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An inventory of the stock on hand is a basic step in management. This is true whether the field be business, land, or wildlife management. It is a marginal business man who ignores the basic step of inventory. In the history of wildlife management, however, it has not been unusual to find the cart before the horse. This is not to say that the wildlife manager is, or has been, marginal. His business was inherited ready-made, but often in a bankrupt condition. The problems were there, but not the background of records, techniques, or methodology to cope with them. Often management, like Topsy, “just growed.”

Soil moisture recharge was studied in quaking aspen and Gambel oak forest areas of central Utah. The rate, timing, and duration of the recharge period was observed. Soil moisture readings were taken periodically throughout the winter of 1966 -1967. Soil moisture recharge begins in October and continues until May. The period of most rapid increase in recharge is between February and May. This corresponds to a rapid decrease in the zenith angle of the sun at the surface of the area and also to a decrease in cloud cover over the area. Deep soils and high infiltration capacities prevent surface runoff from the area. Both detention storage and retention storage capacity of the soils are high. Soil freezing was not present during the winter months. Some patchy soil freezing is found in the spring but it is not extensive enough to influence the recharge phenomenon.

Characteristics of nonparticipating Utah counties and municipalities in the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 were studied. Specific objectives studied were: (1) program awareness, (2) program understanding, and (3) reasons for nonparticipation from 1965 to 1970. A telephone survey was conducted of all nonparticipating counties, all nonparticipating municipalities larger than 2500 population and a simple random sampling of municipalities smaller than 2500 population. Results were compared on a governmental unit and regional basis. The survey determined that, as a whole, less than 45 percent of nonparticipating Utah counties and municipalities were aware of the program. The greatest awareness was among the large municipalities of region one and the least awareness was among the small municipalities of region two. County awareness was similar in both regions. Significant differences in program awareness occurred only when small municipalities were compared with large municipalities and counties. Generally, the surveyed governmental units aware of the program had a low degree of program understanding, particularly with regards to who administered the program in Utah. Reasons given for nonparticipation were primarily: (1) no need for parks, (2) unable to provide the local matching share of a grant, (3) did not want to become involved with the federal government, and (4) lack of community leadership. As a whole, a significant number of governmental units not aware of the program would seek federal assistance if they had a recreation resource to develop.

The increase in household income attributed to expenditures by Utah motor vehicle tourists from June 15 to September 5, 1969, was estimated using income multipliers from input-output analysis. Tourist expenditures were gathered through the distribution of postage-paid diaries to non-residents entering Utah. Expenditures were also segregated for Cache County, Utah. The income multipliers from state and county input-output models were used to estimate the impact of applying the state model to county data. Approximately 927,250 tourist parties to Utah spent an estimated $37,842,81 increasing household income $65,018,557. Likewise, approximately 67,709 tourist parties spent an estimated $798,966 in Cache County. The income multipliers from the county model indicated a $1,063,728 increase in household income in Cache County, while the state model estimated this increase to be 44 percent greater.

In the summer of 1971 a research project was carried out in an attempt to determine the influence of dust and leachates on rainfall quality . Open precipitation collectors , collectors under polyethylene screens, collectors under Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) , and leaf analyses were used to determine the relative effects of these two processes by which chemicals are incorporated into the rainwater . All samples were analyzed for sodium (Na+) , calcium (Ca++), magnesium (Mg++), potassium (K+) , and available phosphorus. Under the trees , sodium concentrations increased as much as three times the amount found in the open, calcium was 13 to 16 times greater, magnesium concentrations doubled, and potassium increased as much as 50 times that which occurred in the open rainfall. Calcium was the only cation studied in which the leaching process was important. Increased chemical loads of all other cations were mainly due to dust adhering to the tree canopy as wind passed through it and later being washed off by rainwater.

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), a high elevation foundation species, is experiencing population declines throughout the northern part of its range. The introduced fungal pathogen, Cronartium ribicola (white pine blister rust), infects whitebark pine and kills cone-bearing branches and trees. Blister rust has spread nearly rangewide and damage and mortality are highest in the northwest US and southwest Canada. Mortality caused by mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) population upsurges, and successional replacement and loss of regeneration opportunities from fire suppression, are also impacting some whitebark pine populations. Within this dissertation, I present three manuscripts that address the impact of whitebark pine's decline on species interactions and ecological processes within subalpine forests. Research was conducted in three ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains USA that are distinct in whitebark pine health conditions (rust infection and mortality) and abundance. In the first manuscript, I explore how the relationship between whitebark pine and Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), its primary seed disperser, is being affected by whitebark's decline. Nutcrackers were less likely to use and disperse seeds from forests where cone production is below a threshold. In the second manuscript, I describe habitat use of whitebark pine forests by red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). Squirrel residency and impact of cone predation increased with decreasing whitebark pine abundance. The third manuscript focuses on the tree-level ecological process, predispersal cone survival, as a function of coarse scale whitebark pine abundance. Surviving trees in high mortality forests were found to have a lower rate and higher variability of cone survival, suggesting that the putative levels of rust-resistance in surviving trees of high mortality forests may not be passed on to future generations. At the ecosystem level, the Northern Divide had the highest levels of rust infection and tree mortality and lowest nutcracker interaction and regeneration levels; the Greater Yellowstone had the lowest infection and mortality levels and nutcrackers were present and dispersing seeds at all research sites in all years, while the Bitterroot Mountains were intermediate in these comparisons. These findings provide important components for developing a long-term strategy to conserve and restore whitebark pine ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains.

This thesis is composed of two potential professional papers written to be independent of each other. Both papers were written to explore changes in late summer discharge patterns across the Northern Rockies (NR). Water in the interior western United States is a vital resource and the demand for this resource has increased. Watersheds in the NR are mainly snowmelt dominated in that they depend on the seasonal flux of snow-melt during dry periods. During the summer months August is a critical time for aquatic ecosystems due to typical low discharge and warm air temperatures. During this period water temperatures can become elevated stressing aquatic biota. The first chapter addresses historic August discharge trends across the NR and examines the frequency of low discharge over time. Using historic discharge data from United States Geologic Surveys national water information system web interface, we analyzed data for trends of 40-59 years. Combining these records with aerial photos (<10m resolution) and water rights records we selected gaging sites based on the length and continuity of discharge records and categorized each site based on the amount of diversion and location of water storage devices. Local significance was examined using the Mann-Kendall non-parametric test and regional significance was obtained using a bootstrap procedure in combination with the Mann-Kendall test. Our analyses indicate that watersheds throughout the NR are experiencing substantial declines in stream discharge and we have found that 75% of all stations exhibit a declining slope. Bootstrap analysis indicates that the NR is experiencing a significant (á = 0.10) decline in discharge from 1951-2008. The second chapter takes a subset of the original 153 sites, deemed pristine sites, and examined the relationship of August discharge to climatic parameters for each watershed. By using stations with no identifiable diversion and minimal land use change we were able to analyze precipitation and air temperature records for correlations with discharge trends. Bootstrap methods were used to determine field significance of the region. Long term discharge analyses demonstrate that eight of the fifteen watersheds throughout the NR are experiencing significant declines in stream discharge over the last half century and all stations have a negative slope. Additionally, the region as a whole appears to have a significant decrease in discharge over the period 1951-2008. Correlations results show a weak to moderate negative relationship between air temperatures and discharge and these results coupled with increasing air temperature trends pose serious concern for aquatic ecosystems in NR.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 1973. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1971. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.