Digital Commons Network^™

Cooperative Conservation: Increasing Capacity Through Community Partnerships -- Interagency Volunteer Program: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending December 31, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Get Outdoors Nevada

• Volunteer database increased 8% over last quarter. Database now contains 2,923 records.
• Website activity increased, recording an average of 51,568 hits per month, with an average of 4,985 pages viewed per month (12.4% increase in pages viewed).
• Team charter approved and signed by federal managers and IVP team.
• Volunteer orientation and training in 11 subject areas delivered to 80 volunteers.
• Recognition Banquet and Awards Ceremony recognized 180 volunteers.
• Volunteer event list revised for 2007.

Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending December 31, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

• Don’t Trash Nevada roll-out event held on October 12, 2006.

• Program website launched.

• 74 people have taken the on-line anti-litter and dumping pledge.

• Public-private partnership with Republic Services of Southern Nevada generated $11,917.97 in donations to Don’t Trash Nevada.

• Conducted 3 volunteer and 1 alternative workforce clean-ups this quarter.

• Fulfilled deliverable of 12 clean-ups for 2006 (9 volunteer / 3 alternative workforce).

• 16 volunteer clean-ups scheduled for 2007. • Two tons of agency-generated paper recycled this quarter, saving 14,000 gallons of water, 34 trees, and almost 8 cubic yards of landfill space.

• …

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Monitoring And Evaluation Of Sensitive Wildlife: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending December 31, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Wildlife Monitoring

• Research assistant hired for Relict Leopard Frog conservation project.
• High school minority intern hired to assist with research efforts.
• Nocturnal visual encounter surveys for Relict Leopard Frogs conducted at all established natural sites and at 6 of 7 translocation sites.
• Vegetation management conducted to decrease tamarisk cover along the stream at the Pupfish Refuge Spring – a Relict Leopard Frog translocation site.
• New draft guidelines and field count protocols developed for midwinter bald eagle count.
• Preliminary analysis and modeling of thrasher habitat selection conducted and sampling assessed
• Call-broadcast surveys for thrasher species conducted at 43 points countywide, focusing on vegetation …

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Vegetation Monitoring And Management: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending December 31, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Vegetation Monitoring

Executive Summary

• Two new Weed Sentry research assistants were hired.
• Weed Sentry staff surveyed for exotic species on 89 miles of roads on NPS and BLM land and treated more than 21,000 exotic plants in incipient populations.
• A grid-based rare plant monitoring method was tested this quarter.
• A manuscript detailing vegetation succession on a water pipeline at Lake Mead NRA was submitted for review to the journal Crossosoma.
• New integrative projects undertaken this quarter included establishing a competition study between a native grass and the exotic Sahara mustard, salvaging plants for research purposes from private sites with permission from landowners, …

Interagency Science And Research: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending December 31, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Interagency Science and Research Strategy

• Completed draft review and analysis of 6 interagency and 2 single-agency science strategies.
• Developed an outline for a Southern Nevada Agency Partnership Science Strategy based upon these reviews.
• Initiated a beta-test of a science proposal review process.

Factors Contributing To Dust Emissions In Clark County, Nevada Annual Performance Report: Period Ending December 29, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Dust Emissions from Public Lands

1. A comparison of actual accomplishments with the goals and objectives established for the period, the findings of the investigator, or both. Whenever appropriate and the output of programs and projects can be readily quantified, such quantitative data should be related to cost data for computation of unit costs.

• University of Nevada, Public Lands Institute has met the requirement of section III.A.1 of Task Agreement FAA010017 to recruit and hire a postdoctoral scholar (or equivalent position) with research expertise in dust management issues. Dr. Dirk Goossens has extensive and specific experience in dust emissions research and will begin work on January …

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2006, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge.

