Digital Commons Network^™

Wildland Firefighter Health And Safety, Joseph Wimand Domitrovich

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Over the past fifty years the University of Montana, in conjunction with the United States Forest Service, has been investigating the job demands of wildland firefighters. This document is a combination of three research projects with a connection of health and safety of wildland firefighters.

Smokejumpers are unique because they parachute into remote fires and are used primarily as initial attack wildland firefighters. Studies have shown that initial attack is the most energy intensive part of wildland firefighting. The first study identifies maximal and sustainable aerobic fitness possessed by US Smokejumpers. The maximal aerobic characteristic of US smokejumpers is well …

The Dwellers Between: Yup'ik Shamans And Cultural Change In Western Alaska, Ahnie Litecky

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper examines the history of the Yup'ik Eskimos of western Alaska and explores how their shamans shaped the response to introduced epidemic disease. As in the experiences of so many other Native American groups, disease epidemics played an important role in the history of relations between the Yup'ik Eskimos and white settlers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I argue here that while the Yup'ik Eskimos grappled with the devastating effects of introduced diseases, they did not repudiate their shamans and traditional faith, which sets the Yup'ik people apart from other Native Americans. Before contact with Europeans, the Yup'ik …

Cultural Landscapes In Conflict: Addressing The Interests And Landscape Perceptions Of Native Americans, The National Park Service, And The American Public In National Parks, Emily Anne Eide

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Prayer and Fasting Project of 2010 from Glacier National Park produced startling results indicating that many areas which have cultural significance to Native American peoples have been adversely impacted by national park recreationalists. This thesis addresses the significance of these impacts along with other management issues associated with conflicting landscape perceptions of national park lands. These concerns are explored through the examination of past and present archaeological theories along with cultural resource management approaches to landscapes. The need to identify and consider different cultural perceptions of landscapes in research and management scenarios is stressed throughout this work. The inclusion …

Crescent Hill Chert: A Geological And Cultural Study Of A Raw Material Procurement Area In Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Jacob Strong Adams

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 2009/2010 the Montana Yellowstone Archaeological Project (MYAP) conducted survey of the Crescent Hill chert outcrop (site 48YE729) in the northern portion of Yellowstone National Park. Occurring in a variety of colors and qualities, the chert precipitated within the Eocene-era Crescent Hill basalt formation. The procurement area encompasses 2,124.8 acres, with nine surface outcrops, five of which were clearly utilized by Native Americans during prehistory. With the materials previously being uncharacterized, hand samples representative of the outcrop areas were collected and analyzed using macroscopic, petrographic, and geochemical techniques. In doing this, the provenance of artifacts found in archaeological assemblages can …

Developing Successful Wilderness Stewardship Partnerships, Heather Day

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Partnerships between federal land management agencies and non-profit organizations have existed in various forms for decades, benefiting public lands in myriad ways. However, the consistent decline in agency budgets and available staffing dedicated to Wilderness stewardship have created a need for and subsequent boom of Wilderness stewardship -focused nonprofit organizations across the country. Previous literature addresses the elements of a successful partnership in a more generalized fashion, leaving a need for more empirical examination of the key components of a successful Wilderness stewardship partnership. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with Wilderness stewardship nonprofit staff and staff from the Forest Service, …

Indirect Interactions And Plant Community Structure, Erik Aschehoug

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

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Protohistoric Signatures Of Household Material Wealth: An Interhousehold Analysis Of The Bridge River Site (Eeri4), Lee Nicole Reininghaus

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Reininghaus, Lee N., M.A., May 2011 Anthropology Abstract Title: Protohistoric Signatures of Household Material Wealth: An Interhousehold Analysis of the Bridge River Site (EeRl4) Chairperson: Dr. Anna M. Prentiss This thesis is concerned with the archaeological research of the protohistoric component at the Bridge River Site (EeRl4), located in the Middle Fraser Canyon of the Canadian Plateau. The purpose of this research is to explore socioeconomic variability between households by understanding the relationships between household material wealth and house size, household demographics and household persistence through time. The approach is directed towards identifying variation in household material wealth through a …

From Crop To Cup; The Plight Of Coffee, Dana Lynn Foster

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Coffee is in demand across the globe and remains the second most valuable exported legal commodity on earth, only second to oil. The majority of North Americans have a type of ritual with their morning cup of coffee. However only an extremely modest percentage of those people are cognizant of where their coffee comes from or the processes undergone for it to reach their kitchen counters. This paper examines the role that direct trade coffee programs may play in helping to create long lasting, sustainable and mutually beneficial relationships between producers and roasters. The project accompanying the paper is the …

Multiscale Effects Of Forest Roads On Black Bears (Ursus Americanus), Benjamin S. Jimenez

