Digital Commons Network^™

Diy Beef: Why Some Montana Ranchers Are Gambling On Direct Marketing, Izaak John Opatz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Ranchers in Montana direct market their cattle for several reasons, but many have done so to relieve their dependence on the national beef market, which critics claim is unfairly controlled by a consolidated packing industry. Pandemic-related disruptions to the U.S. meat supply chain created uncertainty and exposed vulnerabilities for producers and consumers that drove a renewed interest in direct-marketed beef. Casey Buffington ranches near Chester, MT, and began direct marketing his cattle in 2019 to assert more control over his market and create more profit for his ranch. In telling Buffington’s story, this narrative explores how beneficial direct marketing can …

We Are Larger Than Ourselves, Mark Spero

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Between Tradition And Transformation: A Feminist Investigation Of The Role Of Pastoral Women Within Tanzania's Integrated Environment And Development Landscape, Kelli Erin Rogers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Pastoral women hold pivotal social and environmental roles within their communities. Equally and actively engaging pastoral women in processes to conserve and sustainably use rangeland resources has therefore become an important focus for integrated environment and development intervention. In northern Tanzania, pastoral women find themselves at the center of gender equality efforts, which attempt to translate gender and environment theory into conservation action that elevates pastoral women’s historically unheard voices. Along the way, particular global narratives have positioned pastoral women alternately as passive beneficiaries or as powerful allies in biodiversity conservation and natural resource management. Although the importance of integrating …

"Our Loons": Participant Attachments And Motivations Within A Community-Based Monitoring Program, Taylor Tewksbury

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Organizations can benefit from understanding person-place relationships and volunteer motivations as they recruit and sustain involvement in their community-based monitoring (CBM) programs. Place attachment, or the bond between people and their meaningful environments, is one lens through which to explore these relationships. Past studies have associated place attachment with environmentally responsible behaviors (ERB), such as CBM involvement. However, few studies have explored the relationship between place attachment and CBM in the context of volunteers’ attachment to the species of study.

The purpose of this research study was to explore the place-based relationships and motivations among volunteers of the Loon Preservation …

Irrigation In The Western United States: Occurrence, Impacts, And Sustainability, David Granger Ketchum

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Irrigation represents our greatest intervention in the hydrological cycle, accounting for over 80% of extracted freshwater in the Western U.S. Despite its economic and ecological importance, irrigation’s spatial and temporal occurrence, magnitude, impacts on streamflow, and response during water shortages has not been characterized in our region. The major objective of this dissertation was to systematically assess irrigation over the Western US to answer the following questions: 1) Where and when does irrigation occur within the study region? 2) How has the intensity, area, and distribution of irrigation changed over the course of the past 35 years? 3) What impact …

In The Weeds, Bianca J. Jensen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Collaborating In Cattle Country: Developing A Collaborative Process To Protect The Ecological, Economic, And Cultural Integrity Of Ranching In The Northern Rockies, Emily Jochem

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper explores the creation of a collaborative group that is being convened by Future West, a nonprofit organization based out of Bozeman, MT, to address issues surrounding the loss of ranchlands to alternative land uses in the Northern Rockies. Using literature and theory on collaboration this paper outlines a framework for the development of a collaborative group that includes seven ranchers as advisors to Future West in the development of their program. This framework includes the following elements:

1. A survey that was administered to each participant to assesses their ability to represent their community, and to gauge their initial …

Seeding Resilience: An Examination Of The Impacts Of A Seed Saving Network In Western Montana, Christina Leas

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Seed saving, a worldwide practice as old as agriculture, continues even in the context of an increasingly industrialized and globalized agricultural system. While some scholarship has focused on informal seed saving practices that continue to thrive in the global South, few studies have examined the dynamics of these practices in the global North, particularly in the American West. Informal seed saving systems have implications for the resilience of agroecosystems. The concept of resilience has become an important framework for conceptualizing agroecosystems as social-ecological systems, both in scholarship and in policy. However, operationalizing the concept of resilience, particularly in agroecology research, …

Tales From A Placeholder: A Relational Journey With Land, Place, People And Self, Kalle O. Fox

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The proposed thesis is a collection of place-based, long- and-short-form creative nonfiction essays. The places of interest are where the author spent different amounts of time in during her twenties, including Iceland, Miami and Seaside, Florida, Butte and Missoula, Montana, and a series of National Parks on the western side of the Continental Divide. This thesis is informed what cultural geographer Yi Fu Tuan coined as topophilia: the affective bond between people and place. “Place” and “sense of place,” while each having their own array of definitions in environmental scholarship, are considered interchangeable in the context of my work. A …

