Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Mapping Instream Habitat On The San Juan River Using Airborne Videography, Michael J. Pucherelli, William P. Goettlicher, Bureau Of Reclamation, U.S Department Of The Interior

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

Concerns have been raised over the potential impacts of the Animas/LaPlata project and the regulation of Navajo Dam. Flow depletions in the San Juan River may adversely affect the remnant population of the native fish, particularly the endangered Colorado squawfish and the razorback sucker. A multiyear research program is currently being conducted on the San Juan River as a result of a Jeopardy Opinion delivered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Animas/LaPlata and the subsequent Reasonable and Prudent Alternative that was accepted. A mulidisciplinary research team composed of representatives from the affected agencies is currently investigating the relationship …

Final Environmental Impact Statement For Rangeland Ecosystem Management On He Uinta National Forest, Provo, Utah, Usda Forest Service

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

This Final Environmental Impact Statement describes alternatives, including a "No Action" alternative for management of National Forest Rangeland Resources on the Uinta National Forest. Alternatives range from no change from past management practices, which in some instances have resulted in less than favorable ecological conditions on National Forest Rangelands and riparian resources, to managing these resources to achieve the "Potential Natural Community" in terms of vegetative cover types and condition. The environmental consequences of all alternatives considered in detail are displayed. The alternatives selected for implementation will become an amendment to the Uinta National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan. …

The Influence Of Redd Distribution And Microhabitat Availability On The Distribution And Abundance Of Young-Of-The-Year Trout In The Green River, Utah, Michael J. Buntjer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Redd distribution, redd density, and physical habitat were used to explain the distribution and abundance of young-of-the-year (YOY) brown trout (Salmo trutta) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the Green River, Utah. The importance of variables at both a microhabitat and macrohabitat scale were assessed using stepwise regression analysis. Availability of cover (rock and vegetation) and proximity to spawning sites were the most important variables used to explain the distribution and abundance of YOY brown trout and rainbow trout. In addition, YOY brown trout and rainbow trout occupied specific microhabitats and showed patterns of use for …

Dynamic Multi-Species Animal Habitat Modeling With Forest Succession Models, Stephen A. Compton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research determines and demonstrates the ability to simulate dynamic multi-species animal habitat suitability with forest succession models. A literature review of dynamic animal habitat models is presented. The structure of an existing forest simulation model (MASS10) was modified from a basal area-based model to a volume-based model (DYNAM10). The forest model was calibrated using data from permanent-plot growth and vegetation samples collected by USDA Forest Service Forest Survey procedures. The theoretical growth parameters used to simulate stand development were validated. Predictions of DBH and height growth, as well as stand-level behavior, were verified. A subroutine, VEGDYN, was added to …

Soil Heterogeneity And Its Exploitation By Plants, Robert B. Jackson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In this dissertation I first examine the ability of individual plants in the field to garner localized soil nutrients. I then measure actual soil variability around perennial plants and use various statistics to quantify the scale and degree of that variability.

Soil patches on opposite sides of Pseudoroegneria spicata tussocks were treated with distilled water or a nutrient solution containing N, P, or K in three field experiments. When P was augmented in the enriched soil patches, rates of P uptake increased significantly for roots from enriched patches compared with roots in control patches. Rates of ammonium and potassium uptake …

Desert Bighorn Sheep And Riverboat Interactions In Cataract Canyon, Utah, Mark C. Stanger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

I studied desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) behavior and habitat use in response to boating activities during 1985. The percent of total observed time in attention behavior before the boating season, during the boating season, and while riverboats were< 0.8 km from bighorn sheep groups was 1, 1.4, and 12.2, respectively. Estimated energy expenditure did not significantly differ for high riverboat pressures (2 > 0.2) or seasonal comparisons (2 > 0.1). Habitat use significantly differed for proximity to the river, which was probably related to the summer use of the river for drinking. Moderate, minor, and no responses to passing riverboats were observed 3, 39, and 58%, respectively. Responses to riverboats did not significantly differ according to time of day (2 > 0.15) or …

Idaho River Systems Management Study Wetlands Report, United States Department Of The Interior, Bureau Of Reclamations

Natural Resources-Planning, Management, and Conservation

The Bureau of Reclamation is cooperating with the Idaho Department of Water Resources and others in the formulation of a comprehensive water plan for the conservation, development, management, and use of waters within the state's river basins. The impact that wetlands may have on the use of water in the state is a major consideration.

