammoth Mountain Ski Area

MMUA - Meeteetse Multiple Use Association

MN - Mother Nature

MNB - Migratory Non-game Birds

MNBMC - Migratory Nongame Birds of Management Concern

MNC - Multi-National Corporations

MNFA - Monitoring National Forest Activities (HCPC)

MNM - Manure Nutrient Management (EPA)

MNM - Mechanics Not Morality

MNPRIDE - Mid-Nebraska PRIDE

MO - Management Options

MO - Mentoring Opportunities

MO - Modus Operandi

MOA - Memorandum Of Agreement

Mobile Home - A domicile transportable in one or more sections, designed and equipped to contain not more than two dwelling units, to be used with or without a permanent foundation system.

Mobile Population - It is virtually impossible to fully quantify the demographic characteristics of this group. A main part of their survival strategy is to remain unknown, hidden, mobile, and elusive. In more than one way ours is an uprooted generation. For many throughout the world the old roots of life, home, family, country, tradition, custom, even religion and language have been either destroyed or transplanted. Since World War II vast sections of humanity have been shifting about from one place to another, migrants in a mobile population explosion. The dual problem of migrant-immigrant requires attention and action from many sides-Church, state, sociological analysis, welfare groups, and the United Nations. Perceived differences between nations in welfare for citizens are a main factor contributing to migration. Overpopulation, high unemployment rates, ecological disasters, deprivation of civil rights, political prosecutions, and low standards of living, all of these lead some to seek a better life elsewhere. These threats to welfare make for a mobile population and create new opportunities for criminal organizations. Farm worker families are by definition a mobile population that follows agricultural employment opportunities along a seasonal migrant stream that takes them from one state to another throughout the year. Any public health insurance program that is administered solely by the States does not fit the needs of this vulnerable population. The "MediKids" program would solve this problem for migrant and seasonal farm worker children and other similarly mobile populations by creating a fully portable Federally administered health insurance program for low-income and uninsured families. (UN)

Mobile Source - Moving source of air pollution, such as an automobile. (UN)

Mobility Forum - a voluntary initiative with the automotive industry. UNEP is working to strengthen communication and cooperation between the automotive industry, consumers and governments, and thereby promoting the development of necessary sustainable mobility strategies and environmentally best practices. UNEP

Modal Split - The distribution of passenger trips to all available modes of transportation.

Model - A formalized expression of a theory to describe, analyze or understand a particular concept.

Model - A representation of a set of components of a process, system, or subject area. A model is generally developed for understanding, analysis, improvement, and/or replacement of the process. - Forest Service http://svinet2.fs.fed.us/recreation/permits/final1.htm 

Modeling or Flowcharting - A graphic representation of the activities and subprocesses within a process, and their interrelationships. - Forest Service http://svinet2.fs.fed.us/recreation/permits/final1.htm 

Moderate (SIO) - A Scenic Integrity Objective refers to landscapes where the valued landscape character "appears slightly altered." Noticeable deviations must remain visually subordinated to the landscape character being viewed. - FS

Moderate Grazing - A comparative term which indicates that the stocking rate of a pasture is between the rates of other pastures. Often erroneously used to mean proper use, heavy and light grazing. - USDA DEIS Upper & Lower East Fork Cattle and Horse Allotment Management Plans glossary (Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Sawtooth National Forest, Custer County, Idaho

Moderate Use - Indicates that 40-60 percent of current year's forage production has been eaten or destroyed by grazing animals. - BLM

Modern Agriculture - See Conventional Agriculture.

Modification - The term "modification" refers to the variation of certain treaty provisions only as between particular parties of a treaty, while in their relation to the other parties the original treaty provisions remain applicable. If the treaty is silent on modifications, they are allowed only if the modifications do not affect the rights or obligations of the other parties to the treaty and do not contravene the object and the purpose of the treaty. [Art.41, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969] (UN)

Modified Landscape - The rather derelict landscape that has been previously used by any land use and is now abandoned. The dominant vegetation is typically weeds and any remnant indigenous vegetation.

