Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons^™

Assessing Fuels Treatments In Southern California National Forests In The Context Of Climate Change, Timothy J. Brown, Crystal A. Kolden, John T. Abatzoglou

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

One of the key uncertainties in fuels treatments is their longevity under a changing climate. Several recent studies have assessed fuel treatment effectiveness during historic fires, and in many cases found the treatment less effective than desired, particularly during extreme or record conditions. In 2007, southern California experienced one of the most severe fire seasons to-date due to record low fuel moistures early in the fire season (a key driver of the two-month long Zaca fire) and historic Santa Ana winds late in the season (resulting in several large late October fires). Climate change projections for the region suggest that …

Can Climate Change Increase Fire Severity Independent Of Fire Intensity?, Phil Van Mantgem, Marybeth Keifer, Rob Klinger, Eric Knapp

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

We tested the idea that climate may affect forest fire severity independent of fire intensity. Pervasive warming can lead to chronic stress on forest trees (McDowell et al. 2008; Raffa et al. 2008), resulting in higher sensitivity to fire-induced damage (van Mantgem et al. 2003). Thus, there may be ongoing increases in fire severity (the number of trees killed), even when there is no change in fire intensity (the amount of heat released during a fire). We examined this question at a subcontinental scale by synthesizing existing information from plot-based prescribed fire monitoring databases across the western United States of …

Phase 1 Of The Smoke And Emissions Model Intercomparison Project (Semip): Creation Of Semip And Evaluation Of Current Models, Narasimhan K. Larkin, Tara M. Strand, Stacy A. Drury, Sean M. Raffuse, Robert C. Solomon, Susan M. O'Neill, Neill Wheeler, Shihming Huang, Miriam Roring, Hilary R. Hafner

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Managers, regulators, and others often need information on the emissions from wildland fire and their expected smoke impacts. In order to create this information, combinations of models are utilized. The modeling steps follow a logical progression from fire activity through to emissions and dispersion. In general, several models and/or datasets are available for each modeling step, resulting in a large number of combinations that can be created to produce fire emissions or smoke impacts. Researchers, managers, and policy makers need information on how different model choices affect the resulting output, and guidance on what choices to make in selecting the …

A National Study Of The Consequences Of Fire And Fire Surrogate Treatments, Phil Weatherspoon, Jim Agee, Phil Aune, Jim Baldwin, Jamie Barbour, Frank Beall, Julio Betancourt, Ralph Boerner, Matt Busse, Carl Edminster, Gary Fiddler, Carl Fiedler, Sally Haase, Kathy Harchsen, Mick Harrington, Ron Hodgson, Sue Husari, Jon Keeley, Mike Landram, Bill Laudenslayer, Jim Mciver, Dan Neary, Bill Otrosina, Roger Ottmar, Martin Ritchie, Kevin Ryan, Patrick Shea, Carl Skinner, Scott Stephens, Nate Stephensen, Elaine Kennedy Sutherland, Bob Vihanek, Dale Wade, Tom Waldrop, Dan Yaussy, Andy Youngblood, Steve Zack

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Many U.S. forests, especially those with historically short-interval, low- to moderate-severity fire regimes, are too dense and have excessive quantities of fuels. Widespread treatments are needed to restore ecological integrity and reduce the high risk of destructive, uncharacteristically severe fires in these forests. Among possible treatments, however, the appropriate balance among cuttings, mechanical fuel treatments, and prescribed fire is often unclear. For improved decisionmaking, resource managers need much better information about the consequences of alternative management practices involving fire and mechanicaVmanual "fire surrogates." Long-term, interdisciplinary research thus should be initiated to quantify the consequences and tradeoffs of alternative fire and …

Cumulative Effects Of Fire And Fuels Management On Stream Water Quality And Ecosystem Dynamics, David S. Pilloid, Robert S. Arkle

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Prescribed fires and wildland fire-use are increasingly important management tools used to reduce fuel loads and restore the ecological integrity of western forests. Although a basic understanding of the effects of fire on aquatic ecosystems exists, the cumulative and possibly synergistic effects of wildfire following prescribed fire are unknown. Wildfires following prescribed fire may produce different burn severities and effects on riparian and stream ecosystems than wildfires in fire suppressed forests (e.g., fires absent >70 yrs) or prescribed fires alone. The goal of this study was to quantify and compare the effects of wildfire on stream and riparian ecosystems under …