The senior design competition helps to focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects …

Education In The Environment: A Hands-On Student Research And Outdoor Learning Experience: Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending November 30, 2006, Environmental Education Strategy For Nevada

Reports (PLI Education)

• Forever Earth was scheduled for 17 days and benefited 307 individuals.
• Technology was successfully tested aboard Forever Earth that may allow for distance education opportunities in Clark County School District classrooms.
• Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne and Congressman Jon Porter were hosted by the National Park Service aboard Forever Earth on October 31, 2006.
• Training for Forever Earth program facilitators was conducted on November 20, 2006.
• Four Discover Mojave Outdoor World events were conducted. A partnership with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization is under development to increase participation in the program.
• Meeting held with Las Vegas developer Focus Property Group …

Inside Unlv, Cate Weeks, Brenda Griego, David Ashley, Mamie Peers, Shane Bevell, Gian Galassi

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

High Temperature Heat Exchanger Project: Quarterly Progress Report July 1, 2006 Through September 30, 2006, Anthony Hechanova

Publications (NSTD)

Hydrodynamics and thermal numerical modeling coupled with sulfur trioxide decomposition for the one channel geometry with three different channel configurations were performed. The results obtained from the numerical modeling were compared with the baseline design under the same boundary and operation conditions. The case with diamond shaped channels has the highest percentage of sulfuric acid decomposition. The baseline channel geometry has the lowest pressure drop compared with other cases.

Factors Contributing To Dust Emissions In Clark County, Nevada Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending October 15, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Dust Emissions from Public Lands

• Hiring of post-doctoral scholar completed.
• Modification to task agreement approved.

Red Rock Desert Learning Center Stakeholder Phasing Meeting: October 5, 2006, Red Rock Desert Learning Center

Reports (RRLC)

• Our goals for this meeting

• What does phasing offer us?

• Possible phasing scenados

• Where do we go from here?

• Other business regarding RRDLC

Cooperative Conservation: Increasing Capacity Through Community Partnerships - Interagency Volunteer Program: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending September 30, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Get Outdoors Nevada

• Volunteer database increased 9.5% over last quarter. Database now contains 2,698 records.
• Website activity decreased, recording an average of 42,488 hits per month, with an average of 4,435 pages viewed per month (3.6% decrease in pages viewed).
• Volunteer recognition ceremony scheduled for November 4 at the Renaissance Hotel, Las Vegas.
• Fall 2006 volunteer training schedule finalized.
• National Public Lands Day volunteer projects successfully executed at Red Rock Canyon NCA and Lake Mead NRA, with a total of 232 community volunteers contributing more than 1,000 hours toward clean-up and restoration of Southern Nevada’s public lands.
• Team charter presented to the federal …

Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending September 30, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

• Team members have been meeting regularly with other interagency teams to plan for the upcoming messaging campaign roll-out event, set for October 12, 2006.

• The Interagency Anti-Litter Team recycled over a ton of paper this quarter.

• A task order modification request was completed, submitted, and approved this quarter. The request will make more funds available for the messaging campaign.

• A multi-pronged media buy for the messaging campaign has been planned this quarter and will be initiated in October.

• The Anti-Litter Team worked with the Nevada Division of Forestry to complete Phase Two of a clean-up …

Lake Mead National Recreation Area National Park Service: Final Progress Report, Period Ending September 30, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Wildlife Monitoring

This task agreement was awarded by the National Park Service (NPS), Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LAME), to the Public Lands Institute (PLI) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) on October 1, 2005. This monitoring, research, and management project consisted of several project elements focused on: bald eagles, peregrine falcons, rare songbird species (including southwest willow flycatcher); aquatic birds, relict leopard frog, desert tortoise, and bighorn sheep. In general, actions associated with this project focused on the development and implementation of inventory and monitoring programs to determine the distribution, status, abundance, trends, and potential threats to these animals, …

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Vegetation Monitoring And Management: Final Close-Out Report, Time Period: October 1, 2005 To September 30, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Vegetation Monitoring

The National Park Service (NPS) at Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LAME) entered into a cooperative agreement with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to accomplish vegetation monitoring and management activities. This report summarizes activities that took place by UNLV under this task agreement between October 1, 2005, and September 30, 2006. The activities included:

• Weed Sentry mapping and treating incipient populations of exotic invasive plants throughout Clark County, including along shorelines of Lakes Mead and Mohave;
• Monitoring of targeted rare native plant species;
• Sahara mustard research; and
• Providing technical assistance upon request to the NPS vegetation manager.