Modified Mercalli scale - Mercalli intensity scale modified for North American conditions. A scale, composed of 12 increasing levels of intensity that range from imperceptible shaking to catastrophic destruction, that is designated by Roman numerals. It does not have a mathematical basis; instead it is an arbitrary ranking based on observed effects. - USGS Earthquake glossary

Modus Vivendi - A modus vivendi is an instrument recording an international agreement of temporary or provisional nature intended to be replaced by an arrangement of a more permanent and detailed character. It is usually made in an informal way, and never requires ratification. (UN)

MOD Waters - The Modified Water Deliveries Project (Florida - Everglades) Army Corps of Engineers

MOEF - Ministry Of Environment and Forests (IUCN)

MOJ - Miscarriage Of Justice

MOJ - "Minister Of Justice" (prosecutor)

Mohorovicic discontinuity (the Moho) - The boundary surface or sharp seismic-velocity discontinuity (pronounced Mo-ho-ro-vi-chich) that separates the Earth's crust from the underlying mantle. Named for Andrija Mohorovicic, the Croatian seismologist who first suggested its existence. - USGS Earthquake glossary

Moisture content - The weight of water contained in wood, expressed as a percentage of the oven-dried weight of the wood. - EPA Office of Pesticide Programs Glossary 2. The weight of the water contained in wood, usually expressed as a percentage of weight, either oven-dry or as received. - Bioenergy Glossary

Moisture content, dry basis - Moisture content expressed as a percentage of the weight of oven-dry wood. - Bioenergy Glossary

Moisture content, wet basis - Moisture content expressed as a percentage of the weight of wood as-received.

weight of wet sample - weight of dry sample ------------------------------------------------ x 100 weight of wet sample - Bioenergy Glossary

Moisture equivalent - The ratio of (a) the weight of water which the soil, after saturation, will retain against a centrifugal force 1,000 times the force of gravity, to (b) the weight of the soil when dry. The ratio is stated as a percentage. (Meinzer, 1923, p. 25; see also Briggs and McLane, 1907, p. 5.) - USGS

Mollic Horizon - A diagnostic epipedon of dark color, of moderate pH, and quite deep.

Mollusk - A member of the phylum of invertebrate animals which includes the gastropods, pelecypods (bivalves), cephalopods, etc. - BLM (DOI) Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument DEIS Glossary

MOM - Militia of Montana

Monazite - A widespread rare-earth mineral containing thorium [(Ce,La,Y,Th)PO4], which is commonly found in igneous and metamorphic rocks and sedimentary deposits derived from them. - BLM (DOI) Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument DEIS Glossary

Monetization - A P.L. 480 provision added by the Food Security Act of 1985 that allows private voluntary organizations to sell a small percentage of donated P.L. 480 commodities within the recipient country. The currency generated by these sales can then be used for such purposes as defraying the cost of food distribution within the country.

Monitor - To observe and record aspects of the land protected by a conservation covenant.

Monitoring - One of the essential functions of the World Heritage Committee is to monitor the state of conservation of properties inscribed in the World Heritage List. Section II of the Operational Guidelines describes systematic monitoring and reporting and reactive monitoring (UNESCO February 1996: 26-27). Paragraphs 69 to 74 of the Operational Guidelines described the process of systematic monitoring whilst Paragraph 75 describes reactive monitoring (UNESCO February 1996: 26-27). See Reactive monitoring, Systematic monitoring and reporting - Glossary of World Heritage Terms 2. The periodic and systematic measurement and assessment of change of an indicator.

Monitoring (Plan Monitoring) - The process of tracking the implementation of land use plan decisions. The orderly collection and analysis of data to evaluate progress in meeting resource management objectives. - BLM

Monitoring - Continuous or frequent standardized measurement and observation of the environment (air, water, land/soil, biota), often used for warning and control (UN).

Monitoring and Evaluation - The periodic evaluation, on a sample basis, of Forest Plan Management activities and practices to determine how well objectives were met and how management practices should be adjusted. See "adaptive management".

Monitoring Station - Facility to measure emissions or ambient concentrations of pollutants. (UN)

Monitoring Well - Observation well, drilled at hazardous waste management facilities for the purpose of testing the quality of the groundwater beneath the site. (UN)

Monocline - A step-like bend in otherwise horizontal beds. - BLM (DOI) Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument DEIS Glossary

Monoculture - Repeated cultivation of a single crop on a given area of land. (UN) A pattern of crop production that relies on a single plant variety.

Monolithic - Of one material. - NPS Architecture, Fortifications, and Preservation glossary

Monomorphic - One form. (NPS Rare Plant glossary)

The Monongahela decision (caused the National Forest Management Act of 1976) - In the Monongahela Decision (Izaak Walton League v. Butz, 1975), it was found that some common Forest Service management practices were illegal, and citizens had lost confidence in the stewardship capabilities of the Forest Service. There were arguments that the discretion of the Forest Service should be severely limited and a prescriptive management regime imposed by Congress.

Monostand - Soil marked with blotches, streaks, or spots of bright red and orange, indicating the presence of a high water table.

