Forest Management Commons^™

The Mexican Water Forest: Benefits Of Using Remote Sensing Techniques To Assess Changes In Land Use And Land Cover, Maria F. Lopez Ornelas

Master's Projects and Capstones

In the past 30 years, anthropogenic activities like urbanization, agriculture, road fragmentation and deforestation have resulted in changes in the land use and land cover (LULC) in the Mexican Water Forest. Due to the important ecosystem services, and the natural resources this forest provides, in Mexico, it has become increasingly necessary to use new technologies and tools to support the planning, implementation and integration of forest management and conservation plans, as well as ecological and socioeconomic analysis of this ecosystem. Remote Sensing techniques and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been a true technological and methodological revolution in the acquisition, management …

Nonnative Forest Insects And Pathogens In The United States: Impacts And Policy Options, Gary M. Lovett, Marissa Weiss, Andrew M. Liebhold, Thomas P. Holmes, Brian Leung, Kathy F. Lambert, David A. Orwig, Faith T. Campbell, Jonathan Rosenthal, Deborah G. Mccullough, Radka Wildova, Matthew P. Ayres

Dartmouth Scholarship

We review and synthesize information on invasions of nonnative forest insects and diseases in the United States, including their ecological and economic impacts, pathways of arrival, distribution within the United States, and policy options for reducing future invasions. Nonnative insects have accumulated in United States forests at a rate of ~2.5 per yr over the last 150 yr. Currently the two major pathways of introduction are importation of live plants and wood packing material such as pallets and crates. Introduced insects and diseases occur in forests and cities throughout the United States, and the problem is particularly severe in the …

Changes In Floristic Composition In The State Forests In Worcester County (Massachusetts) Over 34 Years, Flor A. Monroe

Sustainability and Social Justice

ABSTRACT

CHANGES IN FOREST DIVERSITY OF STATE FOREST IN WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS, OVER 34 YEARS PERIOD

The forest in Massachusetts has changed since the earliest colonial settlement and today the floristic composition is more homogeneous. This study investigates the potential change in the floristic composition over thirty years in Worcester County State Forests. Shannon, richness and evenness indices for two periods were compared, and Jaccard index was used to analyze similarity in composition between the periods. The possible influence of severe weather events was also analyzed.

It was found Changes in the floristic composition, but the magnitude of the changes …

Fire And Fuels: Vegetation Change Over Time In The Zuni Mountains, New Mexico, Luke Wylie

Master's Theses

The Zuni Mountains are a region that has been dramatically changed by human interference. Anthropogenically, fire suppression practices have allowed a buildup of fuels and caused a change in the fire-adapted ponderosa pine ecosystem such that the new ecosystem now incorporates many fire-intolerant species. As a result, the low-severity fires that the ecosystem once depended on to regenerate the forest are much reduced, and these low-severity fires are now replaced by crown-level infernos that threaten the forest and nearby towns. In order to combat these effects, land managers are implementing fuel reduction practices and are striving to better understand the …

Agenda: A Celebration Of The Work Of Charles Wilkinson: Served With Tasty Stories And Some Slices Of Roast, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

A Celebration of the Work of Charles Wilkinson (Martz Winter Symposium, March 10-11)

Conference held at the University of Colorado, Wolf Law Building, Wittemyer Courtroom, Thursday, March 10th and Friday, March 11th, 2016.

Conference moderators, panelists and speakers included University of Colorado Law School professors Phil Weiser, Sarah Krakoff, William Boyd, Kristen Carpenter, Britt Banks, Harold Bruff, Richard Collins, Carla Fredericks, Mark Squillace, and Charles Wilkinson

"We celebrate the work of Distinguished Professor Charles Wilkinson, a prolific and passionate writer, teacher, and advocate for the people and places of the West. Charles's influence extends beyond place, yet his work has always originated in a deep love of and commitment to particular places. We …

Assessing The Impacts Of Federal Forest Planning On Wildfire Risk Mitigation In The Pacific Northwest, Usa, Alan A. Ager, Michelle A. Day, Karen C. Short, Cody R. Evers