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As the vast network of roads continues to expand across the continent, so too does the necessity to understand the associated ecological effects. To appropriately assess the impacts of these roads on wildlife it is necessary to evaluate how they affect ecological processes at multiple spatial and temporal scales. In particular, where hunting is associated with road access, roads may induce heightened behavioral responses. I assessed the effects of forest roads on habitat selection and activity patterns of a population of black bears (Ursus americanus) in the Coeur d’Alene Mountains of northern Idaho, USA. This black bear population is exposed …

Pedestrian Pal: A Route Recommendation System For The Android Mobile Phone, Bradley H. Bahls

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

With mobile phone technology pervading people's everyday lives, using these devices has become prevalent for route recommendations while traveling in unfamiliar locations. Current research works to improve algorithms that calculate efficient and effective routes between two or more points. While expedient travel is necessary in time constraint situations, efficiency is not always required. This paper describes Pedestrian Pal, an application built for the Android mobile phone, which offers route recommendations to users based upon their desired specifications. The recommended routes are not necessarily efficient, but rather are paths based upon collected user ratings, aesthetic interests, and users' inputted parameters. During …

Environmental Documentary Film: A Contemporary Tool For Social Movement, Rachel Gregg

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Building a 21st century movement capable of inspiring social and structural change requires creative education, resourceful collaboration, and civic engagement. The U.S. environmental movement is in need of strategies that bring a wide spectrum of people together, facilitate appropriate interpretation of problems, and prompt innovative, forward-thinking solutions. Environmental documentary film has the ability to dramatize the reality of environmental issues and empower audiences to become an active part of the change necessary to address environmental crises. Utilizing a specific genre of environmental documentary film in novel and inventive ways, people can be gathered, educated, and inspired to become active participants …

Fuelwood Consumption And Production In Alpine Bhutan: A Case Study Of Resource Use And Implications For Conservation And Management In Wangchuk Centennial Park, Wangchuk Sangay

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

WOOD HAS BEEN USED SINCE PREHISTORIC TIMES FOR COOKING AND HEATING, AND REMAINS THE PRIMARY ENERGY SOURCE FOR BILLIONS OF PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. IN BHUTAN, FUELWOOD ACCOUNTS FOR 78% OF TOTAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND IS THE PRIMARY ENERGY SOURCE FOR MOST RURAL AND URBAN RESIDENTS. DESPITE THE IMPORTANCE OF FUELWOOD IN BHUTAN, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT HOUSEHOLD FUELWOOD CONSUMPTION, AVAILABLE BIOMASS, OR GROWTH AND YIELD.

Bernard Williams On Coercion And Reasons For Action, Joseph Stephenson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Understanding the nature of reasons for action and, specifically, how one can come to understand and criticize another’s reasons for action can help us to better understand what possible outcomes we can hope for when engaging another agent. Understanding reasons for action may even give us some insight into what shared ground ethical theory can offer. Bernard Williams’ treatment of reasons for action informs much of the contemporary discussion. Williams argues that there are generally two classes of statements about reasons: internal and external. An internal reason, according to Williams, is a reason which depends entirely on an agent’s motivations …

Community News Service Of The 62nd Montana Legislature, Cody Bloomsburg

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This is my news coverage of one of the strangest and most divisive sessions of the Montana Legislature in the past 30 years. In essence, a Republican-controlled Legislature with a faction of far-right conservatives pitted their agenda of shrinking government and expanding states' rights against the will of Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer, the most popular politician in the state at the time. In November, 2010, the GOP harnessed a wave of anti-federal government and anti-Democratic Party sentiment to win a historic, 68-32 majority in the Montana House of Representatives and gain another seat in the Montana Senate to give it …

Nest Site Characteristics And Breeding Biology Of Flammmulated Owls In Missoula Valley, Mathew T. Seidensticker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Seidensticker, Mathew, M.S., Spring 2011 Environmental Studies Nest Sites and Breeding Biology of Flammulated Owls in Missoula Valley Chairperson: Len Broberg The Flammulated Owl is listed as a sensitive or species of concern with United States Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Despite these listings the Flammulated Owl is little studied in Montana. Although region-wide surveys have greatly increased our understanding of distribution and landscape level habitat associations of Flammulated Owls, information about breeding is lacking. In order to address this need for breeding information I searched for and quantified nest site characteristics and …

Opportunities And Constraints To Community Forests For Local Income Generation And Livelihood: A Case Study Of Four Community Forests In Bumthang District, Bhutan, Wangchuk Dorji

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Bhutan has had an active community forestry program since 2000. A key feature of the nationally organized program is the devolution of forest management and use to local residents who participate in a “Community Forestry Management Groups” (CFMG) for managing nearby community forests (CF) according to rules developed by the Department of Forests. These groups are responsible for developing and implementing community forest management plans that entitle them to use locally valuable forest products (fuel wood, construction timber, mushrooms, bamboo etc). Most recently CFMGs have been given the right to sell forest products from their CFs that are not needed …

