Natural Resources and Conservation Commons^™

A Gis Assessment Of Ecoregion Representation In Chile's Existing And Proposed Integrated Network Of Protected Areas, Jessica Schutz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Chile's state designated protected areas are reported to show representation bias and to be unable to meet conservation goals. Private protected areas are considered an important tool to resolve these issues, which has led to support for increasing the role of private protected areas in Chile and creating an integrated public-private protected area network. But the validity of the capacity of private protected areas to fix Chile's state protected area network bias, and the advantage of creating an integrated protected area network, have not been assessed. This study uses the most recent data on Chile's state, private, and international protected …

May You Walk In Beauty: The Decline Of Navajo Land And Culture, Jocelyn Catterson

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The Navajo homeland, Dinetah, is bordered by four mountains that are sacred to the Navajo people: two in Colorado, one in New Mexico, and one in Arizona. Historically, Navajo medicine men have traveled to these mountains to renew prayers and collect medicinal herbs. Today, the mountains, which exist outside of the reservation boundaries, are used for resource extraction and various recreational pursuits. While many Navajo are fighting for the protection of these sacred lands and their traditional culture, others are disinterested. Traditional practices and beliefs are slowly disappearing within the Navajo Nation. The land-use issues associated with these sacred mountains …

Cows And Plows: Science-Based Conservation For Grassland Songbirds In Agricultural Landscapes, Marisa K. Lipsey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Temperate grasslands are among earth’s most imperiled ecosystems. In North America, steep declines of endemic songbird populations indicate that grassland loss and degradation may be approaching critical levels. Grasslands are agricultural landscapes largely (~85%) under private ownership with little formal protection status. Remaining bird populations depend on grazing lands that have not been converted to cropland. We combine regional data from a hotspot for grassland bird diversity (northeast Montana, USA; 26,500-km2) with continental data spanning the northern Great Plains (1,000,000-km2) to evaluate how land use and management influence bird distribution and abundance. Regionally, habitat used by seven grassland specialists spanned …

A Model For Determining Drivers Of Phenology In Western United States Rangelands, Joseph R. St. Peter

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Plant phenology has long been used as an indicator of climate. Recent changes in plant phenology are evidence of the influence of climate change. Modeling plant phenology has become an effective tool to understand the impacts of climate change. Using machine learning techniques I developed a modeling process for accurately predicting phenology across a diverse landscape. This model uses individual site data to set site specific climate thresholds for plant phenology. This model also identifies the limiting factors to vegetation phenology for rangelands in the western United States. NDVI remotely sensed data was used to quantify land surface phenology and …

Linking The Effects Of Risk Factors On Annual Calf Survival To Elk Population Dynamics In The Bitterroot Valley, Montana, Daniel R. Eacker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The recolonization of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in multiple carnivore systems has been correlated with declining recruitment of juvenile ungulates, but the importance of wolves relative to other established carnivores is uncertain. The realized effect of carnivores may depend on compensation from forage and winter weather severity, which may mediate juvenile vulnerability to predation. Also, in high predation systems, the importance of juvenile recruitment may be reduced for ungulate population dynamics. We first tested for the effects of risk factors on annual elk (Cervus elaphus) calf survival and estimated cause-specific mortality rates. Secondly, we investigated the …

The Role Of Funding Programs In Promotion Of Best Management Practices For Effective Stream Restoration, Tracy R. Wendt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Large amounts of money are spent on stream restoration projects across the United States every year. Restoration researchers and professionals commonly recommend a suite of Best Management Practices (BMPs), including project goals, objectives, monitoring, consideration of future conditions, adaptive management, and public reporting of results, which are widely recognized as contributing to effective projects. Studies over the last two decades demonstrated that these BMPs were not consistently incorporated into restoration projects, which highlighted the need to improve practices and for funding programs to incorporate BMPs into funding requirements. I reviewed 28 programs that fund stream restoration in the Rocky Mountain …

Wilderness As A Social Movement: Expanding Cultural Relevance In The 21st Century, Dylan Lang

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This year is the 50^th anniversary of two monumental pieces of legislation: the Wilderness Act and the Civil Rights Act. Though these two laws exist within different arenas of public affairs, both have had significant effects on American society.

The Wilderness Act was signed into law in 1964 with almost unanimous support, at a time when American society overwhelmingly supported its passage. Since 1964, wilderness has been criticized as an elitist ideal representing a small interest group in the United States. As our country becomes increasingly diverse, and public lands protection loses popular support, making wilderness more relevant to …

Proactive Management Of Pneumonia Epizootics In Bighorn Sheep In Montana, Sarah N. Sells

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Pneumonia epizootics are a major challenge for management of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), often causing high mortality and subsequent long-term impacts that may continue for decades. There have been at least 22 epizootics in herds in Montana from 1979‒2013, including 1 that led to a herd’s extirpation, several that appear to be affecting herds up to 3 decades later, and 11 in the last 6 years. The disease is complex and associated risk factors are poorly understood. A lack of tools to help predict and proactively manage risk of pneumonia epizootics in attempt to prevent die-offs has led …

Tailings Tale: Mike Horse Looms Dark Over The Blackfoot, Elizabeth L. Harrison

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

In the spring of 1975, a heavy rain blew out an earthen dam holding back toxic metal waste from the now defunct Mike Horse mine at the headwaters of the scenic Big Blackfoot River. Federal agencies, a corporate mining giant, and the small town community of Lincoln, Montana, grapple with the repercussions and future of the watershed.

Exploring Visitor Experiences On Going-To-The-Sun Road In Glacier National Park, Robert N. Giordano

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Going-to-the-Sun Road (GTSR) is one of the premier road facilities in the world. As the only cross-mountain route through Glacier National Park, the road brings nearly two million visitors a year into the heart of Montana wilderness. How to meet this demand for travel while protecting the nature of the visitor experience and the pristine setting for which the experience exists is a challenge of on-going complexity.

This research was designed to assist park managers in determining future changes to GTSR by describing and analyzing the experiences on the road today. Through 40 onsite interviews at Logan Pass (the pinnacle …