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

We analyzed the impact of amenity and biodiversity protection as mandated in national forest plans on the implementation of hazardous fuel reduction treatments aimed at protecting the wildland urban interface (WUI) and restoring fire resilient forests. We used simulation modeling to delineate areas on national forests that can potentially transmit fires to adjacent WUI. We then intersected these areas with national forest planning maps to determine where mechanical treatments are allowed for restoration and fire protection, versus areas where they are prohibited. We found that a large proportion of the national forest lands (79%) can spawn fires that burn adjacent …

The Real Footprint Of Electric Vehicles, And What That Could Mean For Our Future, Krista Brown

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

This paper looks at the impact of electric vehicles on CO2 emissions specifically based on the type of electricity used in each New England state analyzed. The research looks at the question of whether or not emissions will in fact be lowered as electric cars start to take the majority of vehicles used instead of the conventional cars that take up a much larger percent of the motor vehicles used today. Taking into account the use of electricity and how many sources of electricity also release a substantial amount of emissions, we see how valid the public opinion of electric …

The Effect Of The Deer Population On The Number Of Car Accidents, Timothy J. Hallock Jr

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

This paper examines the relationship between the deer population and the number of car accidents in New York State from 2002-2012. Data collected includes information on the amount of deer hunted, the number of car accidents, and the number of hunting permits issued. This paper also involves a county level analysis within New York State of 56 counties from 2007 - 2012. An important part of analysis of this paper is the examination of the Buck population vs. the Doe population on the number of car accidents. This is an important study because of its possible policy implications regarding the …

Socioeconomic Attributes’ Relationship To Green Commercial Office Buildings, Tianyang Zhou

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

This paper examines the relationship between the socioeconomic attributes of a state and its green commercial office space adaptation. I hypothesize that a state with high socioeconomic status will have a high green building adoption. Additionally, the high socioeconomic status states may be more likely to invest in green commercial buildings with higher LEED certification levels, and various types of LEED commericial office projects are affected by the socoeconomic attributes differently.

Do Peers Get Punished: Stock Market Effect Of Bp Oil Spill On Peers, Yuga Koda

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

This paper examines the stock market reaction to the British Petroleum oil spill on April 20, 2010. This event study looks at different sectors that may be affected by the oil spill. It finds that different industries do not have significant abnormal returns, with two exceptions. First, utilities companies have a very small positive abnormal return for a short period of time after the incident. Second, when only looking at BP's direct competitors, there is a statistically significant negative abnormal return, implying that BP's competitors are punished for BP's mishap.

Media Effects On Solar Panel Installations Across 20 States, Casey Romeo

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

This paper looks at the relationship between media coverage of solar power and the solar panel installation at a state level. Specifically, it aims to find if more newspaper articles cause more households to adopt solar energy. Use data from 20 states from 2009 to 2014. I find that there is a modest, yet positive and statistically significant relationship between newspaper articles and installations, which suggests that the media does influence the decision to install solar panels. There is possible endogeneity between these two variables. Disentangling this endogeneity is beyond the scope of this research and would be a topic …

Invited Introduction To Jerec, Matthew Kotchen

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

No abstract provided.

Welcome By The Editor, Nathan W. Chan

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

No abstract provided.

Agroforestry Horizons: Experiences And Reflections: Report-Out, Steve Rasmussen

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The USDA National Agroforestry Center (NAC) is charting a course for the next five years. As part of this process, NAC and the USDA Interagency Agroforestry Team hosted a meeting of leaders in the fields of agroforestry, agriculture, and forestry, from government, universities, and the private sector, to share experiences and insights on agroforestry opportunities and challenges. The meeting occurred on April 27th and 28th, 2016, in Washington, DC, and entailed presentations and discussions on current and potential roles of agroforestry in supporting water quality, soil health, economic diversification, food security, and pollinator/wildlife habitat. This report-out provides a summary of …

Financial Investment Management For Forest Sustainability, Zarina Ismailova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is paper is discussion about main problems of forest management, whether financial investment has a substantial impact on the long term perspective of forest landscape restoration and, more specifically, what strategy and what financial options are available to make the forest projects more sustainable. A few relevant questions to ask are: who are the main actors in the implementation of FLR projects; which steps have to be taken; and, which financial options would more suitable and would be feasible to implement. There are three main parts of this research to be investigated:

1. forest issues along with their respective solutions, …

Effects Of Wildfire And Post-Fire Salvage Logging On Rill Networks And Sediment Delivery In California Forests, Will Olsen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Wildfires can increase soil erosion by orders of magnitude over rates in unburned forests and negatively impact aquatic resources. Rill erosion is a dominant erosion and sediment transport mechanism in burned forests, and hydrologically connected rills can form networks on burned hillslopes. At the swale scale (< 10,000 m²), little is known about how rill networks develop under different burn severities over time, their relationship with sediment yields, and the effect of post-fire salvage logging on rill networks and sediment yields.

