Group selection has recently emerged as an alternative silvicultural system to clearcutting in Appalachian hardwood forests, but there is little, if any, information on the effects of group selection on wildlife. Thus, I studied and compared the effects of group selection and clearcut openings on wildlife in the Jefferson National Forest, Virginia. Breeding birds were censused 1 year before and 2 years after harvesting at 20 group selection openings, 4 clearcut openings, 18 sites in the mature even-aged forest adjacent to the openings, and 29 control sites. I also compared use of group selection openings and clearcut openings by white-tailed deer. The number of species and the total number of birds decreased at the openings and in the forest adjacent to the openings after harvesting with both methods. (Seven species increased and 9 species decreased in the openings after harvesting. Four species decreased in the forest adjacent to the openings after harvesting. Indigo buntings and rufous-sided towhees increased more at the interior of clearcut openings than at the edge of clearcut openings or in group selection openings. Sites within the clearcut openings where groups of trees were left uncut were not used more by birds than clearcut sites without trees. (The number and proportion of stumps with sprouts browsed by white-tailed deer was greater in group selection openings than in clearcut openings. Clearcut and large group selection openings provided breeding habitat for the same bird species. The smaller group selection openings were not used by some species found in the clearcut openings. However, creating a variety of opening sizes probably will provide the maximum benefit for all wildlife species that use early successional habitat. The same species were negatively affected, and to a similar degree, by group selection and clearcut openings. Both types of openings had negative impacts on forest-interior bird species in the adjacent forest. However, if the same acreage is harvested, group selection will affect a greater area of adjacent forest than clearcutting, because smaller openings have greater edge to area ratios. / Ph. D.

Residential non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners within the Wildland/Urban interface are an increasingly important forest owner demographic. An increase in rural residential land use is fragmenting historically large contiguous forestlands. Consequently resource management has become decentralized. NIPF-landowners, as the new land managers, must now be capable of creating resilient forest ecosystems at the landscape scale. To overcome this issue landowners and resource managers at all levels of decision-making (including landowners) must come to understand how social structures such as psychology, organizations, institutions, and culture are linked to behavior and the physical world. Collaborative Interface Modeling (CIM) has been created in response to an information gap that exists between the social and natural sciences at the site scale. CIM reveals the causal linkages between land use decisions and their effects allowing landowners to more closely trace and investigate their management policies, behaviors, and feelings as well as the consequences of those behaviors. A demonstration of the CIM process with residential forest landowners is conducted to evaluate the process and detect possible implications of encroaching development on the Jefferson National Forest in Montgomery County, Virginia. A focus on fuel wood collection was established because it has been noted as a potential source of negative impact. Possible implications and improvements to the CIM process are also noted. / Master of Landscape Architecture

Advances in computer technology have made it possible for designers to manipulate realistic images on a computer screen. Previously, most computer generated images consisted of line drawings or distorted grid perspectives. A program known as PC/NewPerspectives, which generated distorted grid perspectives, has been in use by US Forest Service Landscape Architects who use it to determine the visual impact of a proposed harvest unit and manipulate the layout to reduce the impact. New programs in video imagery offer the opportunity to design harvest layouts on a more realistic format, which may also be used as a communication tool to relay to members of the public what the proposed alteration would look like. This study compares the two media in terms of landscape preference and acceptability of activity to determine the difference in the two media as communication tools and how this would influence their effectiveness. / M.L.A.

A linear programming model for multiple use was developed for the High Knob Unit of the Jefferson National Forest. The model was intended to be a pilot study for the development of similar models for other units in the Appalachians. The model was developed to provide information about trade-offs between timber, recreational activities, and budgets during the 10 year planning period. Currently used estimates and "rules of thumb" were used as the means for relating the activities considered in the model. The objective function used was timber maximization and it was constrained by the activity and budget constraints. The maximum possible timber volume that could be cut was found for the High Knob Unit by using only acreage constraints on the objective function. Then the constraints for the other activities were added, each of which being tied to the timber variables. An initial optimal solution was found which not only gave values for the amounts of the activities that would be best to produce but also where they were to occur on the ground. To provide information about trade-offs, a sensitivity analysis was done to provide a series of solutions for the High Knob Unit. These solutions were evaluated and recommendations were made for the High Knob Unit. Benefits and limitations of the model were discussed as were the problems encountered in developing the High Knob LP. Suggestions for future study were also made. / Master of Science

My thesis is a human intervention into the tranquil and natural environment of Pandapas Pond and the Jefferson National Forest. Although the form of the intervention embraces the landscape and natural land formations, its purpose is to take the visitor along a path that translates the experience from one of participation to that of observation of the parkâ s surroundings. This is both an investigation of an architectural integration with the site and a partial separation of the inhabiter from his/her natural surroundings. / Master of Architecture