Re-Storying Grant Creek: A Case Study Of Relational Dynamics On A Degraded Montana Stream, Seamus Rucci Land

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration began in 2021, and after a history of contentious ethical debates, ecological restoration is increasingly portrayed as a viable framework for combating environmental degradation and supporting more healthy and stable social-ecological systems. The proposed ecological restoration of Grant Creek, a degraded stream near Missoula, Montana, offers an opportunity to connect a restoration site to the broader, rapidly growing field of restoration practice. It also allows the opportunity to forward the ‘relational turn’ proposed by many in the sustainability sciences as an ontological and methodological means to move beyond positivist portrayals of social-ecological systems, which …

Trailing Fire: Working In The Woods And The Future Of Forests In A Chaotic Climate, Claire Kilchrenan Thompson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Our national conversation about wildfire is shifting. As wildland fires become larger, more frequent, more severe, and more expensive—and as climate change and land-use patterns drive the trend toward more fire—we’re scrambling to find a different paradigm for engaging with fire. Scientists now call this age of increasingly extreme burning the Pyrocene, and we’re just beginning to grapple with its impacts on the way we work, play, and live on the land.

As a longtime trail worker for the U.S. Forest Service, I’ve spent hundreds of days clearing trails in burned forests. In Trailing Fire, I draw on these …

Hunger On The Richest Hill: A Case Study Of Linked Historical And Contemporary Food Insecurity In Butte, Montana, Elizabeth Anne Bett Osborn

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

On the “Richest Hill on Earth” or Butte, Montana, a dilemma of food insecurity persists. This dilemma broadly consists of limited access to affordable, healthy, and appropriate nutrition for the city’s urban population. This thesis constructs a historically and contextually-informed understanding of food insecurity in Butte since the city’s establishment in 1864. Food insecurity research largely lacks place-specific consideration of historical events and processes which contribute to and reinforce the root factors contributing to food insecurity. Butte was once a thriving copper-mining boom town yet saw the decline of its primary industry in the late 20^th century. In 2020, …

Invasive Earthworms In The Crown Of The Continent System And Implications For Land Management, Meghan Elizabeth Scott

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The United States contains invasive earthworms originating from Europe and Asia; the majority are European lumbricids. Direct introduction occurs primarily through human activity and, once established, earthworm populations are difficult to address. When exotic earthworms engage in bioturbation, they negatively alter subterranean food webs and nutrient cycling by disrupting soil layering systems. The most prominent form of physical alteration is the change and removal of the topmost organic layer. This disruption is associated with altered nitrogen and carbon cycling, as well as altered forest floor plant communities.

The Crown of the Continent ecosystem is located in southwestern Alberta, southeastern British …

Agricultural Adaptation To Climate Change: How Montana Farmers Make Proactive Changes Despite Unpredictable Conditions, Austin Schuver

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In Montana, climate change is projected to increase interannual variability and the severity of weather events like drought. To sustain agricultural production, farmers must adapt to climate change within a complex decision-making process responsive to a range of climate and non-climate stressors. This study explores how Montana farmers approach proactive and long-term adaptation, two types of adaptation which are not well studied, but are expected to be increasingly important for adapting to the impacts of climate change. To understand Montana farmers’ approaches to adaptation, I conducted 30 in-depth interviews with farmers across the state. Farmers explained how unpredictability in weather …

No Diving From Bridge, Lia R. Mendez

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Lia Mendez grew up on the frontlines of America's breadbasket in the great Central Valley of California where Big Ag and Big Oil reign supreme. When Lia returns home after a long absence and joins local activists in her hometown's fight to reclaim its dying river from agribusiness, she discovers that the land holds secrets whose truths have been long hidden in plain sight. As Lia's love and concern deepen for the very place she promised herself she'd never wind up in, so, too, does her understanding deepen of the systems of oppression and extraction which rule her world. In …

Understanding And Improving Barriers To Treatment And Care Of Postpartum Depression, Marcy N. Hanson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a multifaceted and complex issue that impacts not only the mother, but also the infant and social system and may influence how healthcare is accessed. Compounding the effects of PPD are comorbidities such as perinatal substance use. Utilization of substances during pregnancy can increase feelings of anxiety and depression, result in cognitive and physiological consequences for the infant and impair relationships with healthcare providers.