Monsoon - A seasonal, large-scale reversal of winds in the tropics, chiefly occurring as a result of differential heating of the oceans. It exerts greatest effect in India, China and Southeast Asia. The term is derived from the Arabic word 'mawsim' and is commonly used to describe the intense rainfall that generally accompanies the wind reversal. Monsoons bring rain during the summer as they blow inland from the sea. The rest of the year is dry with the winds blowing in the opposite direction. (UNESCO)

Montane - Relating to the biogeographical zone of relatively moist cool slopes below timberline dominated by large evergreen trees. (NPS)

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) - The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is a federally protected marine area offshore of California's central coast, established for the purpose of resource protection, research, education and public use. Stretching from Marin to Cambria, the MBNMS encompasses a shoreline length of 276 miles, and 5,322 square miles of ocean, extending an average distance of 30 miles from shore. At its deepest point, the MBNMS reaches down 10,663 feet (more than two miles). http://bonita.mbnms.nos.noaa.gov/ 

Montmorillonite - A hydrous alluminosilicate clay mineral with 2:1 expanding crystal structure - - that is, with two silicon tetrahedral sheets enclosing an aluminum octahedral sheet. Considerable expansion may be caused by water.

Montreal Protocol (on Ozone Depleting Substances) - An 1987 international agreement, to which the United States is a signatory, reached in Canada to review the role of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases in the destruction of the ozone layer. The Protocol was signed by 30 governments, together with the European Community (EC), although some CFC-producing Third World countries, notably China and India, withheld their agreement until assurances on compensation or technology-transfer for production of alternatives were agreed. The agreement aimed to freeze CFC production at 1986 levels. It also called for consumption to be reduced gradually to 50% of 1986 levels by 1999. Two other key ozone-depleting chemicals, carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform, were added to the Protocol during subsequent meetings. (UNESCO)

The Montreal Process - Following UNCED, in September 1993, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe sponsored an international seminar in Montreal, Canada on Sustainable Development of Boreal and Temperate Forests. This conference provided the conceptual basis for subsequent regional and international initiatives to develop criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. In June 1994, the Working Group on Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests was formed to advance the development of internationally agreed criteria and indicators through a series of meetings hosted by participating countries. This Working Group is now known as the Montreal Process. The Montreal Process Working Group includes Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Russian Federation, United States of America and Uruguay. These countries cover five continents and together represent 90 percent of the world's temperate and boreal forests (as well as areas of tropical forests) and 60 percent of all forests. They also account for 45 percent of world trade in wood and wood products and 35 percent of the world's population. The Working Group is supported by a Liaison Office hosted by Canada in Ottawa. The seven criteria of the Montreal Process, which are defined by their respective indicators, are viewed as essential components of the sustainable management of forest ecosystems. Six of the criteria and indicators relate to forest conditions, attributes, functions or benefits. Criterion 7 relates to the overall policy framework that can facilitate sustainable forest management and support efforts to conserve, maintain or enhance the conditions, attributes and benefits captured in Criteria 1-6. Taken together, the Montreal Process criteria and indicators provide a common understanding and implicit definition of what is meant by sustainable forest management. They are tools for assessing national trends in forest conditions and management and provide a common framework for describing, monitoring and evaluating progress toward sustainability at the country level. They are not performance standards and are not intended to assess directly sustainability at the forest management unit level. Application of the criteria and indicators will help provide an international reference for policy-makers in the formulation of national policies, improve the quality of information available to decision-makers and the public, and better inform the forest policy debate at national and international levels. Since endorsing the Santiago Declaration, the Montreal Process countries have initiated steps to apply the agreed criteria and indicators based on national circumstances. Working Group meetings have been hosted by New Zealand (Auckland, November 1995) and Australia (Canberra, June 1996) to clarify implementation issues and facilitate initial efforts. The first step was an initial survey by the Liaison Office to determine the current availability of data for indicators in each country and the capacity of countries to report on indicators. Interim survey results indicate that while data availability and reporting capacity varies greatly among the 12 countries, most countries have data for and can report on 50 percent or more of the 67 indicators. The Liaison Office survey also indicates that while resolution of some of the data gaps and reporting problems would involve new research and monitoring systems and new reporting methods, others could be resolved by better defining terms and elaborating measurement approaches. The variations in data availability and reporting capacity found by the survey highlights the wide differences among the Montreal Process countries in terms of forest quality and quantity, land ownership, population, system and structure of government, and economic development. These differences pose special challenges in each country on how to apply the criteria and indicators. They also point to one of the great strengths of the Montreal Process, which is the diversity of the countries involved. Based on the results of the Liaison Office survey, the Montreal Process countries have agreed on a course of action for the future. The Working Group has established an ad hoc Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to provide advice to the Group on technical and scientific issues arising in connection with implementing the criteria and indicators. The TAC met for the first time in September 1996 in Pasadena, California to develop recommendations on definitions for key terms used in the Montreal Process and approaches to gathering data on various indicators. The Montreal Process Working Group has also prepared an approximation report on the results of initial country efforts to measure the criteria and indicators. Participation in meetings of the Montreal Process includes other countries, international organizations, environmental non-governmental organizations, industry groups and other interested groups, as well as representatives of other initiatives on criteria and indicators.