In …

Interagency Science And Research: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending September 30, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Interagency Science and Research Strategy

• Desert Research Institute completed two Mojave Desert Ecosystem Health Assessment (i.e., Vital Signs) workshops in August 2006. Public Lands Institute assisted in preparing the workshop opening presentation on behalf of the interagency team.
• Round 7 beta-test of the Phase I strategy delayed to the next quarter.

Don’T Trash Nevada: An Anti-Litter Strategy For Southern Nevada, Public Lands Institute

Anti-littering Presentations

• Increase public awareness about the desert dumping and urban littering.
• Increase the media’s awareness of the dumping and littering problem.
• Over the life of the campaign, modify behavior to reduce littering and dumping by Clark County residents and visitors.

Community Engagement, Education & Research, Public Lands Institute

Presentations (PLI)

The Public Lands Institute is dedicated to strengthening the national fabric that is essential for the protection, conservation, and management of public lands.

Inventory And Monitoring Of Aquatic Bird Species On Lakes Mead And Mohave 2004 - 2006, Joseph Barnes

Wildlife Monitoring

This project was completed as part of a task agreements awarded by the National Park Service (NPS), Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LAME), to the Public Lands Institute (PLI) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). This final report was completed under a task agreement ending on September 30, 2006, and was completed in support of an NPS project funded by the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act (PLMA) to inventory and monitor shoreline and near-shore natural resources on Lakes Mead and Mohave (DOI 2005). This report details inventory and monitoring efforts on shoreline and aquatic bird species between …

Education In The Environment: A Hands-On Student Research And Outdoor Learning Experience: Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending August 31, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Reports (PLI Education)

During the past three months, the focus of the university’s efforts has included the following highlights:

• Forever Earth was scheduled for 13 days and benefited 110 individuals.
• The National Park Service piloted the concept of using Forever Earth as a mobile visitor center during busy summer weekends. During five outings, Park Service interpreters contacted 1,365 visitors.
• Forever Earth curricula for 5th, 6th, and 7th grades have been completed.
• A Preliminary Implementation Plan was created by the SNAP Conservation Education and Interpretation team.
• A report on the Clark County School District Teacher Survey: Attitudes, Perceptions, Barriers, and Desires for Field Trip …

High Temperature Heat Exchanger Project: Quarterly Progress Report April 1, 2006 Through June 30, 2006, Anthony Hechanova

Publications (NSTD)

Numerical Analyses of the Ceramatec Sulfuric Acid Decomposer. Comparisons with experiments for the Ceramatec sulfuric acid decomposer coupon with eight straight channels for four different geometries and four different flow rates were performed. All of the operation and boundary conditions for the calculations were the same as in the Ceramatec experiments. Good agreement was found. The overall pressure drop difference between calculations and experiments for most of the cases is within 10%.

Factors Contributing To Dust Emissions In Clark County, Nevada Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending July 15, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Dust Emissions from Public Lands

• Hiring of post-doctoral scholar is currently being finalized.

• Modification to task agreement has been processed.

Dissolution, Reactor, And Environmental Behavior Of Zro 2 -Mgo Inert Fuel Matrix Neutronic Evaluation Of Mgo-Zro2 Inert Fuels, E. Fridman, A. Galperin, E. Shwageraus

Fuels Campaign (TRP)

In the second year of the “Dissolution, Reactor, and Environmental Behavior of ZrO₂-MgO Inert Fuel Matrix” project initiated and directed by UNLV, the Ben-Gurion University (BGU) group research was focused on the development of practical PWR core nuclear design fully loaded with Reactor Grade (RG) Pu fuel incorporated in fertile free matrix. The design strategy was based on the basic feasibility study results performed at BGU in the Year 1 of the project.