Effects Of Fires And Insects On Fuel Structures In Piñon-Juniper And Post-Fire Invasive Communities, Lisa Floyd-Hanna Dr., Tim Crews Dr., William H. Romme, David Hanna, Monique Rocca Dr., Dustin Hanna, George San Miguel

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

In the last decade, piñon-juniper (Pinus edulis-Juniperus osteosperma) woodlands of southwestern Colorado have been heavily impacted by wildfires and insects, and the effects on fuel structures and future fire intervals have been unclear. In these piñon-juniper woodlands, pre-historic fire rotations of up to 400 years were documented, but in recent climatic conditions, large stand-replacing wildfires burned between 1989 and 2008. Since the 1990s, a period of drought and rising temperatures, portions of the post-fire landscape were targets for invasive Carduus nutans, muskthistle and Bromus tectorum, cheatgrass, whose presence create unprecedented fuels, may shorten fire intervals, and reduce native biodiversity. We …

Engaging The Humanities To Address Wildland Fire Issues, Fred Swanson, Nathaniel Brodie, Charles Goodrich

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

This project examined existing programs and potential options for collaborations among the humanities, art, science, land management, and public concerning wildfire and wildfire policy and education. These programs and partnerships include creative residencies; conferences, workshops, and symposia; art-science collaborative field studies; and community programs and partnerships. We also reviewed how popular literature frames, reflects and has affected our cultural understanding of wildfire. Our analysis concludes that, compared to the richness of the subject of wildfire, compared to the way wildfire encapsulates all the complexities and controversies of culture, history, and ecology, wildfire’s potential as a literary subject remains largely unfulfilled. …

Estimating Critical Climate-Driven Thresholds In Landscape Dynamics Using Spatial Simulation Modeling: Climate Change Tipping Points In Fire Management, Robert E. Keane, Rachel A. Loehman

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Climate projections for the next 20-50 years forecast higher temperatures and variable precipitation for many landscapes in the western United States. Climate changes may cause or contribute to threshold shifts, or tipping points, where relatively small shifts in climate result in large, abrupt, and persistent changes in landscape patterns and fire regimes. Rather than simulate potential climate-fire interactions using future climate data derived from Global Climate Models (GCMs), we developed sets of progressively warmer and drier or wetter climate scenarios that span and exceed the range of GCM outputs for the western US, including temperature and precipitation combinations that may …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Wood Shreds On Post-Fire Erosion, Peter R. Robichaud, Randy B. Foltz, Charles G. Showers, James S. Groenier, Rory Sternke, Louise E. Ashmun, Robert E. Brown, Peter Jordan

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Agricultural straw mulching is a commonly used post-fire hillslope erosion control treatment that is aerially applied by helicopter. While widely used and reasonably effective at reducing erosion, agricultural straw is not native to the forest environment. There is a growing consensus among Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) teams that mulch made from native forest material would be preferable to agricultural straw. Wood shred mulch made from post-fire road hazard trees is an alternative to agricultural straw. An optimized blend of sizes of wood shreds was effective in reducing sediment yields in both indoor rainfall simulation and outdoor field experiments. Several …

Identification Of Necessary Conditions For Arctic Transport Of Smoke From United States Fires, Narasimhan K. Larkin, Jennifer L. Dewinter, Tara M. Strand, Steven G. Brown, Sean M. Brown, Sean M. Raffuse, Jonathan Callahan, Kenneth J. Craig, Robert C. Solomon, Hilary R. Hafner

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

The deposition of black carbon (BC), a dark absorbing aerosol, is a significant contributor to observed warming trends in the Arctic (Hansen and Nazarenko, 2004; Jacobson et al., 2007). Biomass burning outside of the Arctic, including wildland prescribed fires, is a major potential source of Arctic BC. Therefore, limiting or eliminating spring prescribed burning has been suggested to Congress as a BC reduction technique (e.g., Zender, 2007). However, there are large uncertainties in the current estimates of the sources, source regions, and transport and transformation pathways of BC transported to the Arctic region (Shindell et al., 2008; Hegg et al., …