This report identifies opportunities that exist for private citizens, corporations, government agencies, and others to work together to slow the rate of wetland loss and to improve the quality of remaining wetlands. To work together effectively, these groups must reach an understanding of what comprises …

Statistical Considerations In Rangeland Monitoring, United States Bureau Of Land Management

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

This Technical Reference deals with the statistical aspects of rangeland monitoring and is intended to help the BLM range conservationist in planning, analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating monitoring studies. It is not a statistics cookbook and assumes a level of knowledge of statistical analysis comparable to what most college graduates are exposed to during their undergraduate training. The material covered in this Technical Reference is divided into five sections. Chapter 1 highlights the statistical topics required to analyze monitoring data and gives appropriate references. Chapter 2 addresses the underlying statistical issues of rangeland monitoring. Chapters 3 and 4 deal with the …

Cultural Diversity & Adaptation: The Archaic, Anasazi, & Navajo Occupation Of The Upper San Juan Basin, United States Bureau Of Land Management

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

Recent work in the upper San Juan Basin has more than doubled the number of known, as well as excavated, sites. Without exception, this work has modified and expanded long-held views of the PaleoIndian, Archaic, Anasazi, and Navajo people who inhabited the area. The papers presented in this volume reflect these changes and represent the cutting edge of southwestern archaeology.

Tiger Team Assessment Of The Naval Petroleum And Oil Shale Reserves Colorado, Utah, And Wyoming, United States Department Of Energy

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

This report documents the Tiger Team Assessment of the Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves in Colordao, Utah, and Wyoming (NPOSR-CUW). NPOSR-CUW consists of Naval Petroleum Reserve Number 3 (NPR-3) located near Casper, Wyoming; Naval Oil Shale Reserve Number 1 (NOSR-1) and Naval Oil Shale Reserve Number 3 (NOSR-3) located near Rifle, Colorado; and Naval Oil Shale Reserve Number 2 (NOSR-2) located near Vernal, Utah, which was not examined as part of this assessment.

Selected Hydrologic Data For Cache Valley, Utah And Idaho, 1969-91, D. Michael Roark, Karen M. Hanson, U.S. Geological Survey

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

This report contains hydrologic data collected in Cache Valley from 1969 to 1991. The report area is in north-central Utah and southeast Idaho, within the Basin and Range physiographic province described by Fenneman (1931), and includes about 660 square miles. Most of the data in this report were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Divisions or Water Resources and Water Rights. Some of the data collected before 1969 were previously published by McGreevy and Bjorklund (1970). The purpose of this report is to provide hydrologic data for use by the general …

Final Environmental Impact Statement Stanley Basin C & H Allotment Management Plan Sawtooth National Recreation Area, United States Forest Service

Final Environmental Impact Statements (ID)

This Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) documents the analysis conducted for the Stanley Basin Cattle and Horse Allotment Management Plan. The allotment management plan involves National Forest System lands within the Sawtooth and Challis National Forests. The analysis of the current condition of the Stanley Basin Allotment has found that the existing grazing system does not comply with the direction, standards and guidelines of the Sawtooth and Challis Forest Land and Resource Management Plans (FLRMP). The proposed action of this Final Environmental Impact Statement is to bring management of the allotment into compliance with the FLRMPs. The FEIS describes five …

Oil And Gas Leasing On The Thunder Basin National Grassland Final Environmental Impact Statement, United States Forest Service

Final Environmental Impact Statements (WY)

This Final Environmental Impact Statement was conducted to analyze what lands on the Medicine Bow National Forest, Thunder Basin National Grassland in northeast Wyoming could be available for leasing and what conditions could be attached to future leases. Seven alternatives are described, and potential effects are disclosed and evaluated. These alternatives represent possible ways to manage oil and gas leasing on 520,000 acres that are available for leasing. The alternatives are: ALTERNATIVE 1, Leasing consistent with the Forest Plan (No Action); ALTERNATIVE 2, Leasing with standard and special stipulations, consistent with the Forest Plan; ALTERNATIVE 3, Leasing with standard and …

Environmental Assessment, Carter Mountain-Thermopolis 230-Kv Transmission Line Project, Hot Springs County, Wyoming, U.S. Department Of Energy

Environmental Assessments (WY)

The Western Area Power Administration (Western) is proposing to construct, operate, and maintain a new 230-kV transmission line between the Carter Mountain and Thermopolis Substations in northcentral Wyoming (Hot Springs County). The project area is shown on Map 2-1. This environmental assessment was prepared in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality and the Department of Energy, which is responsible for approval of the proposed action. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is a cooperating agency on the project and is also the Federal review agency responsible for granting rights-of-way …

Dolores River Basin Water Quality Study, Department Of Interior; Bureau Of Reclamation, Technical Service Center; Denver, Co

Elusive Documents

No abstract provided.