Puma Dispersal Ecology In The Central Rocky Mountains, Jesse R. Newby

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The structuring of populations within a metapopulation, connected through dispersal, is important to basic and applied ecology. However, a considerable gap exists in our knowledge of the influence landscape heterogeneity has on dispersal and its consequences. We examined landscape effects on dispersal and its consequences for puma (Puma concolor) populations using data from three separate populations in the Central Rocky Mountains including the Northern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (NGYE), the Southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (SGYE) and the Garnet Mountains of Montana. We found human-induced mortality reduced inter-population vital rates with population consequences. The NGYE population was dependent largely on immigration for …

Surface Characteristics Of Silica Polyamine Composites, Jesse James Allen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The goals of this dissertation were to explore the surface characteristics of silica polyamine composites (SPC) by elucidating coordination environments, measuring surface stability, and comparisons with analogous materials. Application of SPC materials as supports for heterogeneous catalysts was also investigated. Analytical techniques including NMR (both solution state and solid state), mercury porosimetry, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the materials.

Cobalt was found to irreversibly bind to the chelating polymer polyethyleneimine (PEI). This was due to oxidation of Co2+ to Co3+, which was enabled by the chelate's ligand field stabilization. Detailed analysis of SPC surface coordination environments …

The Economic Impacts Of Wolves On Calf Production On Western Montana Cattle Ranches Beyond Direct Depredation, Joseph Ramler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A novel sample of 18 western Montana cow-calf ranching operations were analyzed over a 16 year time period (1995-2010) using an ordinary least squares linear regression estimation model with robust standard errors focused on the potential effects wolves may have on average calf weight gain. Incorporating calf sex, calf breed, ranch, and year fixed effects into the estimation model, a vector of variables that changed both across ranches and over time were used to significantly explain (F = 59.32; p < 0.001) the variation in yearly average calf weaning weights on sample ranches with fairly good accuracy (R2 = 0.846). The use of hormone implanting (â=24.5), calf age (â=.34), annual aggregate precipitation (â=2.16), annual aggregate snowfall (â=-0.24), annual average temperature (â=4.27), and the standard deviation of NDVI (â=1.67) were found to be significant at least at the .1 level. One measure used to account for wolf presence on sample ranches based on yearly estimated wolf home range data from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks was found to have an insignificant effect on average calf weight (p = .569). The other measure used to account for wolf presence on sample ranches was found to be a significant factor on calf weight gain. On average, sample ranches that experienced at least one Wildlife Service (WS) confirmed wolf depredation on the ranch, weaned calves that were approximately 20 pounds lighter than ranches that did not have a WS confirmed wolf depredation in the same year, holding all else constant. The results suggest that calves on western Montana ranches that experience at least one WS wolf depredation in a year gain 20 pounds less weight than if there hadn’t been a WS confirmed wolf kill which directly correlates to decreased economic revenue received by affected ranchers.

The Effects Of Large Herbivores On Small Mammal Communities, Plants And Ecosystem Processes In Northern Arizona, Elliott Wentworth Reed Parsons

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Large herbivores are major drivers of community structure and function in many terrestrial systems. Through their direct effects on plants, large herbivores can influence the structure and complexity of habitats, the population abundance of animals that rely on those habitats, and the rates of ecosystem processes within those systems. These manifold impacts on systems are potentially magnifying, as removal of top predators and changes in land use have triggered large increases in large herbivore populations. Although increasing evidence suggests that large herbivores can critically shape the structure and function of the ecosystems they inhabit, few studies have detailed the direct …

Unearthing The Inner Compass, Kimberly Ann Kapalka

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The process of composing a body of artwork was to prove my artistic ability and prepare work for submission to artist-in-residence programs. To achieve this goal, I committed eleven months to this project. Inspiration for pieces came from my travels, interests in American Indian culture, wildlife, trees, photographs, and still-life objects. I devoted as much time as possible in my make-shift apartment studio working on art. Balancing career and home activities was a habitual challenge. I learned to trust my intuition while creating art making choices that reflected my intended message. Fear of public opinion floated through my mind as …

Utilitarian And Industrial Ceramics Of Montana In The Late Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Centuries, Matthew Gregory Sadorf

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis answers the question: What type of utilitarian and industrial ceramics were being produced or brought into Montana in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? This question came from correspondences with the Montana Historical Society where the main research took place. This research was conducted in the Montana Historical Society archives which consisted of files and other sources to find evidence of ceramic production within the state. Further research was done to get an understanding of clays and ceramic production for this period of time. This thesis presents the information by first addressing clays, and then moving into …

Wolves And Livestock: A Review Of Tools To Deter Livestock Predation And A Case Study Of A Proactive Wolf Conflict Mitigation Program Developed In The Blackfoot Valley, Montana, Peter Douglas Brown

