Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons^™

Effects Of Changing Fire Regimes On Black Huckleberry Habitat Suitability, Emily Labarge

University Honors Theses

Black huckleberries are a significant cultural, ecological, and economic species in the Pacific Northwest. Historically, black huckleberries were tended with cultural fire by Indigenous peoples, and now also hold importance as a resource in the non-timber forest product economy. Research has begun on the impacts of climate change on suitable black huckleberry habitat and on changing fire regimes, but not in relation to each other. To address this gap, I examined the area of overlap between suitable black huckleberry habitat and fire burn probability into mid-century climate projections. I determined the current ownership entities with management jurisdiction in areas with …

Aquatic Invasive Species Survey And Treatment On Lake Umatilla And Lake Celilo 2024-2025 Report, Jacob Rose, Gabriel E. Campbell

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus) is an invasive aquatic plant in the Pacific Northwest that threatens salmon habitat. The Center for Lakes and Reservoirs staff surveyed for this and other aquatic species from 2024 and 2025 in the Columbia River in Lake Umatilla and Lake Celilo. This document summarizes their survey efforts including their protocols, data, and small-scale removal efforts.

Citizen's Rare Plant Watch 2025 Recap, Nora Dunkirk

Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank and Plant Conservation Program

Citizen's Rare Plant Watch (CRPW) is a community science program which takes volunteers out to visit populations of rare and threatened Oregon native plant species. Volunteers assess their health and viability, update the Oregon Biodiversity Information Center (ORBIC) state database for rare species, and help contribute to data driven management decisions throughout the state. Housed at Portland State University, this program is open to the public and attracts plant lovers from diverse backgrounds. Each spring, CRPW trains volunteers on methods of data collection, and this year we implemented new technology using Survey123 to streamline population assessments. We focus on species …

What's The Value Of A State? Accounting For The Ecosystem Services And Natural Capital Of Oregon, Kathryn Liebrecht

University Honors Theses

Ecosystem services are vital to human welfare and society, but often are overlooked when it comes to planning and setting policy. By neglecting to incorporate the benefits received from natural resources, policy makers may unknowingly be making decisions that harm the long term sustainability and use of these services. To highlight the importance of Oregon's ecosystems, the present study aims to provide a full accounting of the ecosystem services and natural capital of the state. Using data from the Institute for Natural Resources' updated Oregon statewide habitat map, Oregon's ecosystems were matched to biome categories from the Ecosystem Services Valuation …

Rebuilding Consent: Fear, Trust, And The Future Of Nuclear Energy, Austin Dunham

University Honors Theses

This thesis traces the cultural and emotional roots of nuclear fear in the United States and explores how those inherited anxieties continue to shape public resistance to nuclear energy in the face of a worsening climate crisis. Drawing on personal narrative, risk perception theory, and the history of nuclear discourse - from Hiroshima to Chernobyl to today - the research examines how trust, rather than technology, remains the largest barrier to progress. By analyzing the stories we tell about energy, disaster, control, and overall perceived risk, this work asks what it would take for Americans to imagine nuclear energy not …

Institutions, Indigenous Peoples, And The Structure Of Power In Columbia River Basin Salmon Governance, Christopher Michael Page

Dissertations and Theses

As broad patterns of behavior influenced by norms and rules, institutions structure many aspects of modern society through coordination and the distribution of power. Due to the importance of common-pool natural resources to many aspects of society, they usually involve competition and lie at the intersection of multiple institutions. This combination of institutions, power disparities, and a competitive interest is what scholars have referred to as a "field." Fields can be complex, and the coordination among interests is generally done through a form of governance involving a wide array of laws, regulations, and actors. When at least one of these …

Citizen’S Rare Plant Watch, Nora Dunkirk, Gabriel Campbell, Kris Freitag

Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank and Plant Conservation Program

Rare species data for plants is lacking, hindering land management decisions and conservation outcomes. With Citizen's Rare Plant Watch, we empower citizen scientists to provide the “eyes on the ground” and collect data needed for conservation decision making in Oregon.