Workshop Examines Warming Of Lakes Worldwide, John D. Lenters, Simon J. Hook, Peter B. Mcintyre

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

It is widely recognized that climate change is affecting terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Recent studies have revealed significant warming of lakes throughout the world, and this rate of warming is often larger than that of the ambient air temperature (up to 2–3 times more rapid). Although hypotheses have been proposed to explain these high rates of lake warming (e.g., ice albedo feedbacks or changes in cloud cover), the fundamental drivers remain poorly understood. Furthermore, these rapid warming rates have profound implications for lake hydrodynamics, productivity, and biotic communities. It is essential therefore that global data sets of water temperature be …

National Climate Assessment Technical Report On The Impacts Of Climate And Land Use And Land Cover Change, Thomas Loveland, Rezaul Mahmood, Toral Patel-Weynand, Krista Karstensen, Kari Beckendorf, Norman Bliss, Andrew Carlton

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This technical report responds to the recognition by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and the National Climate Assessment (NCA) of the importance of understanding how land use and land cover (LULC) affects weather and climate variability and change and how that variability and change affects LULC. Current published, peer-reviewed, scientific literature and supporting data from both existing and original sources forms the basis for this report’s assessment of the current state of knowledge regarding land change and climate interactions. The synthesis presented herein documents how current and future land change may alter environment processes and in turn, how …

Impacts Of An Invasive Snail (Tarebia Granifera) On Nutrient Cycling In Tropical Streams: The Role Of Riparian Deforestation In Trinidad, West Indies, J. M. Moslemi, S. B. Snider, Keeley Macneill, J. F. Gilliam, A. S. Flecker

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Droughtscape, Winter 2012, National Drought Mitigation Center

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Drought Planning for Kansas Ranchers Jan. 21

South Hoping La Niña Dryness Stays Away

2011 Brought Record-Breaking Extent of D4

Reported Impacts Ease as Growing Season Ends

Disaster Planning in Nanjing at Hohai U

Ag, Fire and Water Supply Topped 2011 Impacts

A Review Of National Msw Generation Assessments In The United States, David J. Tonjes, Krista L. Greene

Technology & Society Faculty Publications

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is generated in very large quantities (probably, between 200 and 400 million tonnes per year) in the United States (US). MSW is generated at millions of places and there is no one precise, general definition for MSW that is generally applied, despite US Environmental Protection Agency efforts. As an element of both commerce and politics, reporting may be framed towards particular ends. Therefore, the two best known assessments of the quantity of US MSW production differ by approximately 50%. The assessors understand some of the reasons for the differences, but our analysis suggests that there are …

Model Ordinance For Development On Karst In Kentucky: Guidance For Construction On Karst Terrain And The Reduction Of Property Damage And Threat To Human Health Resulting From Karst Geologic Hazard, James C. Currens

Information Circular--KGS

I have dealt with hundreds of incidents of karst-related geohazards; some have caused major damage to buildings and infrastructure. Although cases are largely limited to the ground surface being made unusable, a significant number of structures are damaged by karst flooding or cover collapse each year, which is devastating to families who have lost their homes. Most of these events should never have happened, because the karst hazard could have been avoided by selecting a better building site or designing the building to withstand the damage from the hazard. Furthermore, most of the planning authorities I have had experience with …

2012 Nebraska Water Monitoring Programs Report, Marty Link, Mike Archer

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The following Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality staff have contributed to this report with their photos, maps, numbers, words, and editing. Their efforts are greatly appreciated and gratefully acknowledged here: Mike Archer, Ken Bazata, Dave Bubb, Ryan Chapman, Jason Garber, Patrick Hartman, Tom Heatherly, Dave Ihrie, Dan Inman, Greg Michl, Will Myers, Patrick O’Brien (NARD), Brad Routt, and Dave Schumacher.