The first study assessed rill networks and sediment yields in three burn severities in the inland Coast Range of …

The Changes In Woodlot Land Cover From 1988 To 2006 Within Private/Farmland In Hancock County, Ohio, Louis C. Birchall

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The amount of woodlots in Ohio have dramatically decreased since the introduction of settlers into the State. The removal of forest for open space, urban areas, fuel and resources was key to this change. Since the development of the economy to a more service based industry in recent years, woodlots have begun to return in certain areas. This research shows the change in woodlot patterns in Hancock County, Ohio from 1988 to 2006.

The analysis was done by classifying the data into 'woodlot' and 'other land use' by using image segmentation and manual editing processes. Accuracy checks were conducted on …

Diseases Of Trees In The Great Plains, Aaron D. Bergdahl, Alison Hill, Gerard C. Adams, Rachel A. Allison, John A. Appel, John Ball, James T. Blodgett, Kelly S. Burns, Whitney Cranshaw, Kelsey L. Dunnell, Mark L. Gleason, Mark O. Harrell, Thomas C. Harrington, Marcus B. Jackson, William R. Jacobi, Jennifer Juzwik, Megan M. Kennwlly, Les Koch, Jared M. Leboldus, Phillip A. Mason, Douglas L. Mcnew, Judith O'Mara, Hayley M. Nelson, Nicole Opbroek, Michael E. Ostry, Scott C. Redlin, Glen R. Stanosz, Laurie J. Stepanek, Ned Tisserat, Timothy C. Todd, James A. Walla, James J. Worrall, Simeon Wright

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Hosts, distribution, symptoms and signs, disease cycle, and management strategies are described for 84 hardwood and 32 conifer diseases in 56 chapters. Color illustrations are provided to aid in accurate diagnosis. A glossary of technical terms and indexes to hosts and pathogens also are included.

Scope

The purpose of this handbook is to assist users in diagnosing tree diseases and reducing their impact. Included are the most damaging diseases, along with some that are the subject of frequent inquiry although of minor importance. The diseases included were those encountered primarily on trees in conservation plantings such as windbreaks, farmstead plantings, …

The Role Of The State, Multinational Oil Companies, International Law & The International Community: Intersection Of Human Rights & Environmental Degradation Climate Change In The 21st Century Caused By Traditional Extractive Practices, The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous People And Universal Jurisdiction To Resolve The Accountability Issue, Marcela Cabrera Luna

Master's Theses

Local, national and international conventions that protect indigenous sovereignty and their territories, where many of the resources are extracted from by multinational corporations (MNCs) particularly oil, the number one commodity of the world and cause of climate change, continue to be jeopardized because of the lack of a clear international legal framework that can protect them and potentially hold multinationals accountable for their actions. These practices are causing not only environmental issues to the indigenous and surrounding communities, but climate change is in fact, the real human rights issue of the 21^st century and it affects everyone. By using …

Assessing The Sustainability Of Selective Logging In Ankarabolava-Agnakatrika New Protected Area, Eileen Nakahata

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Over the past 50 years, more than 90% of dense low-altitude humid forest in the District of Vangaindrano has been lost to deforestation and the remaining fragments continue to be threatened by slash and burn agriculture and selective cutting by local populations. These activities are driven by widespread poverty, population growth, and lack of development, which have made subsistence increasingly difficult. This study investigates logging rates and the stock of five commercially valuable trees in the Ankarabolava-Agnakatrika New Protected Area. Fifteen 1000m² transects were established systematically within the territory of the Matanga commune. Within each transect data was collected …

Using Choice Experiment Valuation Methods To Measure Public Preference For A New National Park In Maine, Alexander G. Wilsterman

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

With global population increasing faster than ever, the need to protect land from development is at an all-time high. This paper seeks the measure the public preference for a new national park located in northern Maine. A national park will both protect the land and inject a much-needed economic stimulus to the surrounding communities. The study uses the choice experiment valuation method to quantify its results. Through this revealed preference we can quantify which characteristics are most important to the public so that these characteristics may be considered if the project is ever approved.

