Digital Commons Network^™

Instituting Collaborative Conservation In Federal Land Management: The Blm's Resource Advisory Councils As An Example, Benjamin D. Donatelle

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Collaborative Conservation is one type of Environmental Conflict Resolution (ECR) that, since the 1970’s, has proliferated throughout public land and natural resource management, especially in the Western United States. As the notion of collaboration has risen in the collective consciousness of public land management professionals, various efforts to capitalize on its use have been instituted through regulatory reforms and legislation. For twenty years the Resource Advisory Councils have fulfilled their regulatory responsibilities and exemplify policy mandated collaborative consensus-building process, yet little research has been conducted to understand what contributes to their effectiveness. This study investigates the effect of instituting or …

Perceptions Of Climate Change And Water Governance Vulnerability In The Aysén Region Of Chile, Michal I. Helman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

While the majority of Chile’s intact watersheds are located in the largely uninhabited southern Patagonia regions of the country, the majority of the Chilean population lives in the nation’s parched central regions. In the face of recent trends in climatic change, including dramatic decreases in snowpack, diminishing glaciers, and shifts in precipitation cycles and seasons, mountain contributions to local watersheds are predicted to continue dwindling as aridification worsens around the world and throughout Chile. Problems associated with aridification are further complicated by Chile’s water history, which has largely revolved around the nation’s fresh water caches subject to private claims and …

Rural Food Procurement Strategies And Attitudes Towards Food Sourcing: A Case Study Of Boulder Town, Utah, Jane R. Philips

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Today, while the United States continues to boast one of the highest standards of living in the world, rural communities suffer from an inability to acquire sufficient healthy food. Rural food systems have undergone a substantial transition over the last 50 years causing previously agricultural regions to now depend heavily on outside food sources. It should not be so hard to consume food produced within these rural communities, yet it is.

Researchers relying on secondary data analysis from national scale databases may identify rural areas as “low food access,” however, gaps in available records inhibit the development of a full …

An Investigation Of Domestic Tourists' Loyalty To A Nature-Based Tourist Setting From A Relational And Transactional Perspective At The Victoria Falls World Heritage Site, Jane Musole Kwenye

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

It is a common belief that Zambian citizens would prefer to vacation in other countries rather than visiting their own natural tourist settings. The primary goal of this study was to understand how to foster loyal relationships between Zambian domestic tourists and a natural setting by investigating factors that influence domestic tourists' loyalty to the Victoria Falls World Heritage site. Destination loyalty was the central concept employed in this study and was examined from both a relational and transactional perspective. Place attachment constituted the relational variable, while satisfaction, service quality and perceived value were the transactional variables.

Stewardship Contracting: Implementation Of An Innovative Resource Management Tool By Units Of The U.S. Forest Service, Cassandra J. Hemphill

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The U.S. Forest Service has an urgent need to restore forests to healthy conditions. To meet this need, in 2003 Congress authorized the agency to use the innovative stewardship contracting tool. However, eight years after authorization, implementation had not reached the expected or desired levels. This prompted this study, which asked ôWhy do some field units in the U.S. Forest Service implement and institutionalize stewardship contracting, while others do not?ö

Linking Environmental Restoration And Stewardship In Colorado: Learning From The Rocky Mountain Conservancy, Jordan Carper

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The Rocky Mountain Conservancy (RMC) is a well-known nonprofit organization supporting restoration and environmental stewardship and leadership in Rocky Mountain National Park. The RMC promotes stewardship of Rocky Mountain National Park and similar lands through education and philanthropy. Since 1931, the RMC (previously Rocky Mountain Nature Association) has been producing educational publications, offering seminars, supporting research, and providing aid and philanthropic support to Rocky Mountain National Park and their other public lands partners. The RMC has also established a unique Conservation Corps in which college students work side-by-side with park and forest service teams in Rocky Mountain National Park and …

Speaking For You: Positions Of Montana Ranching Organizations On Beef Market Concentration, Katie Marie Leblanc