Purpose: The studies completed for this dissertation revealed current concerns regarding PPD within the context of screening practices, perinatal substance use and rural practice implications.

Methods: Three studies were conducted. Study …

Adaptation In Rangeland Social-Ecological Systems: A Mixed-Methods, Cross-Scale Examination Of Factors Influencing Ranchers’ Adaptation To Drought And Climate Change, Ada Parkhurst Smith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Rangeland social-ecological systems (SESs), which make up vast tracts of land on Earth, are critical for safeguarding ecosystem services, producing food and fiber, protecting open space, contributing to local and regional economies, and maintaining cultures and knowledges. Sustaining rangelands, the ranching livelihoods that depend on them, and the suite of ecosystem goods and services they provide hinges on a greater understanding of the social processes that influence ranchers' ability to adapt within these changing systems. In this study, I used a mixed-methods approach to examine factors influencing ranchers’ adaptation to drought and climate change across scales.

In Chapter 3, I …

Traversing Paradigms: An Environmental Journey To Body And Mind, Martin Ceja Mejia

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Traumatic life experiences altered the way I perceive the world. As a result, I embark on a journey to reshape my relationship to self, the built and natural world; to environment. In this thesis I ask: How do I want to relate to the environment? Considering I am a doubly colonized agent, I also aim to decolonize my relationship to environment along the process. Therefore, this work aims to formulate a new, personal, relationship to environment through academic literature, history, psychology, Indigenous knowledge and science, and literary studies, among other fields of knowledge. This work is interdisciplinary in nature; life …

Voices Of The Often Unheard: The Environmental Impacts Of Catastrophic Wildfire Events On Individuals With Developmental Disabilities, Mary Madison Mckenzie

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Thomas Fire for a time was the largest wildfire in California history, burning 281,893 acres and destroying 1,063 structures. Within three years, the August Complex Fire, at 1,032,649 acres, almost quadrupled that record. Climate related disasters such as these have impelled social science researchers to heed calls for a paradigm shift in understanding the risks climate change poses to the social world, in particular, disaster risks for vulnerable groups. Existing research tends to focus on disasters such as hurricanes, featuring risks for vulnerable populations by race, class, and/or individuals with disabilities in general, but not for individuals with developmental …

Bridging The Gap: Where Indigenous Knowledge And Western Science Come Together To Shape Environmental Stewardship, Bowman Leigh

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the era of climate change, humans are grappling with how to ensure that natural resources exist into the future. For millennia, Indigenous people have actively managed the environment, drawing upon deep connections to the land passed down through generations. The Western worldview, on the other hand, sees humans as separate from nature — an attitude that has led to many of the environmental crises we see today.

This portfolio examines places and programs where Western science and Indigenous knowledge (IK) or traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) come together to shape environmental stewardship. Western science and IK/TEK are inherently different ways …

Other Orchards, Sam B. Robison

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Other Orchards is comprised of poems each suspect in their own way of those boundaries that might separate humans from nature, rural from urban, worker from scholar, or human from beast. Using the figure of the orchard, a kind of “false forest,” this collection studies the ways we map ourselves onto our work and the way work might inform an understanding of the self. Ultimately, these are poems that emerge from the seams of things—the shoulder of highway strewn with dead antelope, the feral apple tree lost to the woods, the farmer lost in their work, slowing becoming less and …

Catch My Drift? Perceptions And Experiences Of Pesticide Contamination Of Organic Crops In Montana, Sarah Rodgers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Pesticide drift and inadvertent contamination pose particular risks to organic production. Some organic producers have lost their crops, certification, and/or organic markets because of contamination events. Through this thesis research, I explain the perceptions and experiences that certified organic farmers in Montana have about drift and inadvertent pesticide contamination. I conducted semi-structured interviews with eleven certified organic farmers from various regions of Montana. Along with one-on-one interviews with organic farmers, interviews with industry and regulatory officials were conducted to better understand the policies and procedures that control what happens when drift occurs at the state level. Industry and regulatory official …

Looking To The Future Of Wildlife Conservation: Durable Wildlife Policy For The 21st Century, Charlie R. Booher

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Wildlife conservation in the United States was built by the dollars of consumptive users. Monies from the sale of hunting licenses, as well as excise taxes on firearms, ammunition, and archery tackle through the Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (PR), currently fuel a complex system of wildlife conservation via multiple levels of government. However, the number of hunters in this country is rapidly declining, the sale of firearms and ammunition is increasingly unrelated to hunting, and contemporary consumers tend to express different values than traditional hunters. These changes pose significant challenges of relevancy and funding to state and …