Seedlings Of Pacific Northwest Plants: A Photographic Guide, Gabriel E. Campbell-Martinez, Roxy Olsson

Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank and Plant Conservation Program

This document presents a visual, non-technical field guide of native and exotic/invasive seedlings that grow wild in the Pacific Northwest. It contains over 550 taxa representing a broad range of families and ecosystems, focusing on species that occur in Oregon and Washington. Species were selected to reflect ecological importance, frequency of occurrence, and relevance to land management, restoration, and conservation. It is intended for a broad audience, including restoration practitioners, land managers, botanists, ecologists, students, naturalists, and others interested in identifying plants at early life stages.

Impacts Of Stream Habitat Restoration On Macroinvertebrate Assemblages: A Systematic Literature Review, Morgan E. Seitzer

University Honors Theses

Globally, river restoration has become a popular tool for improving the health of a watershed and restoring ecosystem services, but still has significant knowledge gaps. In certain areas and scientific communities, special attention has been given to the response of macroinvertebrates as a measure of restoration success. This systematic literature review aims to highlight and discuss the patterns in studies that have comparable before-and-after restoration data on macroinvertebrates after reconnecting stream channels to their floodplains. Macroinvertebrate sampling is a simple if not time-consuming task that can reveal important data about habitat quality. Because they serve as an important food source …

Extended Producer Responsibility: Successes, Failures, And The Future Of Oregon Recycling, Zoe Vandal

University Honors Theses

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a waste management program used globally to improve the recovery, recycling, and management of solid waste materials. There are three types of EPR programs defined by their target materials: electronic and electrical waste (WEEE) EPR, hazardous waste EPR, and packaging EPR. Europe has implemented all three types with relative success. The US has implemented WEEE EPR and hazardous waste EPR and is currently in the process of implementing packaging EPR on a state scale in Oregon, California, Colorado, Maine, and Maryland with 10 more bills being introduced in 2024 alone. Oregon's EPR program will be …

Beavers, Hydrology, And Wapato: A Baseline For Monitoring Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Justine Casebolt

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Located in the lower Columbia River floodplain, Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a unique landscape with a complex land use history. For thousands of years, Indigenous tribes lived on this land. In the early 1990s, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acquired the land, after it was identified as a mitigation site following the construction of the Bonneville Lock and Dam. Franz Lake Refuge was once known for its prevalent Wapato (Sagittaria latifolia) population, an emergent plant with edible tubers and an important food source for Indigenous people. With specific growth requirements and hydrologic conditions for germination and …

Assessment Of Avian Community Structure And Habitat Connectivity In The Fanno Creek Corridor Bird Surveys, Habitat Assessment, And Management Recommendations, Grace Hall

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Urbanization can significantly impact habitat quality and connectivity for avian communities, decreasing species richness and diversity. However, in highly fragmented habitats, urban parks and riparian zones can provide important habitat corridors for birds that facilitate movement and access to essential resources. On the west side of greater Portland, Oregon, Fanno Creek may serve as a habitat corridor for birds and other local wildlife.

Fanno Creek is a 25-kilometer tributary of the Tualatin River that runs through the cities of Portland, Beaverton, Tigard, and Durham in northwestern Oregon. The land surrounding the creek includes residential, commercial, and industrial properties as well …

Quick Guide To Aquatic Weeds Of Oregon, Gabriel E. Campbell, Ashley Newcomb, Jacob Rose

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

This document contains a quick, non-technical, pictured-based field guide to aquatic weed species in Oregon and throughout the Pacific Northwest. It contains approximately 50 common, newly emerging, and watch list exotic weeds and common native look-alike plants. The intended audience for this guide includes weed professionals, restoration practitioners, land managers, professional botanists, and amateur naturalists.

Flowering Rush (Butomus Umbellatus) Id Guide For The Columbia River, Gabriel Campbell, Jacob Rose

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

This is a picture based field guide for how to identify Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus) in the Columbia River throughout Oregon and Washington. It includes how to tell this species from commonly co-occurring look-alike species.

2023 Aquatic Weed Surveys At Timothy Lake, Lake Harriet, North Fork Reservoir, And Estacada Lake, Gabriel E. Campbell, Jacob Rose

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

Portland General Electric (PGE) operates and manages reservoirs as part of their Clackamas Hydroelectric Project in Clackamas County, Oregon. The Center for Lakes and Reservoirs staff surveyed some of these reservoirs in 2023 for aquatic vegetation. This document summarizes their survey efforts including their protocols and data.