Monuments - Monuments are tangible landmarks indicating boundaries. (1) Physical Monuments: A physical monument is an existing feature such as a stone, stake, tree, hill, ocean, river or lake, but not the line of an adjoiner. (2) Natural Monuments: A natural monument is a naturally occurring object such as a lake, river, tree, boulder or hill. Although the courts sometimes refer to a record monument as a type of natural monument, such a broad meaning is excluded in this definition. (3) Artificial Monument: An artificial monument is a man-made object such as a stake, fence, set-stone, etc. (4) Record Monument: An adjoiner property called for in a deed such as a street or particular parcel of land. Frequently the boundary line of the adjoiner is referred to as the record monument; actually the entire property, rather than the line, is the monument. Physical monuments may or may not mark a record monument. (5) Legal Monument: Any monument controlling in a legal description. It is often limited in meaning so as to be synonymous with record monument. - Cadastral Data glossary 2. Monuments are referred to as part of the definition of cultural heritage in Article 1 of the Convention (UNESCO 1972). See Cultural heritage - Glossary of World Heritage Terms

Monument (surveying) - A physical structure erected for the purpose of marking points on the earth's surface. The monuments of land surveys range from the deposit of some durable material, a marked wooden stake or post, a marked stone, an iron post having an inscribed cap, a marked tablet set in solid rock or concrete block, a marked tree, a rock in place marked with a cross (X) at the exact point of the corner, and other special types of markers. - Cadastral Data glossary

Mookini v. United States, 303 U.S. 201 (1938) - Balzac v. Porto Rico, 258 U.S. 298 (1921) and Mookini v. United States, 303 U.S. 201 (1938) made it clear that a "district court of the United States" described a court created under Article III and a "United States district court" described a territorial court. The former identified a constitutional court of the United States exercising the judicial power of the United States and the latter merely identified a court for a district of the government of the United States.

Moot or Mootness - Because Federal Courts only have Constitutional authority to resolve actual disputes (see Case or Controversy) legal actions cannot be brought or continued after the matter at issue has been resolved, leaving no live dispute for a court to resolve. In such a case, the matter is said to be "moot". For Supreme Court decisions focusing on mootness, see, e.g., Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona, No. 95-974 (March 3, 1997) and Hicklin v. Orbeck, 437 U.S. 518 (1978). - Supreme Court glossary

MOP - Meeting Of the Parties

MOPO - Molder Of Public Opinion

Moraine - An accumulation of boulders, stones, and other earth debris carried and deposited by a glacier. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Moral Code - The set of rules, values, conventions a person chooses to live by, particularly with respect to their relationships with other humans they know as well as the rest of the human population. A moral code can be extended to include the way one determines to relate to non-human species. (UNESCO)

Moral Rights - Rights that are based on general principles of fairness and justice; they are often but not always based on religious beliefs. People sometimes feel they have a moral right even when they do not have a legal right. For example, during the civil rights movement in the USA, protesters demonstrated against laws forbidding Blacks and Whites to attend the same schools on grounds that these laws violated their moral rights. - United Nations Charter / Human Rights Glossary

Morbidity - Rate of disease incidence; an important measure in epidemiological studies.

More or Less - The words "more or less" in their ordinary use are to be taken as words of caution, denoting some uncertainty in the mind of one using them and a desire not to misrepresent. When used in connection with quantity and distance, "more or less" are words of safety and precaution, intended merely to cover some slight or unimportant inaccuracy. When "125 feet more or less to the point of beginning" is the point of beginning" is the controlling term. "About 12 acres more or less" is indefinite and should be avoided since the word "about" is very broad in meaning. - Cadastral Data glossary

MORPC - Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission

Morphology - Term used to describe form and structure. - Smart Growth Green Development Glossary

Morphology, soil - The physical makeup of the soil, including the texture, structure, porosity, consistence, color, and other physical, mineral, and biological properties of the various horizons, and the thickness and arrangement of those horizons in the soil profile. - USDA

The Morrill Act of 1862 - Gave every State 12,000 hectares of public land for every member of its congressional delegation. The States were to sell the land, and use the proceeds to develop colleges of engineering, agriculture and military sciences.