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The recent recovery of wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains (NRM) was met with opposition from the ranching communities throughout Montana. This was not surprising, due to the fact that wolves are feared as a predator of livestock and therefore represent a direct economic loss for ranchers that experience depredations by wolves. Wolves are also revered as a native predator that have top down effects upon natural prey species. This in turn affects the web of plants and animals that make up natural ecosystems. This fact, as well as the strong emotional connection that some stakeholders have to wolves creates …

Organic Tracer Analyses And Receptor Modeling Of Pm2.5 In Fairbanks, Alaska, James Kevin Ormord

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Ambient particulate matter (PM) levels are of great importance to many areas around the world for both environmental and health concerns. It is well known that many sources of PM are anthropogenic in nature, including sources such as the combustion of petroleum products and wood. As per the Clean Air Act of 1970, the US EPA has established a National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) of 35µg/m3 for a 24 hour average and 15µg/m3 for an annual average of ambient PM2.5 to improve the quality of air and reduce occurrences of respiratory illness resulting from exposure to high levels of …

A Century Of Change In Forest Structure And Fire Regime Condition Class In A Western Montana Ponderosa Pine Douglas-Fir Forest, Robert Michael Rich

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

ABSTRACT A Century of Change in Forest Structure and Fire Regime Condition Class in a Western Montana Ponderosa Pine/Douglas-fir Forest - Restoring historical forest conditions is often a driving force behind forest management activities today. However, determining historical, pre-settlement conditions can be challenging. Utilizing General Land Office (GLO) survey notes to reconstruct historical stand structure is one method to achieve this goal. Original GLO survey notes from 1902 were used to reconstruct historical stand condition in a 2,694 acre ponderosa pine/ Douglas–fir forest. Surveyed corners or their approximate locations were relocated. The procedure for establishing bearing trees by the original …

Assessing The Balance: Burkean Frames And Lil' Bush, Elizabeth Anne Sills

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In light of former president George W. Bush’s remarkably low approval ratings during the later years of his administration, the Comedy Central program Lil’ Bush seemed to be a satiric outlet for societal angst. A closer examination of the show, however, reveals that its content is funny, but does more to entertain than it does to criticize. Using the dichotomy of Burke’s comedic and humorous frames as a standard for analysis, this thesis probes the program to determine the nature of its humor. Although the show does include some critiques of George W. Bush and the federal executive branch as …

An Assessment Of The Hiv Prevention Needs Of Men Who Have Sex With Men In Montana, Kelly A. Hart

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to collect information about the HIV prevention needs of men who have sex with men (MSM) living in Montana. Prevention needs were explored by identifying the environmental factors and behaviors that put MSM at risk for HIV infection, describing the demographic and contextual factors that influence those behaviors, and comparing current prevention needs to existing resources and services. To evaluate the prevention needs, primary qualitative data was collected in the form of four focus groups and nine key informant interviews. Supporting secondary quantitative and qualitative data in the form of an online survey and …

Debt Structure In The West: Money And Gift, And The Influence On Community, James A. Becker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Debt structures all relationships in America as well as all of our economic material exchanges. Historically debt has always been seen thus with our religious texts being written both in the terminology of the metaphysical and the economical combining them together in an attempt to understand the social and economic systems that individuals live in. At the core of the social and economic systems is community. In America the myth of the gift is a dominant catalyst that uses debt to make community through time. In order to study the structure of debt within America I will be using an …

Feasting On Fido: Cultural Implications Of Eating Dogs At Bridge River, Hannah Schremser Cail

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Dogs represent a unique facet of the faunal assemblage at the Bridge River site (EeRl4), a prehistoric aggregated winter housepit village in southern British Columbia’s Middle Fraser Canyon. As part of the Bridge River site investigation of emergent material wealth based status inequality of the hunter-gatherer-fisher economy, the 2008 and 2009 excavation of the village recovered the skeletal remains of domestic dogs within two distinct cache pit features in Housepit 24’s Activity Area 3. The two dogs unearthed from these separate cache pits features show dichotomous roles for man’s best friend; one, possibly as a prized companion, and the other …

Life History And Demography Of Trillium Ovatum Pursh. (Liliaceae)In Western Montana, Tarn Ream

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Trillium ovatum is a long-lived, spring ephemeral that grows in moist forest habitats of the western United States. Extensive investigations of Trillium, including T. ovatum, have been accomplished, yet no prior studies of T. ovatum have been conducted at the eastern edge of its distribution in Montana, where populations experience increased aridity and highly variable climatic conditions as compared to other regions where it occurs. This study examines life-history characteristics and demography of T. ovatum in three representative populations that were sampled over 9 growing seasons to determine: 1) life history stages, stage class structure, and yearly transitions among stage …