Citizen science, or the use of volunteers for scientific projects, is becoming a popular way for agencies and organizations to collect data. The benefits of citizen science include saving the agency or organization resources, educating the community about conservation issues, and promoting land stewardship. Currently, many citizen monitoring organizations are based in urban areas, whereas their projects are located near more rural towns. Research shows that demographics such as area of residence can be a factor in the publics attitude toward any scientific or land management project (Williams et al, 2002; Kellert, 1978, 1985; Vaske et al, 2001). This fact was supported by a citizen science project, led by the author, on the Clearwater National Forest. Currently, no citizen science organizing manuals address the issue of rural/urban difference in volunteer recruitment. Additionally, the question of what qualities citizen science must have to be used by government agencies must be determined so that non-governmental organizations can produce useful data. I interviewed 11 successful urban-based citizen science conservation organizations in order to establish the characteristics of successful volunteer recruitment and retention. Additionally, I interviewed five state or federal agencies that used citizen science data in order to establish the characteristics of effective citizen science programs. Using Glesne (1999) as a guide, interviews were numbered and coded. Results showed that successful recruitment methods differ between rural and urban areas, with word of mouth and local newspapers as most effective. Citizens must believe in the program, have a social atmosphere associated with the program, and have a personal relationship with the project organizer in order to volunteer again. There is a difference in rural and urban communities, having to do with different values, priorities, and environmental awareness. Effective citizen science programs share three main characteristics: a proper training program, scientific accuracy, and a quality control program.

Local food systems aiming to re-create direct links between producers and consumers are emerging in the United States and elsewhere in response to the social, economic, and environmental consequences of the globalizing food market. Despite growing consumer demand for locally produced food, small-scale producers may not have the capacity to meet the needs of wholesale food purchasers, such as restaurants, grocery stores, schools, or hospitals, thus limiting their markets to direct sales to consumers. Wholesale customers, in turn, face a number of barriers to purchasing local food. Producer cooperatives may alleviate some of the challenges faced by wholesale buyers while opening new markets for their members. Previous studies have examined the perspectives of wholesale food buyers that may or may not purchase locally. This study explores the perspectives of wholesale buyers at grocery stores and restaurants who purchase from one producer cooperative in particular, the Western Montana Growers Cooperative. This research investigates the extent to which the Western Montana Growers Cooperative helps its wholesale customers overcome the barriers to purchasing local food, and offers suggestions for the Western Montana Growers Cooperative to continue building a vibrant local food system.

The following is a memoir of the author‟s childhood in southwestern Idaho. It recounts his family's ties to the local landscape, to the cattle industry, and to hunting big game in central Idaho. The essays explore questions of the history of the West and of its romance, particularly how that romance trickles down to soak into each successive generation of Western families. It also explores the boundary worlds of work, wherein dialog and conversation are hard to find. It is comprised of several braided essays with lyric intent, beside longer expository essays that are topically oriented.

The transport of contaminants to the Arctic and their presence in traditional foods in the region is causing concern about potential adverse health impacts resulting from exposure to these globally-borne chemicals. In this study, ten stakeholders in the issue of contaminants in traditional foods in Alaska were interviewed to determine how they define the problem, and in doing so, to determine if they perceive that the situation constitutes an environmental injustice for Alaska Natives. The interview transcripts were analyzed using five sub-frames of the environmental justice framework: distributive justice, procedural justice, indigenous rights, corrective justice, and ecological sustainability. The interview responses suggest that, viewed through five sub-frames of environmental justice (EJ), Alaska Natives do face an environmental injustice. In particular, Alaska Natives face disparate cultural impacts at the hands of contaminants and lack adequate opportunities for procedural involvement. The findings presented in this paper point to three solutions to the problem: 1) Establish a U.S. Arctic Contaminants Program to collaboratively study the situation in Alaska and to provide education to impacted populations, 2) Enact new comprehensive, enforceable, precautionary U.S. laws that govern and regulate chemicals, and 3) Extend global policies that phase out chemicals and support ecologically sustainable practices. Additionally, this professional paper, done to help support the work of the Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT), offers suggestions for strategies that ACAT can use in their activism. These strategies consider how to best use the various EJ frames to effectively communicate with stakeholders (other activist groups and government entities) about the problems and solutions for dealing with the threat that contaminants in traditional foods pose to Alaska Natives.

The purpose of this paper is to provide assistance in developing a program to control the release of dental mercury amalgam in Missoula, Montana. To do this, three research components were carried out. The first consisted of a survey to determine whether Missoula dentists are following the American Dental Associations (ADA) recommended Best Management Practices (BMPs) for mercury amalgam waste. The second component involved interviewing local dentists in an effort to include their voice in the process, as well as to determine what may motivate them to comply with a dental mercury control program. The final component of research involved developing and analyzing three case studies of municipalities that have designed and implemented a successful BMP program that can be used to help guide the development of a program in Missoula.