Global Environmental Outlook 5, United Nations Environment Programme: Chapter 17, Global Responses, Maria Ivanova, Ivar Baste, Bernice Lee, Satishkumar Belliethathan, Ibrahim Abdel Gelil, Joyeeta Gupta, Peter M. Haas, Zerisenay Habtezion, Achim Halpaap, Jennifer Clare Mohamed-Katerere, Peter King, Marcel Kok, Marcus Lee, Trista Patterson, Vivien Campal, Bradnee Chambers, Melissa Goodall, Slobodan Milutinovic, Felix Preston

Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance Faculty Publication Series

Global environmental change such as climate change and the degradation of ecosystem services is heightening risks and reducing opportunities, especially for poor and vulnerable populations. Such change is taking place in an increasingly globalized, urbanized, interconnected and fast-moving world amidst shifting geopolitical power balances. Burgeoning flows of goods and services, capital and technology, information and labour all fuel a growing global population with implications for patterns of consumption and production. The scale and persistence of global environmental problems require sustained collective efforts to meet internationally agreed goals. Responses at national and regional levels are already available, but addressing the underlying …

Sustainable Wastewater Management For Paso Del Norte Border Communities, Mariana Chew

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

At the binational level, there is no enforceable formal or informal agreement for approval of a water or wastewater discharge from the United States or Mexico. The communities along the U.S.-Mexico border are included in the cooperative activities of: (1) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region VI, (2) Mexico Secretarí­a de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), (3) the binational Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and Comisión de Cooperación Ecológica Fronteriza (COCEF), (4) the binational North American Development Bank (NADBANK) and Banco de Desarrollo de América del Norte (BDAN), and (5) the binational International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) and …

Communication Effectiveness And The Emerald Ash Borer Mitigation Campaign, Jonathon Heide

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Environmental risk communication is scrutinized by several research fields including, as Herndl and Brown (1996) show, technical communications. This technical communications thesis rhetorically analyses how large and small government agencies in the State of Minnesota communicate a specific environmental risk: emerald ash borer (EAB). EAB is an insect native to Asia and arrived in Detroit on a cargo ship sometime in the 1990s (Cappaert 2005, 153; Poland 2011, 46). By 2012, it spread to the 15 states and two Canadian provinces (USDA--APHIS 2012). EAB's life cycle will causes tree decline in Minnesota, the state with the most ash (MNDNR 2012). …

Water Quality Trading Markets For The Kentucky River Basin: A Point Source Profile, Ronald Childress Jr.

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

This study assessed the feasibility and suitability of a Water Quality Trading (WQT) program within the Kentucky River Basin (KRB). The study’s focal point was based on five success factors of a WQT program: environmental suitability, geospatial orientation, participant availability, regulatory incentive, and economic incentive. The study utilized these five success factors, geographical characteristics, and Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMR) to assess the feasibility of a WQT program.

The assessment divided the KRB into five eight digit Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUC), North, Middle, and South Fork, Middle Basin, and Lower Basin, to determine regional impacts caused by the nutrient PSs. Individual …

Woody Biomass Use Trends, Barriers, And Strategies: Perspectives Of Us Forest Service Managers, Shiloh Sundstrom, Max Nielsen-Pincus, Cassandra Moseley, Sarah Mccaffery

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The use of woody biomass is being promoted across the United States as a means of increasing energy independence, mitigating climate change, and reducing the cost of hazardous fuels reduction treatments and forest restoration projects. The opportunities and challenges for woody biomass use on the national forest system are unique. In addition to making woody biomass usage pencil out, national forest managers must also navigate substantial public engagement and forest planning processes that add to the complexity of fostering woody biomass use opportunities on the national forest system. We report on the results of a survey of US Forest Service …

Development And Deployment Of A Bioreactor For The Removal Of Sulfate And Manganese From Circumneutral Coal Mine Drainage, C. B. Mastin, J. D. Edwards, Christopher D. Barton, Anastasios D. Karathanasis, Carmen T. Agouridis, Richard C. Warner

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Surface mining, in the form of contour mining and mountain-top removal, is a common means for retrieving coal in the Appalachian Coal Belt region of Kentucky. Overburden or excess spoil generated by these two methods is placed in valley fills. Traditionally Constructed fills have been shown to adversely impact headwater ecosystems via stream burial and through alterations to the hydrology, sediment supply, water quality and biological composition of downstream reaches. Mine drainages emanating from the toe of valley fills often contain elevated levels of total dissolved solids and heavy metals. Drainage chemistry from Guy Cove, a valley fill located in …

State Of The River Report For The Lower St. Johns River Basin, Florida: Water Quality, Fisheries, Aquatic Life, And Contaminants 2012, Environmental Protection Board, City Of Jacksonville, University Of North Florida, Jacksonville University

State of the River Report

No abstract provided.