Golf Courses In Maine: Land Type Valuation Versus A Hedonic Pricing Analysis, Gregory Ladd, Jason Buco

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

Many studies have been conducted analyzing the economic impact of golf courses on the local communities. These studies examine economic impacts of tournaments, endorsements, and vacation expenses of the major golf courses in the United States. However, there is little research conducted on the environmental impact of Golf courses, specifically in Maine. This paper performs a hedonic pricing analysis using housing prices in proximity to golf courses and compares it to the valuation of various land types in Maine. Housing prices were collected in the towns of Auburn, and North Yarmouth both near and distant from the local golf course. …

Cost Benefit Analysis Of Café Standards Compared To The Alternative Fuel/Carbon Tax, Brian Levinson

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

The Cafe Standards were introduced in 1975 following the Oil Embargo. The goals of this program were simple. To reduce co2 emissions in vehicles by increasing a mandatory average mpg level for car manufacturers in the United States. Recently, in 2012, the Obama Administration set new Cafe Standard requirements for car manufacturers. By 2025, all new cars on the road in the United States must average 54.5 miles per gallon, which would double the current 27 mpg average in place right now. While the intentions of this policy are to reduce co2 emissions while at the same time increasing savings …

The Economics Of The Audubon Society's Sanctuary Program For Golf Courses, Dan Hyszczak

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

Millions of people play golf every year, and in 2011 Golf Courses gained $22 billion dollars in revenue. This statistic combined with golf’s inherent place in the natural environment lead to questions of value and development for golf course owners. In 1991, The Audubon Society created their Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses (ACSP) to promote environmentally sustainable practices for golf courses and to recognize the courses that are the most environmentally in both the United States and around the world.

This paper builds off of prior research that connects golf course beauty with revenue by examining the effects of …

Preferences For Coral Reef And Fishery Management In Okinawa, Japan, Nils Carlson

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

This study is an example of how a nonmarket valuation method – a choice experiment – can be used to influence and guide ecosystem conservation efforts. Using a choice experiment survey, this study estimates the willingness to pay (WTP) for certain hypothetical attributes of a restored and conserved coral reef in Okinawa, Japan. I find that an increase in the amount of fish available to catch in ten years as well as an increase in the extent and health of the coral reefs and the number of marine biodiversity found in the Okinawan waters after ten-years, both positively affect respondent’s …

An Exploratory Statistical Analysis Of The External And Internal Effects Of Art Museums In The United States, John Eder

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

An Exploratory Statistical Analysis of the External and Internal Effects of Art Museums in the United States

Invited Introduction To Jerec, Noelwah Netusil

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

No abstract provided.

Welcome By The Editor, Sahan T. M. Dissanayake

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

No abstract provided.

Scaling From Single-Point Sap Velocity Measurements To Stand Transpiration In A Multi-Species Deciduous Forest: Uncertainty Sources, Stand Structure Effect, And Future Scenarios Impacts, Virginia Hernandez-Santana, Adan Hernandez-Hernandez, Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur, Heidi Asbjornsen

All Materials

ABSTRACT

A major challenge in studies estimating stand water use in mixed-species forests is how to effectively scale data from individual trees to the stand. This is the case for forest ecosystems in the northeastern USA where differences in water use among species and across different size classes have not been extensively studied, despite their relevance for a wide range of ecosystem services. Our objectives were to assess the importance of different sources of variability ontranspiration upscaling and explore the potential impacts of future shifts in species composition on forest water budget. We measured sap velocity in five tree species …

The Price Of Snow: Albedo Valuation And A Case Study For Forest Management, David A. Lutz, Richard B. Howarth

Dartmouth Scholarship

Several climate frameworks have included the role of carbon storage in natural landscapes as a potential mechanism for climate change mitigation. This has resulted in an incentive to grow and maintain intact long-lived forest ecosystems. However, recent research has suggested that the influence of albedo-related radiative forcing can impart equal and in some cases greater magnitudes of climate mitigation compared to carbon storage in forests where snowfall is common and biomass is slow-growing. While several methodologies exist for relating albedo-associated radiative forcing to carbon storage for the analysis of the tradeoffs of these ecosystem services, they are varied, and they …