Since the turn of the twentieth century, mining activities have contaminated the floodplain and streambed of Silver Bow Creek, Montana, resulting in a streambed devoid of life and severely contaminated with heavy metals. In the mid nineteen seventies, up-stream water treatment facilities were upgraded and water quality improved, bringing benthic invertebrates back to reaches of Silver Bow Creek. The extent and concentration of toxicants in and around the streams of the Upper Clark Fork River Basin resulted in the designation of over 100 miles of river as Federal Superfund sites. Since 1999 reclamation and restoration efforts have been implemented on Silver Bow Creek. This analysis evaluates changes in benthic biotic community composition throughout the period of record (1986 to 2009). Transformations of historical data were necessary to standardize community information and calculate indices of biotic integrity. A multivariate method, Classification Strength (CS), used in conjunction with non-parametric tests of significance, demonstrated data comparability over the period of record both taxonomically and ecologically. Biotic index results indicate that remedial efforts to remove metals laden sediment from the stream bed and surrounding floodplain have resulted in a decline in the numbers of metal-tolerant organisms. Generalized indices of biotic integrity show no significant changes throughout the period, while specialized indices demonstrate increases in organic-pollutant-tolerant taxa. Multivariate analysis of community composition demonstrates taxonomic changes to the resident community throughout the period of record, and Indicator Species Analysis corroborates the results of the biotic indices. Using these methodologies as a template to measure change throughout the restored reaches of Silver Bow Creek will increase the ability of resource managers to measure the success of restoration of the Last Best Disturbance.

Highways and interstates cause habitat fragmentation and loss, with considerable impacts to wildlife. Interstate 70 is a major transportation route cutting through one of the only remaining forested connections for wildlife moving through the southern Rockies. To alleviate its potential barrier effect, the Colorado Department of Transportation is proposing to build a wildlife bridge on I-70 just west of Vail Pass. This study is aimed at testing which field techniques are most effective at documenting species presence in order to develop an appropriate long term monitoring strategy for this area. Four sampling methods are compared (track transect surveys, scat transect surveys, hair snares, and remotely-triggered camera surveys) during a baited and unbaited study session on Shrine Pass Road near I-70. Data from the baited sessions was used to determine how well each method documents species presence based on time, money and accuracy of identification. In addition, data from the baited session was compared to data from the unbaited session to see if there is any benefit to using a lure. I conclude that no method is free from bias and care should be taken to develop the most robust study design. Though cameras tend to detect the greatest degree of species richness, they frequently fail to detect several species. The effectiveness of cameras can largely be increased by supplementing them with other monitoring techniques. Considering budget and time restraints, I recommend using snow tracking in the winter months, and if at all feasible, scat surveys throughout the year.

Highways have been shown to fragment wildlife habitats and populations. In order to mitigate the effects that highways have on wildlife, it is important to assess where wildlife appear to be moving in close proximity to the highway. I surveyed for wildlife trails that approached either side of a ~64 km stretch U.S. Highway 2 (US-2) and monitored these trails with remote cameras. Ungulates, especially deer, were the most commonly photographed animals on trails. A limited number of photographs were also taken of coyote, black bear, snowshoe hare, wolf, and cougar. Camera images showed that wildlife tended to use roadside trails during hours of lower traffic volumes. I used multiple logistic regression at three scales (50 m, 250 m, and 500 m) followed by model selection with Akaikes Information Criterion to assess the impacts of certain landscape features on the location of wildlife trails (used) versus randomly generated points (unused). I examined the clustering of wildlife trails and found them to be clustered at all distance scales less than 39 kmwith the strongest clustering occurring at the 5-8 km scales. The 5 km segment of highway with the highest density of trails was located from Milepost (MP) 181-184. Crossing zones were delineated based on a combination of the number of trails, previously identified wildlife crossings, camera incidents-per-day, potential parcels of land for conservation, and highway and railroad structures in a given area (usually a 5 km segment). The results of this study may serve as useful baseline information to the Great Northern Environmental Stewardship Area working group (GNESA) and its partners to help guide future research and mitigation projects in the US-2 corridor.

The following is a memoir of the author‟s childhood in southwestern Idaho. It recounts his family's ties to the local landscape, to the cattle industry, and to hunting big game in central Idaho. The essays explore questions of the history of the West and of its romance, particularly how that romance trickles down to soak into each successive generation of Western families. It also explores the boundary worlds of work, wherein dialog and conversation are hard to find. It is comprised of several braided essays with lyric intent, beside longer expository essays that are topically oriented.

My paper includes: (1) an analysis of cases of waterborne diseases in Bagrami District from 2003-2007; (2) a review and assessment of the effectiveness of three recent water supply and sanitation projects carried out by aid organizations; (3) a description of a Bagrami water sanitation project that I helped manage in 17 villages in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in spring 2008; and (4) my recommendations on how to improve the effectiveness of water supply and sanitation projects in Bagrami and other areas of Afghanistan based on insights gained from this study.