A Trophic Gradient Analysis Of Lake Powell During Spring Runnoff 1992, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Clyde Lay, Darren Carlise, Corey Huxol, Craig Schaugaard, Beau Clements, David Beauchamp

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Between 26 April and 2 May 1992, students in a utah state university aquatic ecology class visited Lake Powell to do a study of trophic gradients of the reservoir. The main axis of the reservoir was surveyed, as well as less detailed analyses of Moki and Escalante Canyons. The work was conducted in collaboration with personnel from the u.s. Bureau of Reclamation headed by Bill Vernieu, and from the u.s. Geological Survey (Dick Marzolf). Some of their data appear in the physical-chemical section of this report.

Each student was responsible for compiling a report on one of the following specific …

Snake River Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus Nerka) Habitat/Limnologic Research, Scott Spaulding, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Shoshone-Bannock Tribe

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

This report outlines long-term planning and monitoring activities that occurred in 1991 and 1992 in the Stanley Basin Lakes of the upper Salmon River, Idaho for the purpose of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) recovery. Limnological monitoring and experimental sampling protocol, designed to establish a limnological baseline and to evaluate sockeye salmon production capability of the lakes, are present:ed. Also presented are recommended passage improvements for current fish passage barriers/impediments on migratory routes to the lakes. We initiated O. Nerka population evaluations for Redfish and Alturas lakes; this included population estimates of emerging kokanee fry entering each lake in the spring …

Soil Chemistry And Nutrition Of North American Red Spruce-Fir Stands: Evidence For Recent Change, J. D. Joslin, J. M. Kelly, H. Van Miegroet

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

One set of hypotheses offered to explain the decline of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) in eastern North America focuses on the effect of acidic deposition on soil chemistry changes that may affect nutrient availability and root function. Long-term soils data suggest that soil acidification has occurred in some spruce stands over the past 50 yr, with plant uptake and cation leaching both contributing to the loss of cations. Studies of tree ring chemistry also have indicated changes in Ca/Al and Mg/Al ratios in red spruce wood, suggesting increases in the ionic strength of soil solution. Irrigation studies using strong …

Soil Nitrogen Dynamics Following Harvesting And Conversion Of Red Alder And Douglas-Fir Stands, H. Van Miegroet, P. S. Homann, D. W. Cole

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Drastic reductions in NO3- leaching have been observed after harvesting of mature red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) stands. Our objective was to examine whether these reduction were linked to changes in soil N dynamics. Adjacent alder and Douglas fir [Pseudotsuga menziessii (Mirbel.) Franco] stands on young glacial soils (Alderwood; a loamy-skeletal, mixed, mesic, ortstein Aquic Haplorthod) in western Washington were harvested and replanted with either alder or Douglas fir seedlings; reference plots were established in nearby undisturbed stands. Three years after site conversion, when NO3- leaching declined most drastically in the harvested alder plots, net N mineralization and net nitrification …

Visual Feeding By Juvenile Bear Lake Sculpin, D. Neverman, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Young-of-the-year Bear Lake sculpin Cottus extensus feed throughout the day on benthic invertebrates and cease feeding at night when they migrate to the metalimnion. We investigated their reliance on vision by conducting feeding trials at different light levels in the laboratory. Feeding rate reached a maximum at intermediate light levels (near 10^16 photons sm^–2 ss^–1; approximately 1 lux) but decreased as light intensity increased beyond this range. At this maximum rate, the fish fed nine times faster than they were able to feed in the dark, showing that young Bear Lake sculpin rely heavily upon vision to feed. The light …

Lake Trout Spawning In Lake Tahoe: Egg Incubation In Deepwater Macrophyte Beds, D. A. Beauchamp, B. C. Allen, R. C. Richards, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, C. R. Goldman

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Although most populations of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush spawn over rocky shoals, use of these substrates by lake trout has not yet been found in Lake Tahoe. Large cobble substrate exists at depths less than 20 m, and steep, fractured, rocky substrate can be found in isolated areas from the surface down to at least 100 m, but no evidence of spawning activity in these areas has been found. Instead, at least a portion of the population spawns on deepwater mounds (40–60 m deep) over beds of the macrophyte Chara delicatula. This is the first known report of lake trout …