Morrill Act of 1862 - Enacted July 2, 1862 (chapter 130, 12 Stat. 503), this law allocated federal land to each state and directed the states to sell the land and use the proceeds to establish a college dedicated to the agricultural and mechanical arts. States without federal lands within their borders received land in scrip, giving them the right to sell federal land located in other states. The act resulted in the establishment of the land grant colleges of agriculture. The purpose of the Act was not only to improve the economic and social welfare of farmers, but also to make a higher education with a practical application generally available to all segments of U.S. society. The Act pertained only to the original establishment of the colleges of agriculture, and is not an authority under which the colleges currently receive federal funds.

Morrill Act of 1890 - Enacted August 30, 1890, (chapter 841, 26 Stat. 417), this law authorized additional direct appropriations for the land grant colleges of agriculture that had been established under the Morrill Act of 1862. The most significant feature of the second Morrill Act was that the 1862 schools could receive the additional funds only if they admitted blacks into their programs or if they provided separate but equal agricultural higher education to black students. In the period following the Civil War, sixteen southern states established separate land grant colleges of agriculture for black students under this Act; Congress designated Tuskegee University an 1890 institution at a later date. Federal funds for research and extension at the 1890 schools are provided under subsequent acts, not the second Morrill Act.

Mortality - Trees that were merchantable and have died within a specified period of time of natural causes. The term mortality can also refer to the rate of death of a species in a given population or community.

Mortality Salvage - The harvest of dead and dying timber. (BLM)

Mortgage - A mortgage, deed of trust or other instrument which pledges a permittee's permit (leasehold) interest as security for a debt or other obligation owed by the permittee to a lender or other mortgagee. - DOI-BIA Glossary

MOS - the management of open space

MOS - Margin Of Safety

Mosaic - Areas with a variety of plant communities over a landscape, such as areas with trees and areas without trees occurring over a landscape.

MOSES - Mothers Organized to Stop Environmental Sins

Moss - Any of various classes of very small, green bryophytes having stems with leaflike structures and growing in velvety clusters on rocks, trees, moist ground, etc. - BLM (DOI) Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument DEIS Glossary

Most Appropriate Technology and Practices - The use of technology and practices that have demonstrable feasibility, success, and practicality in meeting performance standards. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Most-Favored-Nation Treatment/Status (MFN) - A commitment that a country will extend to another country the lowest tariff rates it applies to any third country. MFN is a basic principle of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) (1947). Almost all countries are effectively accorded permanent MFN status by the United States. However, Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 established conditions on U.S. MFN tariff treatment to certain non-market economies, one of which is certain freedom-of-emigration requirements (better known as the Jackson-Vanik amendment). The Act authorizes the President to waive a country's full compliance with Jackson-Vanik under specified conditions, and this must be renewed by June 3 of each year. Once the President does so, the waiver is automatic unless Congress passes (and sustains a Presidential veto of) a disapproval resolution. MFN status for China, which had been originally suspended in 1951, was restored in 1980 and has been continued in effect through subsequent annual presidential extensions. Since the Tiannamen Square incident in 1989, however, the annual renewal of China's MFN status has been a source of considerable debate in the Congress. Several Members have sought through legislation to terminate China's MFN status or to impose additional conditions relating to improvements in China's actions on various trade and non-trade issues. Agricultural interests generally have opposed attempts to block MFN renewal for Congress, contending that several billion dollars annually in current and future U.S. agricultural exports to China could be jeopardized if that country retaliated.

Mottling - Marble-like pattern that occurs in soils where the water table fluctuates periodically. - NPS Ecology and Restoration Glossary

Mottling, soil - Irregular spots of different colors that vary in number and size. Mottling generally indicates poor aeration and impeded drainage. Descriptive terms are as follows: abundance-few, common, and many, size-fine, medium, and coarse: and contrast-faint, distinct, and prominent. The size measurements are of the diameter along the greatest dimension. Fine indicates less than 5 millimeters (about 0.2 inch)', medium, from 5 to 15 millimeters (about 0.2 to 0.6 inch); and coarse, more than 15 millimeters (about 0.6 inch). - USDA

MOU - Memorandum of Understanding

Mountain Bicycle - Bicycle designed for off-pavement use. Generally are multi-geared with fat knobby tires. Frames and tire rims are stronger than road bicycles. Sometimes referred to in this document as a mechanized vehicle. - BLM (DOI) Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument DEIS Glossary

Mountain Pine Beetle - A tiny black insect, ranging from 1/8 to 3/4 inch in size, that bores through a pine tree's bark. The common bark beetle (Dendroctonous Ponderosae Hopkins), which is the most destructive insect pest in the intermountain west. It stops the tree's intake and transport of the food and nutrients it must have to stay alive, thus killing the tree.