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Beef market concentration continues to be a highly contentious issue; especially in the culture-­‐rich ranching industry of Montana. The agriculture industry, specifically the beef sector, has experienced a tremendous amount of integration and consolidation over the past 50 years. This amount of industry restructuring has crafted a beef backgrounding and processing sector with the highest rates of concentration ever witnessed, with a Concentration Ratio (CR4) reaching nearly 82%. This research aims to qualitatively investigate ranching organizational positions, on the topic of beef market concentration and potential impacts this has had on the organization and their members who are located and …

Remaking Nature In Montana: Topophilic Considerations Of Wolves And Wolf Trapping, Andrew Myers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 2011, after nearly forty years of federal protection, the gray wolf was removed from the Endangered Species List in Montana and its management entrusted to the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. The implementation of public trapping seasons in 2012 as a method to control wolf populations has further inflamed an already embroiled debate. The purpose of this research was to investigate how the presence of wolves and wolf trapping impacts human attachments to landscapes of “nature” in Montana by focusing on the following questions: What are the public’s social constructions of wolves? What are the public’s social constructions of …

Psyx 550.01: Advanced Social Psychology, Lucian G. Conway

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Artificial Amplification Of Warming Trends Across The Mountains Of The Western United States, Jared Wesley Oyler, Solomon Z. Dobrowski, Ashley P. Ballantyne, Anna E. Klene, Steven W. Running

Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group Publications

Observations from the main mountain climate station network in the western United States (U.S.) suggest that higher elevations are warming faster than lower elevations. This has led to the assumption that elevation-dependent warming is prevalent throughout the region with impacts to water resources and ecosystem services. Here we critically evaluate this network's temperature observations and show that extreme warming observed at higher elevations is the result of systematic artifacts and not climatic conditions. With artifacts removed, the network's 1991–2012 minimum temperature trend decreases from +1.16°C decade⁻¹ to +0.106°C decade⁻¹ and is statistically indistinguishable from lower elevation trends. Moreover, …

A Public Revolt Against Spitting: Education And Politics In The Progressive Era, Patrick J. O'Connor

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Socioeconomic Influences On Health Care Seeking Behavior In Humla, Nepal, Hannah Kuehl

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Mobile medical camps (MMCs) are common in Nepal, as well as other parts of the world. MMCs in Nepal provide health care resources that are not available through the government health system, due to Nepal’s weak health infrastructure. Although MMCs are problematic for a variety of reasons, they continue to play a role in health care delivery in remote settings the world over. Despite the fact that MMCs are increasingly common in many countries around the world, their patient populations and their health outcomes are poorly understood. This thesis is an analysis of socioeconomic influences within a select group of …

More Is The Same, Tyler Reeves Nansen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Nansen, Tyler, M.F.A. Spring 2015

More Is The Same

Chairperson: Associate Professor Trey Hill

More is the Same is the result of my examination of the perception of space in relation to architecture and landscape. By embracing modern concepts of the grid, formalism and design, this compilation of personal experiences and memories, manifests as post-minimal sculptures. However, when considering the hierarchy of importance in my work this involves pure visual perception over any specific narrative. The final product is an exhibition which elicits a perceptual experience for its viewer.

My work is about space and the creation of visual interactions, …

Economic And Policy Factors Driving The Adoption Of Institutional Woody Biomass Heating Systems In The United States, Jesse D. Young

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

New biomass combustion technologies and adequate biomass supplies have empowered the United States (U.S.) to look beyond satisfying heating needs with traditional fossil-based fuels, but biomass heating is often overlooked by many commercial and institutional entities. This study uses county level Zero Inflated Negative Binomial (ZINB) cross sectional regression analyses to identify economic factors that are favorable to the adoption of decentralized woody biomass heating systems by institutions in the U.S. In addition, biomass policy efficacy with respect to decentralized biomass heating systems is analyzed and regression results are used to develop an expansion map that highlights counties in the …

Unearthing Connections In A Storied Landscape: The Flathead River Honoring And Place-Based Education In The Flathead Valley, Melissa Wardlow

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Avalanche Mitigation Planning For Developed Areas In The Rocky Mountain’S Of Colorado, Daniel Kozel

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

2015-2016 Course Catalog, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of The Registrar

University of Montana Course Catalogs, 1895-2024

An annual catalog of courses and course descriptions offered at the University of Montana.