Community Adaptations To Wildfire Risk In Central Oregon, Usa: An Empirical Study Of Inclusionary Practices In Collaborative Wildfire Risk Mitigation, Liam Resener

Dissertations and Theses

Adverse impacts of wildfire in Western North America have become increasingly present through the 21^st century, driven by landscape changes imposed by colonists in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Community adaptations to wildfire will be necessary through the 21^st century to restore landscapes and protect the safety and livelihoods of people who live in at-risk areas. Wildfire risk extends across countless environmental and social systems, and individuals have competing ideas about what constitutes that risk and how to best adapt to it. As resources are being allocated to community adaptations, important questions emerge about the values …

Collaborative Action In Informal Social Networks Of Wildfire Managers In Northwestern Wyoming, Hannah Lynn Spencer

Dissertations and Theses

Wildfire is a cross-boundary, collective action issue. Previous research has demonstrated the importance of collaborative relationships in wildfire for purposes such as increasing capacity, trading information, and facilitating landscape-scale mitigation projects. However, a stakeholder's location in social networks, as well as personal factors, may impact their collaboration. Furthermore, stakeholders must prioritize their own organizational goals and responsibilities, which may differ from those of their collaborators. I used interview and survey methods to investigate these questions in the context of wildfire management professionals in northwestern Wyoming. For the interviews, I selected 12 individuals with high betweenness centrality who were involved in …

Exploring The Relationship Between Green Space And Academic Performance, Audrey Demeaux

University Honors Theses

A growing body of literature is exploring the possibility that the presence of green spaces near schools can work to improve academic performance. Research to date on the relationship between green space and academic performance has shown mixed results. However, some see incorporating green spaces into school layouts as a key alternative strategy for improving academic achievement in the United States. This paper adds to the emerging discourse on the relationship between green space and academic achievement by using open-source data to conduct a regression analysis exploring the possible relationship between green space near K-12 schools and SAT scores in …

Management Plan For The Western Painted Turtle At The Sandy River Delta In Troutdale, Oregon, Emma Scott

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

This management plan has been prepared for the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership and is intended to provide guidance for the improvement and protection of western painted turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii) habitat at the Sandy River Delta in Troutdale, Oregon. The Sandy River Delta is a 1500-acre natural area situated where the Columbia and Sandy Rivers meet. Its dynamic floodplain habitat supports a diverse assemblage of species, including the western painted turtle, an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species. A small, unknown number of western painted turtles utilize the wetland habitats of the Sandy River Delta, and the frequency in observations …

Native Seed Germination Trials At The Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank, Garbiel E. Campbell, Roxy Olsson, April Hersey, Stephanie Meikle, Kris Freitag

Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank and Plant Conservation Program

This presentation is a summary of germination trials on seeds native to the Pacific Northwest.

Botanical Updates From Psu, Gabriel Campbell

Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank and Plant Conservation Program

These slides summarize the botanical work conducted at PSU in 2022.

Unequal Trust: Bottled Water Consumption, Distrust In Tap Water, And Economic And Racial Inequality In The United States, Daniel Jaffee

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reviewing public health, nutrition, and social science literature, this article examines how bottled water consumption and spending in the United States differ along lines of race, ethnicity, and income, how these consumption patterns have changed in recent years, and how those shifts map onto perceptions of the safety and trustworthiness of tap water supplies, both before and since the Flint water disaster. It also addresses the differential impact of bottled water spending on household income. The findings challenge the truism that bottled water consumption is positively correlated with income, instead showing a bimodal racial and class consumption pattern that reflects …

Spartina Species Invasive In Coastal Salt Marshes And Mudflats Of The Pacific Northwest, Gabriel E. Campbell, Ashley Newcomb, Jacob Rose

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

Spartina (cordgrass) species are invasive plants that threaten the Pacific Northwest of the United States of America. This document contains a literature review, map of known occurrences, and identification guide of Spartina species invasive in coastal salt marshes and mudflats of the Pacific Northwest.

Aquatic Invasive Species Survey And Treatment On Lake Umatilla And Lake Celilo 2022-2023 Report, Gabriel E. Campbell, Jacob Rose

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus) is an invasive aquatic plant in the Pacific Northwest that threatens salmon habitat. The Center for Lakes and Reservoirs staff surveyed for this and other aquatic species from 2022 and 2023 in the Columbia River in Lake Umatilla and Lake Celilo. This document summarizes their survey efforts including their protocols, data, and small-scale removal efforts.