Movable property - Movable property is property that can easily be moved from one location to the other. As explained in the Operational Guidelines, the World Heritage Committee does not consider nominations of movable property for inclusion in the World Heritage List (UNESCO February 1996: 8, Paragraph 25). See Immovable property - Glossary of World Heritage Terms

MP - Management Permit (DOI)

MP - Management Plan

MP - Market Plan

MP - Marketing Plan

MP - Master Plan

MP - Member of Parliament (Canada, very like U.S. Congress)

MP - Mentoring Programs

MP - Military Police

MP - the Millennium Poll on Corporate Social Responsibility (a 20-nation survey of public opinion on the changing role of companies)

MP - Mineral Potential

MP - Minnesota Project

MP - Modeling Process

MPA - Marine Protected Area

MPA - Model Partnership Agreement

MPA - Mountain Planning Area

MPACRS - Mandatory and publicly accessible chemical reporting system (CEC)

MPC - Mineral Policy Center

MPD - Multiple-Purpose Dam

MPI - Market Price Index

MPLUS - Montana PLUS (Public Land Users Society)

MPO - Metropolitan Planning Organization

MPP - Municipal Police Power (one of which is zoning)

MPPR - Montanans for Private Property Rights

MPR - Management Plan Review http://www.cinms.nos.noaa.gov/manplan/scoping.htm 

MPRSA - Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act

MPT - Mandatory Pork Tax

MPT - Modern Political Theory

MR - Majority Rule(s)

MR - Marginal Reserves

MR - Media Representatives

MR - Mesozoic Rocks

MRAC - Medicaid Reform Advisory Council

MRB - Mineral Resource Base

MRB - Minnesota River Basin

MRC - The Mississippi River Commission, also known as the Mississippi River Parkway Commission (MRPC) http://www.mississippiriverinfo.com/ 

MRF - Materials recovery facility

MRF - Mountain Resources Conservancy (California)

MRGCD - Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District

MRKFF - Morley R. Kare Fellowship Fund

MRLC - Multi-Resolution Land Classification Consortium

MRM - Marine Resource Management

MROSD - The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (San Mateo County, California)

MRP - Mineral Resource Potential

MRP - Montana Resource Providers

MRPC - The Mississippi River Parkway Commission, also known as The Mississippi River Commission (MRC) http://www.mississippiriverinfo.com/ 

MRPC - Montana Resource Providers Coalition

MRR - Mineral Reserves and Resources

MRR - Missouri River Relief

MRS - Mineral Resource Studies

MRS - Missouri River Stewards

MRSC - Municipal Research & Services Center

MRT - Mortgage-Recording Tax

MS - Managed Society

MS - Mapping Service

MS - Marginal Support

MS - Market Share

MS - Market Solutions

MS - Media Spin

MS - Member State (UN)

MS - Migratory Species

MS - Millennium Summit

MS - Missoula Snowgoers

MS - Monitoring System

MS - Multi Sensory

MS - Multiple Species

MSA - Maps, Statistics and Analysis

MSA - Medical Savings Account(s)

MSA - Metropolitan Statistical Area

MSA - Moist Soil Areas

MSAC - Mine Shaft and Adit Closing

MSAF - Montana Society of American Foresters

MSC - The Marine Stewardship Council

MSC - Mindset Changer

MSC - Multi-State Coalition

MSCP - The Multiple Species Conservation Program (UN)

MSG - Mid-Successional Growth

MSG - Modeling Support Group

MSGA - Montana Stock Grower's Association

MSHA - Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration

MSHCP - Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan. "MSHCP is an element of RCIP to conserve open space, nature preserves and wildlife to be set aside in some areas. It is designed to protect over 150 species and conserve over 500,000 acres in Western Riverside County. Currently, MSHCP is in the plan development stage where environmental studies are being conducted. The approval process of areas in the County will start in 2002." http://www.rcip.org/mshcpdocs/Vol2/appendixA/Sec-01.Introduction.pdf 

MSI - Mountain Studies Institute (Ellen Stein, first Executive Director) http://www.mountainstudies.org 

MSL - Math-Science List

MSLF - Mountain States Legal Foundation

MSP - Market Saturation Point

MSRP - Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price

MSRP - Multi-Species Recovery Plan

MSS - Monitored stream segments

MST - Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (Brazil)

MSTE - Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment

MSWIFE - Mississippi Women Involved in Farm Economics

MSZA - Mandatory Shoreland Zoning Act

MT - Management Theory

MT - Manure Transfer

MT - Mass Transit

MT - Modeling Technique

MT - Modeling Tools

MTA - Market Technicians Association

MTA - Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund

MTA - Metropolitan Transportation Authority

MTBE - Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (contaminates water)