Grassroots Planning: An Actor-Network Study Of Surfing Waves In Missoula, Montana, Alexander S. Pichacz Jr.

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Brennan’s Wave, in downtown Missoula, has become an iconic feature of the town. Through the diligent work of a group of community advocates a dangerous and unsightly irrigation diversion structure was repurposed to include a recreation feature in the middle of the river that improved safety while simultaneously maintaining the integrity of the structure. The success of Brennan’s Wave has led to its replication through the planning of another memorial wave, the Max Wave, to be built downstream at the site of a similar irrigation structure. This study investigates how these structures are planned for and built by utilizing an …

Radiant Heat Effects On Ceramic Artifacts From The American Southwest: From Experimental Results To Site Treatment Guidelines, Rebekah R. Kneifel

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Archaeological assemblages in the American Southwest are currently subjected to periodic wildfires and prescribed burns, and have been exposed to fires in the past. Ceramics are a key constituent of these assemblages, leading to questions regarding the effects of post-depositional heat exposure on pottery. Alterations of ceramic surface appearance and other attributes have been observed following wildfires, and such changes are significant because intact ceramics provide important temporal context and social information. Over the past 150 years, southwestern wildfires have shifted away from the historical high-frequency, low-severity regime; thus, cultural resources can be exposed to fires that are potentially more …

Capturing The Benefits Of Restoration: Local Business Utilization And Opportunities For Growth In Northwestern Montana, Chelsea P. Mciver

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Restoration and maintenance of forests and watersheds is increasingly a focus of management on public lands and, in addition to traditional forest management activities, has the potential to contribute to the economic vitality of local, forest-dependent communities. However, research has shown that the extent to which local communities benefit from restoration and management activities is highly variable. This study seeks to understand whether local communities in northwestern Montana are capturing the benefits of these activities on public lands by analyzing federal contracting trends. Specifically, this study 1) characterizes the value and type of federal contracts along with the spatial distribution …

Raising Grain In Next Year Country: Dryland Farming, Drought, And Adaptation In The Golden Triangle, Montana, Caroline M. Stephens

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate change has already and will likely continue to impact agriculture in the Western United States, threatening water supplies for both irrigated and rainfed agriculture (Calzadilla et al. 2010; Chambers and Pellant 2008; MacDonald et al. 2010; Pedersen et al. 2009). In the Golden Triangle, a region in north central Montana, known for its dryland grain production, the same is true. There is a need for in-depth, fine-grained, place-based, and qualitative research about the process of climate change adaptation in agriculture (Miller et al. 2013). Drought challenges farmers in the Triangle, which is semiarid and receives 10-15 inches of annual …

A Gis Assessment Of Ecoregion Representation In Chile's Existing And Proposed Integrated Network Of Protected Areas, Jessica Schutz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Chile's state designated protected areas are reported to show representation bias and to be unable to meet conservation goals. Private protected areas are considered an important tool to resolve these issues, which has led to support for increasing the role of private protected areas in Chile and creating an integrated public-private protected area network. But the validity of the capacity of private protected areas to fix Chile's state protected area network bias, and the advantage of creating an integrated protected area network, have not been assessed. This study uses the most recent data on Chile's state, private, and international protected …

Population Differentiation And Habitat Selection Of A Montane Red Fox Population In The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Patrick Cross

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Montane red fox (Vulpes vulpes) populations across the western United States are genetically and morphologically distinct from foxes at lower elevations. These montane populations also share a preference for subalpine forest habitats. One hypothesis is that they stem from boreal forest-associated ancestors that expanded during the Pleistocene when boreal forests extended farther south than they do today. Forest habitat selection may therefore aid the persistence of native populations surrounded by non-native conspecifics. Alternatively, this behavior may be an avoidance mechanism in response to competition with larger coyotes (Canis latrans), or a product of the fox's natural adaptability. The red fox …

"Art Should Comfort The Disturbed And Disturb The Comfortable:" Examining Twenty-First Century Aesthetics Through Banksy's Socially Engaged Art, Margaret Henry