Relationships Between Pacific And Atlantic Ocean Sea Surface Temperatures And U.S. Streamflow Variability, Glenn A. Tootle, Thomas C. Piechota

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

An evaluation of Pacific and Atlantic Ocean sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and continental U.S. streamflow was performed to identify coupled regions of SST and continental U.S. streamflow variability. Both SSTs and streamflow displayed temporal variability when applying the singular value decomposition (SVD) statistical method. Initially, an extended temporal evaluation was performed using the entire period of record (i.e., all years from 1951 to 2002). This was followed by an interdecadal-temporal evaluation for the Pacific (Atlantic) Ocean based on the phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) (Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO)). Finally, an extended temporal evaluation was performed using detrended SST …

Cooperative Conservation: Increasing Capacity Through Community Partnerships - Interagency Volunteer Program: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending June 30, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Get Outdoors Nevada

• Volunteer database increased 12% over last quarter. Database now contains 2,471 records.
• Website activity increased, recording an average of 52,987 hits per month, with an average of 4,596 pages viewed per month (28% increase in pages viewed).
• Spring training sessions were delivered to 180 community volunteers.
• 1,400 public lands volunteers were recognized during National Volunteer Week.
• Volunteer events were successfully executed in Red Rock Canyon NCA and the Spring Mountains NRA, with 189 community volunteers contributing more than 1,000 hours.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Sensitive Wildlife Species Monitoring And Analysis: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending June 30, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Wildlife Monitoring

• Tortoise and tortoise habitat monitoring was conducted on the Northshore Road construction project, on the Southern Nevada Water Authority intake pipe project, the Frontier Telephone-Willow Beach project and the movie film at Temple Bar.
• A total of 25 tortoise education classes were given to 90 individuals.
• Evaluation of 3 potential sites for relict leopard frog translocations conducted but sites were not recommended.
• Head-starting and translocation efforts for relict leopard frogs continued. 1183 animals translocated so far this year.
• Relict Leopard Frog Conservation Team meeting held and yearly report completed.
• Continuation of data management and QA of GPS collar information from …

Interagency Science And Research: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending June 30, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Interagency Science and Research Strategy

• The Desert Research Institute has completed one of two information collection (Vital Signs) workshops scheduled for May and August 2006.
• The Science and Research Team charter was approved by the SNAP Board
• A short-term (Phase I) science and research strategy has been completed, with the initial beta-test scheduled for Round 7 proposals.
• Productive relationships with Clark County are being developed.
• Interagency Science and Research Team meetings are conducted approximately once per month.

Education In The Environment: A Hands-On Student Research And Outdoor Learning Experience: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending May 31, 2006, Margaret N. Rees

Reports (PLI Education)

During the past three months, the focus of the university’s efforts has included the following highlights:

• Forever Earth was scheduled for 18 days and benefited more than 400 individuals.
• Curricula for 5th, 6th, and 7th grades were created for the Forever Earth program; pre- and post-trip activities were also written.
• Activities for 5th and 6th grades were field tested on 7 Forever Earth trips.
• A 1000-gallon fuel donation was contributed to the Forever Earth program by Overland Petroleum Company, St. George, Utah.
• The Forever Earth marketing plan was completed.
• 12 Discover Mojave Outdoor World events were conducted for 104 participants; …

Science & Research Strategy Charter, Public Lands Institute

Interagency Science and Research Strategy

• Cooperatively established tools to measure ecosystem health are implemented
• Common methodologies for data management are agreed to and implemented
• Compatible database methods are utilized
• Award of funding is fair and transparent
• Establishment of a long-term strategy with tested and implemented proposal process