The goal of this project was to analyze Cache County for potential sanitary landfill sites covering the period 2020 to 2120. The county population and per capita solid waste were estimated. The minimum landfill size was then calculated. A geographic information system (GIS) was used for data storage and vii analysis. Relevant data were gathered. Areas which would not support a landfill were eliminated. Remaining sites were rated as having slight, moderate, or severe restrictions for use as an area method sanitary landfill based on the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Sanitary Facility Report, and the NRCS Soil Interpretations Rating Guide. Seventeen sites were designated as sites for further evaluation. A landfill ranking system giving a primary and/or secondary rating to data items was developed. Nine prime sites had one secondary (.,a ting. These sites should be more closely investigated to determine which are the best potential sites. (136 pages)

Hydroclimatic variability in the western United States (the West) is characterized by a north-south dipole pattern of precipitation and streamflow variance, with centers of opposite association in the Pacific Northwest and the Desert Southwest. These dipole centers tend to react in opposite fashion to tropical Pacific Ocean conditions, and the resulting contrast in precipitation variability is an important component of Western climate. Teleconnection impacts are not as well understood in the transition zone separating the centers of opposite association, located primarily within the semi-arid Intermountain West. This leads to low hydroclimatic predictive capacity in the transition zone region, an area that is extremely important for water supply in the West. In this dissertation, I examine paleohydroclimatic variability in this region using dendrochronology, investigate recent variability through a synoptic climatology approach, and assess future conditions based on climate change projections.Overall, this dissertation's findings confirm that the transition zone region is highly vulnerable to extremes in hydroclimatic variability and underscore the need for improved predictive capacity in the region. In the Snake River headwaters, low- to mid-elevation Pseudotsuga menziesii trees are the strongest recorders of winter precipitation, a vital component of water supply, and the season of precipitation impacting growth is a major component of the overall variability between tree-ring sites in the region. The 415-year reconstruction of Snake River streamflow indicates that extended droughts, more severe than those recorded in the instrumental period, have occurred in the pre-instrumental past. Streamflow in the upper Snake River is strongly linked to Pacific Ocean conditions and sensitive to storm track position. The West's precipitation dipole has a surprisingly narrow transition zone that has shifted in its location over time in some areas but has remained remarkably stationary across Nevada and Utah. Projected climate changes - including warmer temperatures, changing seasonality, reduced snowpack, and changes in the storm track position - highlight the importance of understanding climate-water linkages for future water resource management.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of New South Wales, 2003. / Also available online.

The goal of this project was to analyze Cache County for potential sanitary landfill sites covering the period 2020 to 2120. The county population and per capita solid waste were estimated. The minimum landfill size was then calculated. A geographic information system (GIS) was used for data storage and vii analysis. Relevant data were gathered. Areas which would not support a landfill were eliminated. Remaining sites were rated as having slight, moderate, or severe restrictions for use as an area method sanitary landfill based on the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Sanitary Facility Report, and the NRCS Soil Interpretations Rating Guide. Seventeen sites were designated as sites for further evaluation. A landfill ranking system giving a primary and/or secondary rating to data items was developed. Nine prime sites had one secondary (.,a ting. These sites should be more closely investigated to determine which are the best potential sites. (136 pages)

During 1993- 1994, I investigated wildlife depredation at Intermountain West fish hatcheries to quantify losses, determined the reliability of bioenergetics models and hatchery manager perceptions to predict losses, and investigated the effectiveness of simple control measures. I observed predators and surveyed managers to quantify the extent of depredation losses and to identify the species responsible. Great blue herons (Ardea herodias), black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax), ospreys (Pandion haliaetus), and California gulls (Larus californicus) were the most significant predators of hatchery fish in the field study, and were perceived as such by hatchery managers. Losses to avian predators at two hatcheries were 7.0% and 0.6% of annual production based on my observational data, but hatchery managers believed depredation losses were 15% at each hatchery. I estimated the consumption of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) by great blue herons using bioenergetics models of existence metabolism, existence metabolism plus reproductive costs, and field metabolic rate. compared the model-based predictions to observed consumption rates of free-ranging herons foraging at a fish hatchery. The fish consumption predicted by the existence metabolism model and observed consumption were similar from October- June. During the breeding season, observed consumption was higher than consumption predicted by the existence metabolism model but lower than that expected from the energy requirements for breeding individuals. This result was expected given that only a portion of the bird population was breeding. Although consumption predicted by the field metabolic rate differed significantly from observed consumption for more months than the existence metabolism models, predicted annual consumption from field metabolic rate and observed annual consumption were not signliJcantly different (.E < 0.05). Peak observed consumption occurred during August and September and was predicted by the model. Performance of the three models may be improved with estimates of population structure and more reliable population estimates. I evaluated the effectiveness of perimeter fencing in reducing heron depredation on fish raised in concrete raceways at a trout hatchery in Midway, Utah. Fences were constructed of single-strand monofilament line placed 20 cm above raceway walls. Fences had no impact on the number of birds foraging or their fish consumption rate.

Low-water landscaping is an essential tool for water conservation in the arid Intermountain West (IMW) for managing limited supplies and population-driven increased demand. The IMW harbors a large number of drought-tolerant native species that have potential for use in the low-water use landscape (LWL). However, many species are not available in the nursery trade due to their morphological confusion and establishment difficulty in the managed landscapes. The overall goal of this study is to elucidate morphological, ecophysiological, and genetic distinctions within two IMW native plant genera containing species with high urban low-water landscape potential.