Project To Establish Growth & Mortality Rates Of Three Carex Species In Two Planting Types At Thomas Dairy Site, Tigard, Oregon, Ben Huffine

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Clean Water Services (CWS) currently increases the diversity of their wetland restoration projects using a plug planting method utilizing juvenile herbaceous plants. They have planted most of their projects using this method and plan to continue until a better one is discovered. According to the literature reviewed in this paper, juvenile plants are smaller and weaker than more mature plants and therefore have higher mortality rates. This paper is the culmination of work completed of phase 1 of this two-phase project. The objective of this project (both phases) was to design and establish a study that would test, in the …

Exploring Linkages Between Landscape Patterns And Freshwater And Estuarine Bivalves In The Coast Range Of Oregon, Kaegan Michael Scully-Engelmeyer

Dissertations and Theses

Spatial configurations of landscape variables (biotic, abiotic, and socio-ecological) affect and are affected by ecological processes and species in watersheds. This dissertation explores relationships among landscape patterns, ecosystem processes and bivalve species dynamics in coastal watersheds in Oregon, USA. I approached this broad topic through two primary avenues of research: investigating cross-ecosystem threats from pesticide use in forestland management to downstream aquatic environments, and the landscape ecology of an at-risk freshwater mussel species.

Terrestrial land use activities present cross-ecosystem threats to riverine and marine species and processes. Specifically, pesticide runoff can disrupt hormonal, reproductive, and developmental processes in aquatic organisms, …

An Examination Of Limiting Factors Of Chrysemys Picta Bellii (Western Painted Turtles) In The Lower Willamette River Basin, Oregon, James P. Holley

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Oregon’s two native freshwater turtle species, Chrysemys picta bellii (Western painted turtle) and Actinemys marmorata (Northwestern pond turtle), have seen significantly reduced population sizes since the founding of Portland in 1845, with estimates of up to 90% for A. marmorata. This project examined turtle nesting activity at 25 sites across a range of turtle populations and habitats around the Lower Willamette River Basin. All discovered turtle nesting activity was found in areas of high solar exposure. We found 93% of over 400 nest attempts to have been depredated across the 25 sites, well above most other reported rates. At …

Wildfire Risk Assessment For A Municipal Watershed In Western Oregon, Usa: Methods For Projecting The Impact Of Mid-21st Century Climate Change On Wildfire Hazard, Andy Mcevoy

Dissertations and Theses

In the western United States, climate change is projected to lead to significant changes in regional wildfire regimes. Historically, forests west of the Cascade crest in Oregon and Washington, USA (westside) have been characterized by low-frequency wildfire events, but climate change projections indicate that wildfire could become a more common disturbance, altering ecological processes and impairing ecosystem services like surface water quality and quantity. Wildfire risk assessments based on simulation models have been used in high frequency fire regimes to evaluate contemporary and future risk, but present unique challenges in westside forests because characteristic low annual burn probabilities result in …

Trail Impact Monitoring In Forest Park, James Mitchell

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Forest Park is an appropriately named 5,200 acre natural area located in northwest Portland, Oregon. A recent study estimated park usage near half a million annual visits and found "trails" to be the park’s most highly valued feature. Unfortunately, many trails were not designed for such traffic as evidenced by slipping hazards, erosion and other ecological impacts. In response to these observations, I partnered with Portland Parks & Recreation to conduct an objective trail impact assessment prescribed by the Forest Park Natural Resource Management Plan. I modified methods from past studies to expand on a recently completed trail condition class …

Interests And Priorities In Sockeye Salmon Management: How Are Policies Enacted And Interpreted On Three Alaskan Rivers?, Jake P. Palazzi

University Honors Theses

The large export abundance of Alaskan salmon is well documented, and many studies have been performed to assess the economic and environmental viability of the industry and its management. Less research has been done to characterize how state intentions regarding fisheries allocation are conceived of by management or perceived by vulnerable groups in the user pool. This study seeks to qualitatively characterize the disconnect between state and Native Alaskan perceptions of management effectiveness, public interest, and Native Alaskan involvement using interviews. Results showed that Native Alaskan and state manager respondents had very different perceptions of management effectiveness and equity. When …