MTBRA - Montana Trail Bike Riders Association

MTC - Metropolitan Transportation Commission

MTE - Moderate Taxable Estate

MTF - Millicoma Tree Farm

MTH - More Than Human

MTP - Metropolitan Transportation Plan

MTPW - Make The Plan Work

MTRM - Mulch Till Residue Management

MTRPC - Montana Resource Providers Coalition

MTS - Minimum Technical Standards

MTUDME - Michigan Technological University, Department of Mining Engineering

MTUIMP - Michigan Technological University, Institute of Materials Processing

MU - Mixed Use

MU - Multiple Use

MUA - Municipal Utilities Authority

MUC - Most Unusual Circumstance

MUCC - Michigan United Conservation Clubs http://www.mucc.org/ 

Muck - Dark colored, finely divided, well-decomposed organic soil material. (See Sapric soil material.) - USDA

Muck lands - Fertile soil containing putrid vegetative matter. - Everglades Plan glossary

MUD - Mixed-Use Development

MUD - Municipal Utility District

Mud - The mixture of water or oil and clay, and sometimes other special materials, used as a drill circulation liquid in drilling a borehole. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Mudarabah - A broad partnership.

Mud flat - A Land cover/use subcategory under Barren land. A mud area with less than 5 percent vegetative cover. - National Resources Inventory

Mudflats - Areas of mud that do not support any vegetation and are often covered by water. (UN)

Mudflow - A well-mixed mass of water and alluvium which, because of its high viscosity and low fluidity as compared with water, moves at a much slower rate, usually piling up and spreading over the fan like a sheet of wet mortar or concrete. (Woolley, 1946, p. 75.) - USGS

MULA - Multiple-Use Land Alliance

Mulch - Layer of material consisting of wood chips, straw, leaves and so forth. It is used to cover the soil for the purpose of holding moisture, preventing weed growth, protecting plants and enriching the soil. (UN) A natural or artificial layer of plant residue or other material on the soil surface. Mulch reduces erosion, conserves soil moisture, inhibits weed growth, and can provide the soil with organic matter as it breaks down. Mulch till prepares the soil so as to leave plant residues (or other mulching materials) on or near the surface.

Mulch Farming - System of farming in which plant residues are not plowed into the ground, but left on the surface. (UN)

Mulch Soils - Earth produced from decaying plants. (UN)

Mulching - Covering the surface of the soil with natural (e.g. litter) or deliberately applied organic materials (e.g. straw, wood chips, foliage).

Multijurisdictional Planning - Collaborative planning in which the purpose is to address land use planning issues for an area, such as an entire watershed or other landscape unit, in which there is a mix of public and/or private land ownerships and adjoining or overlapping tribal, State, local government, or other Federal agency authorities. - BLM

Multilateral - In which three or more parties take part. - UNEP Children's Glossary

Multilateral Agreement - A trade agreement involving three or more countries (as with the World Trade Organization) in contrast to a bilateral agreement (as with the US-Canada agreement) involving only two countries.

Multilateral Comparison - A price or quantity comparison of more than two countries simultaneously that produces consistent relations among all pairs; one that satisfies the circular test or the transitivity requirement. (UN)

The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) - The fourth affiliate of the World Bank, was established in Spring 1988. Its purpose is to insure foreign investors against non-commercial risks and to provide to governments of developing countries technical services and advice on how to improve their domestic investment climate. - WB

Multilateral Operational Agencies - In DAC statistics, these international institutions with governmental membership which conduct all or a significant part of their activities in favour of development and aid recipient countries. They include multilateral development banks (e.g. World Bank, regional development banks), United Nations agencies, and regional groupings (e.g. certain European Union and Arab agencies). A contribution by a DAC Member to such an agency is deemed to be multilateral if it is pooled with other contributions and disbursed at the discretion of the agency. - Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) Glossary

Multilateral Trade Negotiations (MTN) - Negotiations between General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) member nations that are conducted under the auspices of the GATT and that are aimed at reducing tariff and non-tariff trade barriers. The World Trade Organization has now replaced the GATT as the administrative body.

Multi-Modal Transportation - A transportation system comprising more than one modal network to provide the user with a reasonable choice. - Cornell Preservation Glossary

Multiple Cropping - System of cultivating different crops simultaneously on the same land. (UN)

Multiple Land Use - Use of land for more than one purpose, for example, grazing of livestock, recreation and timber production. The term may also apply to the use of associated bodies of water for recreational purposes, fish and water supply. (UN)

Multiple use -- According to the Multiple Use and Sustained Yield Act of 1960 (P.L. 86-517, June 12, 1960), as amended, multiple use of the national forests means the 'harmonious and coordinated management of the various resources, each with the other, without impairment of the productivity of the land, with consideration being given to the relative values of the various resources, and not necessarily the combination of uses that will give the greatest dollar return or the greatest unit output.' Multiple use implies a sustained yield of outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, and wildlife and fish values.