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Taking Viktor Shklovsky’s notion of defamiliarization as its starting point, this paper considers two twenty-first century aesthetic shifts resulting from the conditions of post-Fordist capitalism: the appearance of socially engaged art practices as delineated by Nato Thompson in Living as Form and the prevalence of what Sianne Ngai refers to as “minor aesthetic categories” within those practices. This project explores the political efficacy and theoretical possibilities of socially engaged art practices--practices which necessarily utilize minor aesthetic categories due to their ubiquity--through close examination of the graffiti artist Banksy’s exhibit, Better Out Than In. Graffiti is associated with the destruction of …

Camas, Winter 2015

Camas

The Sea Star’s Warning / Nina Finley -- Passages / AZ Andis -- Ever-moving World / Eva Saulitis -- Angel with a Horn / David James Duncan -- Things Left Behind / Ben Horan -- Interview / Diana Roffman -- Knot / Ellie Rogers -- Transit / Elizabeth O’Brien -- untitled / Jay Chervil -- H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald / Megan McInerney -- Form / Airica Parker

Truth Commissions And Collective Memory In Latin America, Mona Schwartz

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Human rights violations have an enormous effect on future generations and have the potential to divide or unite society in their wake. My research examines how a national, collective memory is formed after human rights abuse occurs, and how the work of a truth commission contributes to this process. My hypothesis is that when a truth commission is instated after an experience of human rights abuse, a nation will be better able to reconcile conflicted memories and experiences and to create a unified, collective memory of that human rights experience. More specifically, my hypothesis is that, in order to be …

May You Walk In Beauty: The Decline Of Navajo Land And Culture, Jocelyn Catterson

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The Navajo homeland, Dinetah, is bordered by four mountains that are sacred to the Navajo people: two in Colorado, one in New Mexico, and one in Arizona. Historically, Navajo medicine men have traveled to these mountains to renew prayers and collect medicinal herbs. Today, the mountains, which exist outside of the reservation boundaries, are used for resource extraction and various recreational pursuits. While many Navajo are fighting for the protection of these sacred lands and their traditional culture, others are disinterested. Traditional practices and beliefs are slowly disappearing within the Navajo Nation. The land-use issues associated with these sacred mountains …

Human Consequences Of Climate Change, Climate Refugees: An Exploratory Essay, Frederick A. Snyder-Manetti

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

While planning my course schedule for the 2009 Spring Semester, I found myself desperately short of elective credits toward my Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography in order to graduate by the end of the 2010 Autumn Semester. From the limited course choices offered for the spring semester, only two worked with the other required courses I needed as well: Cultural & Global Competence and Global Hot Spots. Little did I know at the time, but the latter would prove to be the most stimulating course of my entire undergraduate geography program. Not only did this course forge within me …

The History And Evolution Of North American Ski Resort Map Style And Design, Amy Elizabeth Lippus

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The first official ski resort in North America opened to the public in 1936 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Today, there are over 400 resorts across the continent in constant competition with one another for customers. Ski maps were first introduced as navigational tools, but quickly became a means for advertising what the resorts had to offer. The desire to outshine rival resorts has produced thousands of unique ski maps over the years, forming a collection of maps that has never been comprehensively analyzed until now. The first phase of the thesis involved the gathering of historical and modern ski maps …

A Zooarchaeological Study Of Generational Decision-Making: Modeling Subsistence And Demographic Change In Late-Holocene Occupations Of Housepit 54 At The Bridge River Site (Eerl4), Mid-Fraser, B.C., Matthew Joseph Walsh

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Bridge River site is a winter pithouse village near the confluence of the Bridge and Fraser Rivers in the Mid-Fraser Canyon that was occupied periodically from as early as 1800BP to the mid-19th century. Prentiss et al. (2008) divide the range of occupations into four Periods: Bridge River (BR) 1, c. 1800-1600BP, BR2, c. 1600-1300BP, a short-lived BR3, c. 1300-1100BP (by the end of this period the village appears to have been largely abandoned), and BR4, a late reoccupation of the site, c. ~500 to 100BP (Prentiss et al. 2008, 2011, 2012). During BR2 and into BR3, between 1500-1100BP, …