Pastures in the Intermountain Western United States mainly consist of cool-season grasses which lack production without supplemental nitrogen. Legumes provide nitrogen at reduced cost compared to nitrogen fertilizer. There is a need for proven methods of inter-seeding legumes into existing cool-season grass pastures as well as knowledge of how animals prefer legumes to grasses and how the nutritive value of forages change throughout the growing season. This research provides a resource for effective integration of legumes into pastures of the Intermountain West. Alfalfa, birdsfoot trefoil, and cicer milkvetch were inter-seeded into existing cool-season grass pastures following pretreatments of light tillage, mowing and glyphosate. Early spring and fall inter-seeding was unsuccessful, while late spring was moderately successful with overall alfalfa frequency of 30% after a year. Summer inter-seeding was the most successful with birdsfoot trefoil, alfalfa, and cicer milkvetch frequency of 42, 32, and 22%, respectively. In the animal preference study, when compared to tall fescue, birdsfoot trefoil was always utilized more.In most observations birdsfoot trefoil utilization was higher than orchard grass. While in all comparisons with meadow bromegrass there was no difference in utilization. During early growth, perennial ryegrass utilization was higher than birdsfoot trefoil utilization, but no difference in utilization was detected in later observations. Overall, birdsfoot trefoil was utilized 73% overall while grass utilization was 74, 67, 64, and 53% for perennial ryegrass, meadow bromegrass, orchardgrass and tall fescue, respectively. The interaction of growth stage and time of season on the nutritive value of alfalfa, birdsfoot trefoil, cicer milkvetch, orchardgrass, perennial ryegrass and tall fescue was determined. In the spring to early summer, legume nutritive value decreased rapidly with maturity, in midsummer the nutritive value decreased slowly with maturity, while in late summer the nutritive value remained stable. In the spring, grass nutritive value decreased rapidly, while in mid to late summer all grass regrowth was vegetative and the nutritive value remained stable. By inter-seeding in the summer, effectively managing mixed pastures, and utilizing forage at its highest nutritive value, legumes can benefit the pastures of the Intermountain West.

Land cover and climate change with their associated impacts on runoff are among the pressing areas of research within the western United States. In the first paper of this dissertation, we identified a total of 39 watersheds draining to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamflow gauges, chosen either from the USGS Hydroclimatic Climatic Data Network of gauges that are minimally impacted by anthropogenic alterations, or because they have long, relatively continuous streamflow records and are representative of large areas within the study region in Utah. In each of these watersheds we examined trends in precipitation, temperature, snow, streamflow and runoff ratio as well as land use and land cover information. In addition, we developed a water balance model to quantify the sensitivity of runoff to changes in vegetation based on differences in evapotranspiration from different land cover types. The second paper addressed runoff sensitivity to land cover changes in a spatially explicit way by performing detailed simulations using a Regional Hydro Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys) model applied to the Weber River near Oakley watershed (USGS gauge # 10128500). Our runoff sensitivity results suggest that during winter reduced Leaf Area Index (LAI) decreases canopy interception, which tends to increase snow accumulations, and hence snow available for runoff during the early spring melt season. Increased LAI during spring melt season tends to delay the snow melting process due to reduced radiation beneath high LAI surfaces relative to low LAI surfaces. The last paper examined the sensitivity of the Great Salt Lake level to changes in streamflow input or changes in climate that manifest as changes in air temperatures over the lake. We quantified this sensitivity by examining an elasticity measure defined as the ratio of the variability of streamflow, precipitation, evaporation, area and salinity to the variability in historic volume changes. We also developed a mass balance model to simulate lake level and volume driven by stochastic precipitation, streamflow and climate inputs. We showed that fluctuation in streamflow is the dominant factor in lake level fluctuations, but that fluctuations in lake area, which modulates evaporation and precipitation directly on the lake, are also important.

Four general post-fire successional pathways leading to a climax Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii Parry)/subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa [Hook] Nutt.) forest were identified operating on the T.W. Daniel Experimental Forest in northern Utah. These included initial colonization by seral quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), seral lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.), colonization by lodgepole pine followed by a low intensity surface fire, and immediate colonization by late successional Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir. Post-fire establishment of the late successional species occurred earliest in the Engelmann spruce/subalpine fir pathway followed by the lodgepole pine and lodgepole pine ground fire pathways, and the quaking aspen pathway . The late successional species 11 grew fastest in the Engelmann spruce/subalpine fir pathway followed by the quaking aspen, lodgepole pine, and lodgepole pine ground-fire pathways. Conceptual models were presented showing how perturbations by fire, insect epidemics, and disease could interact to influence succession and shape the subalpine landscape. The subalpine forest changes through time to facilitate different types of disturbance that have varying effects on succession. In the continued suppression of fire, species and age class diversity will be reduced and disturbances may occur that are larger and more intense than those that have occurred historically.

This report is the third produced by the University of Wisconsin -Parkside's Applied Urban Field School research team regarding the potential effects on Indian cultural resources by the Intermountain Power Project electrical transmission lines. This report focuses on is concerned with the Native American cultural resources found within the revised section of the transmission line corridor.