Changing Land Use On Unproductive Soils, Andrew Blake, Mike Clarke, Angela Stuart-Street

Resource management technical reports

A three year study completed in 2010 examined farming systems in the north-eastern agricultural region and eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia which experienced a succession of variable seasons from 2000. This culminated in severe drought in 2006 and 2007. At that time, farmers experienced labour shortages and declining terms of trade triggered by cost inflation outpacing growth in commodity prices. As a result, farm business equity was eroded as farm debt escalated. This left many farm businesses in a highly vulnerable state. At the time of the study many farmers were facing an uncertain future.

These experiences, coupled with a …

Prescribed Grazing On Pasturelands, Lynn E. Sollenberger, Carmen T. Agouridis, Eric S. Vanzant, Alan J. Franzluebbers, Lloyd B. Owens

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Reproductive Biology And Recruitment Of Xiphopenaeus Kroyeri In A Marine Protected Area In The Western Atlantic: Implications For Resource Management, Ariádine C. Almeida, J. Antonio Baeza, Vivian Fransozo, Antonio L. Castilho, Adilson Fransozo

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The potential of a recently established marine protected area (MPA) in the Western Atlantic, Brazil, as a 'seed production' and nursery ground for Xiphopenaeus kroyeri, an intensively exploited penaeid shrimp, was investigated in an attempt to reveal any future benefit of this new MPA to adjacent populations experiencing heavy exploitation. Overall, we observed that males and females >12 and 20 mm carapace length, respectively, contributed the most to reproduction in the studied population. Reproductive activity of X. kroyeri was continuous at the MPA; 2 annual reproductive peaks were recorded from March to April and from November to December, which were …

Characteristics Of Kentucky Agricultural Operations Participating In Nrcs Conservation Programs, Carmen T. Agouridis

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) designs and promotes a wide variety of conservation practices and programs that enhance the environment by reducing soil erosion, improving water quality, and enhancing and creating wildlife habitat. The impact of these practices and programs is largely dependent on the voluntary participation of landowners. Thus, central to the success of the NRCS conservation programs is an understanding of the characteristics of landowners and operations participating in these programs.

Using operator and operation characteristics from the 1997, 2002, and 2007 Censuses of Agriculture and controlling for county fixed effects, this study 1) identifies significant characteristics …

Sustainable Water Management In The University Of Texas At El Paso, Cora Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis showed how to improve water and financial savings for UTEP and El Paso by improving water conservation and sustainability of the UTEP campus. The goals of this research were successfully accomplished by focusing in three principal objectives.

1. Analyze historical data of water consumption of the UTEP campus for the past decade.

2. Evaluate water consumption to quantify water consumption by buildings and type of use, as well as provide recommendations for water and cost savings.

3. Synthesize a water management framework within the UTEP Facilities' Geographic Information System (GIS) for long-term monitoring and evaluation

Water Mass Balances For The Rio Grande/Bravo From Fort Quitman, Texas To Foster Ranch Near Langtry, Texas: An Assessment Of Factors, Ramiro Lujan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Water availability is declining in many regions of the planet, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Water bodies located in these regions, like the Rio Grande/Bravo at the U.S. - Mexico border, are subjected to high water demands. This research project makes an assessment of the spatial and temporal variability of elements intervening in the water mass balance for the section of the Rio Grande/Bravo between Fort Quitman and Langtry, Texas during the time period extending from January 1990 through December 2005. This document mentions the main Rio Grande/Bravo stakeholders from the U.S. and Mexico, and describes issues related …