Nonparametric Stratigraphic Interpretation From Drill Log Data, Upmanu Lall, A. I. Ali

Reports

Near surface groundwater contamination is a widespread problem. The potential for contamination of deep aquifers in such areas depends on the vertical hydraulic gradient as well as the extent and location of interconnection between the upper and lower aquifers. In alluvial, sedimentary environment, the geologic units are typically weakly connected lenses or layers of high or low conductivity with variable size, geometry and orientation. Drill logs provide qualitative, local information on such aquifer heterogeneities. A binary (high or low conductivity) indicator function is used to describe the aquifer system. A nonparametric statistical methodology for assessing the probability that a particular …

Evaluation Of Mechanisms Of Alteration And Humification Of Pahs For Water Quality Management, Ronald C. Sims, Carolyn K. Abbott

Reports

Introduction: Creosote-pentachlorophenol (PCP) is a mixture commonly used as a wood preservative in the U.S. (1). A 1988 survey (2) indicated that 1,397 wood preserving waste contaminated sites exist in the United States consisting of 555 active wood treatment plants and 842 inactive plants. Stinson (3) indentifed 58 wood preserving sites on the National Priorities List, of which 51 have PCP and/or creosote or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination. Principal classes of organic constituents present in creosote waste are PAHs (~85% by weight) and phenolics. PAHs with less than three fused benzene rings comprise 69% (i.e., naphthalene, anthracene and phenanthrene); …

Bioengineering For Water Cleanup: State-Of-The-Art Assessment, Judith L. Sims, Ronald C. Sims, Jon S. Ginn

Reports

No abstract provided.

A Spatially Distributed Water Balance Based On Physical, Isotropic And Airborne Remotely Sensed Data, C. M.U. Neale, David G. Tarboton, J. J. Mcdonnell

Reports

Introduction: The objective of this research to develop a spatially distributed water balance model based on the integration of spatially distributed data. Progress this year has consisted of model development, instrument acquisition, installation and development of experimental procedures, and baseline data collection. The original research plan called for detailed observations related to the water balance over the year September 1991 to August 1992. The detailed measurements were to start with accumulation of the snowpack followed by melt and evapotranspiration measurements from March to August. The objective was to measure the energy balance parameters starting with the peak accumulation, through the …

Agriculture Irrigation And Water Use, Rajinder S. Bajwa, William M. Crosswhite, John E. Hostetler, Olivia W. Wright, United States Department Of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

The 17 Western States, plus Arkansas, Florida, and Louisiana, account for 91 percent of all U.S. irrigated acreage, with the Western States alone contributing over 85 percent. This report integrates data on the distribution, characteristics, uses, and management of water resources from a wide variety of data sources. The report includes charts and tables on water use in irrigation; farm data comparing selected characteristics of irrigated and nonirrigated farms; and data on water application systems, sources of water, pump energy expenses by energy type, values of irrigated and nonirrigated land, and cash rents.

Final Environmental Impact Statement For Salt Lake City International Airport Expansion, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States Department Of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

Expansion of the Salt Lake City International Airport is proposed to meet the existing and future travel demands of the public and air carriers using the airport. Specifically, it is proposed to increase the safety and efficiency of the airport by reducing congestion and delays. The expansion of the airport has been planned for over 12 years including 2 Master Planning efforts, a FAR Part 150 document (an airport noise compatability planning study), a Capacity Task Force Document, and the Draft Environmental Assessment and Expanded Environmental Assessment efforts in addition to numerous smaller studies and documents.

Composting Of Explosives Contaminated Soil Using The White Rot Fungus Phanerochaete Chrysosporium, Michael J. Mcfarland, Shashi Kalaskar, Eric Baiden

Reports

Bioaugmentation using the white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium was found to be effective in enhancing TNT removal in lightly (i.e., below 100 mg/kg) contaminated soil. The percent reduction in TNT increased from 15% to 53% when soils were treated with fungal inoculated organic material. Maximum removal rates improved from 0.33 mg TNT/kg-day to 0.76 mg TNT/kg-day during the same treatment. Neither fungal inoculation nor organic amendment addition resulted in improving TNT removal kinetics in highly contaminated soils (i.e., above 1000 mg/kg). Executive Summary: Laboratory scale compost studies were conducted to evaluate the effect of bioaugmentation with the white rot fungus,