Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

U.S. Public Opinion Of Reproductive Control Options For Free-Roaming Horses On Western Public Lands, S. Nicole Frey, Jeffrey L. Beck, John Derek Scasta, Loretta Singletary

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Free-roaming horses (Equus ferus caballus; horses) inhabit public rangelands located primarily in 10 western U.S. states. Recent horse population increases are impacting rangeland ecosystems, native wildlife species and their habitats, and exacerbating conflicts with domestic livestock grazing. While contraceptives and physical sterilization are promising options to manage horse herd levels, public opinion concerning the use of fertility control is not well understood. To better inform policymakers, we completed a rigorous study of a random sample of public land stakeholders across the United States (n = 3,500) in 2020 using a Likert scale online survey to assess their …

A Model Explaining Medusahead Invasion And Novel Targeted Grazing Approaches Of Control, Casey N. Spackman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae (L.) Nevski) is currently one of the biggest threats to rangelands and livestock operations in the Western US. High silica concentrations in medusahead contribute to its invasiveness. I developed a model to explain how silica is involved in the invasion process, and attempted to manipulate silica to increase use of the grass by livestock. Experiments were conducted to determine: 1) whether rotational grazing on established forages of improved nutritional quality would provide supplemental nutrients to increase cattle use of medusahead; 2) evaluate intake of and preference for medusahead treated with a glyphosate herbicide at different rates …

Why Do They Do That? Understanding Factors Influencing Visitor Spatial Behavior In Parks And Protected Areas, Abigail M. Sisneros-Kidd

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Visitors to parks and protected areas within the United States and worldwide often visit these areas with a particular destination in mind, such as seeing Old Faithful erupt in Yellowstone National Park or standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park. These visitor use destinations, and the pathways leading to them, such as trails and roadways, see high levels of use, and as a result, impacts to soil, vegetation, air, water, soundscapes, and night skies that result from this use. The field of recreation ecology studies these impacts to park and protected area resources resulting …

Black Bears Recolonizing Historic Ranges: Indiana Human–Bear Interactions, Bradford J. Westrich, Emily B. Mccallen, Geriann Albers

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Over a century after extirpation from Indiana, USA, 2 American black bears (Ursus americanus) were confirmed in the state during the summers of 2015 and 2016. The first bear encountered a public and management agency unaccustomed to living with large carnivores, which resulted in intentional and unintentional feedings, habituation, and ultimately its euthanasia. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) attempted to learn from this encounter and began preparing for the next transient black bear. Education materials were created to help minimize human–bear interactions, promote living safely with bears, and inform about what to do when encountering a …

Aligning Conservation Goals And Management Objectives For Bonneville Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus Clarki Utah) In The Logan River, Utah, Harrison E. Mohn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Rivers are often managed without informed knowledge of how sportfish use different areas of the river to reproduce, and rarely take into account the relationship between fish movement and how they are distributed within the river when making management decisions. The population of native Bonneville cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki utah) within the Logan River is the largest documented population remaining for this imperiled species, and still maintains extremely high numbers of fish in the upper river. Currently, fishing is not allowed in the upper 20 kilometers of the Logan River watershed during spawning, based on the assumption that …

Integrated Noxious Weed Management After Wildfires, Natural Resources Conservation Service

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

The ecosystems of the west are adapted to a long history of wildland fires that varied in frequency and severity. Over the last 100 years or more, though, fire suppression efforts, human settlement patterns and other land use practices have changed the composition and structure of the forests and grasslands of the West. Where once we typically had periodic low-intensity fires of low severity, we now experience damaging fires that can be both intense and severe. Severe fires can substantially affect the environment. Lack of vegetation on burned hillsides increases the likelihood of flooding and soil erosion from rain and …

Preserves At Risk: An Investigation Of Resource Management Strategies, Implications And Opportunities, R. J. Lilieholm

Elusive Documents

Human activities already threaten the globe's physical and biological systems. Worldwide, species extinction rates are estimated to be one thousand times what they would be in the absence of human activity (Wilson 1988). Raven (1988) estimates that 25% of the world's plant and animal species existing in 1985 may be extinct by 2015, with most extinctions occurring in tropical regions. While these extinction rates are staggering, global warming would greatly accelerate extinction rates that some scientists believe may already exceed those accompanying the decline of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago (Wolf 1987).

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 …