Multiple Use Land - A combination of balanced and diverse resource uses that considers long-term needs for renewable and non-renewable resources, including recreation, rangeland, timber, minerals, watershed, and wildlife, along with scenic, scientific, and cultural values.

Multiple Use Management - The management of all the various renewable surface resources of National Forest lands for a variety of purposes such as recreation, range, timber, wildlife and fish habitat, and watershed.

Multiple Use Trail - A trail that accommodates more than one trail usage.

Multiple Use Trail Network - A series of trails that interconnect to form a system that, as a whole, allows for more than one use. The individual trails may be single use or multiple use.

Multiple Uses - Use of range for more than one purpose, grazing of livestock, wildlife production, recreation, watershed and timber production. Not necessarily the combination of uses that will yield the highest economic return or greatest unit output. - USDA DEIS Upper & Lower East Fork Cattle and Horse Allotment Management Plans glossary (Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Sawtooth National Forest, Custer County, Idaho

Multiplier - Multipliers show the regional economic effects resulting from changes in final demand for a commodity or group of commodities.

Multiplier - The number of times new investment spending will be respent to produce a certain amount of new income. - BLM Surface Mgmt. Regs.

Multi-resource practices implemented on NIPF lands (acres) - Forest Stewardship Management Plans can be implemented by landowners through approved, cost-shared multi-resource management practices. These practices allow for consideration of all resources such as soil and water, wildlife, recreation, agroforestry, and aesthetics, in balance with the landowners' commodity goals. - FS

MUN - Model United Nations (UN)

MUNI - Municipal

MUNI - San Francisco Municipal Railway

Municipal - (Of) local government. - UNEP Children's Glossary

Municipal Distress Index (MDI) - An index ranking all municipalities by a combination of their respective ranks on four socioeconomic factors. The index runs from "1" meaning most distressed to the highest number meaning least distressed.

Municipal Wastes - Wastes produced by residential, commercial and public services sectors that are collected by local authorities for treatment and/or disposal in a central location. (UN)

Municipalities And Centers Experiencing Distress - Those municipalities ranked within the top 100 municipalities in any Municipal Distress Index (MDI) issued in the last five years, and further categorized on that list as "urban level" 1 or 2, or Urban Centers, Regional Centers, Towns or Villages, as defined in the State Plan, that are within municipalities ranked within the top 100 municipalities on the MDI.

MUNDA - Model United Nations Discussion Area

Munsell notation - A designation of color by degrees of three simple variables-hue, value, and chroma. For example, a notation of 10YR 6/4 is a color of 10YR hue, value of 6, and chroma of 4. - USDA

MUSC - Multiple-Use Strategy Conference

MUSYA - Multiple Use and Sustained Yield Act (1960)

MUT - Multiple Use Trail

Mutagen - Factor that can cause a change in genetic properties. (UN) An agent that causes a permanent genetic change in a cell other than that which occurs during normal growth. Testing to determine mutagenicity is one component of assessing the potential chronic toxicity of pesticides and other chemicals.

Mutation - Characteristic(s) possessed by an individual not acquired from either parent but capable of being transmitted to progeny. (UN)

MUTCD - Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (FHWA)

MUTN - Multiple Use Trail Network

Mutualism - Relationship between two or more species that benefits all parties. - UNDP/WRI

MVID - The Methow Valley Irrigation District (Washington State)

MVRG - Madison Valley Ranchlands Group (Montana)

MW - Megawatts

MW - Migrant Workers

MW - Mineral Wealth

MW - Monkey-Wrenching (Dave Foreman)

MW - Mother's Watch

MWD - Metropolitan Water District

MWDP - Modified Waters Delivery Project (Everglades, Florida)

MWFA - MidWest Food Alliance

MWGA - Montana Wool Grower's Association

MWH - Migratory Wildfowl Habitat

MWH - Migratory Waterfowl Hosts (often farmers)

MWH - Ministry of Water and Housing (Jamaica)

MWL - Managed Water Levels

MWL - Midwest Working Landscapes

MWP - Master Water Plan

MWPA - Montana Wood Products Association

Mycology - Branch of botany consisting in the study of fungi. (UN)

Mycorrhizae - Modified roots consisting of a mutually beneficial relationship between plant roots and fungi. Plants support fungi by providing sugar and a hospitable environment. Fungi support plants by providing increased surface area for water uptake and by selectively absorbing essential minerals. Syn: fungus roots - NPS Ecology and Restoration Glossary

Mycorrhizal Fungi - A fungus living in a mutualistic association with plants and facilitating nutrient and water uptake. - UNDP/WRI

MYP - Multi Year Program

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