Understanding The Utilization Of Woody Biomass Through The Perspectives Of Southwest United States Forest Service Land Managers: A Qualitative Study, Mary-Ellen Reyna

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Dry ponderosa pine/mixed conifer stands in the Southwestern United States create an overabundance of woody biomass during restoration and fuel treatments. It has been the job of land managers and resource specialists to develop management goals and practices to treat stands and lower the risk of catastrophic wildfires while managing for accumulations of woody biomass. Knowing the limitations, setbacks, and successes will help researchers, the United States Forest Service, and other land managers better improve woody biomass utilization. In conjunction with three previous ForBio Southwest studies, we present results from ten phone interviews from three Arizona and New Mexico ranger …

Keeping What You Sow: Intellectual Property Rights For Plant Breeders And Seed Growers, Paulina B. Jenney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Over the last 150 years, the food system in the present-day United States has undergone a transformational restructuring, from a diversified, decentralized, network of farmers and seed growers, to one in which the majority of crop production is controlled by a few industrial corporations. The consolidation of power has been under-girded by the application of intellectual property rights (IPR)—especially utility patents—to plant varieties and genetic traits, which are leveraged to exclude small-scale seed growers from accessing quality germplasm. Patents and restrictive licensing agreements recapitulate colonial structures by appropriating common and traditionally community-held resources for profit, and by creating reliance on …

A Thinking Person's Guide To Immigration And Environmental Racism At The Us - Mexico Border, Emma H. Kiefer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In recent years, more attention has been paid to the immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border thanks in part to the strict immigration restrictions from the Trump administration, such as the family separation policy. Immigration remains a widely misunderstood issue and arguments against increased immigration are often laced with racist stereotypes and perceptions that find their roots in centuries of US policy, court cases, and administrative rules. Similarly, the concept of environmental racism can be difficult for the American public to understand when modern-day racism alone has become more insidious. Intersectionality, a concept coined by sociologist Kimberlé Crenshaw, asks us …

Conserving And Sharing Freshwater In The West, Kelsea Harris-Capuano

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There are infinite stories to be told about water in the West. As an essential and finite resource, countries, states, tribal nations and neighbors must figure out how to manage this shared resource, whether for ecosystem sustainability, agricultural, household, or recreational use.

The Flathead Lake Biological Station in Polson, MT is one of the oldest active biological research stations in the United States. One of its former faculty, Dr. Mark Lorang, has been working on Flathead Lake’s erosion problem for over 30 years. As a result of seasonal lake level fluctuations controlled by the dam, erosion over the years has …

Re-Modeling The Interior: Spatial Methods And Policy Revisions To Improve Inventory And Designation Of Blm’S Areas Of Critical Environmental Concern, Amy H. Katz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages a vast amount of public land in the western United States, most of which they currently manage for multiple uses. Specific conservation and management of these lands could mitigate climate change impacts and contribute to the global initiative to conserve 30 percent of lands and waters by 2030. Particularly, the agency can achieve this through more effective administration of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), a designation that is prioritized under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). To do so requires updated regulations that set clear parameters around inventory and designation, …

Spatial Behavior, Foraging, And Population Dynamics Of A Subarctic Ungulate, Elizabeth (Libby) Parr Williamson Ehlers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The concept of density-dependence is foundational to our understanding of the ecology and management of large herbivores. As the abundance of large herbivores increases, competition for high-quality resources increases and animals select for lower-quality foods potentially resulting in reduced vital rates that cause declines in population growth. What remains unclear is how foraging at finer scales, like the ‘bite’, translates to demography. This is difficult because it’s challenging to scale bite-level foraging to population-levels. I test the fine-scale foraging mechanisms of density dependence in a large subarctic herbivore, Barrenground caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti). The nutritional landscape for arctic herbivores is …

Exploring The Relationship Between Nature Connectedness And Belonging With Pro-Environmental Behavior In Brazilian National Parks, Sonia Maria Sfair Kinker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Park managers in Brazil have recently understood the power of recreational experiences to stimulate a relationship with nature and commitment to its conservation. In their discourse, the central supposition is that those connected to nature and feeling a sense of belonging to nature tend to be more mindful of the environment and more supportive of nature conservation. However, providing visitation opportunities that effectively facilitate visitor experiences in nature has been a managers' lonely endeavor dependent on their skills and beliefs about visitation and no clear visitation policy. Therefore, this study aimed at providing a theoretical base and empirically tested frameworks …