Fire exclusion has defined 20th century forestry practices in North America and produced many unintended consequences. In the Canadian Rocky Mountains, the removal of fire from the landscape caused significant landscape changes over the past century. Mountain forests are now more uniform in stand composition and structure, and understorey diversity is reduced. These changes mean that forests are now more susceptible to high-intensity, difficult-to-control wildfires. Re-introducing Indigenous led historical burning patterns modeled on traditional burning techniques can be a restoration technique for these highly altered ecosystems. Indigenous fire regimes that emphasized regular, low-intensity burning created forests that had less fuel build up and were not as susceptible to dangerous wildfires. In order to effectively re-introduce historical fire regimes onto the Canadian mountain landscapes, it is essential to understand the history of human management of landscapes with fire. This project uses new methods of oblique image analysis that build on recent developments in oblique image analysis to examine the historical management of a portion of the traditional territory of the Stoney Nakoda Nation that overlaps present day Kananaskis Country in Alberta, Canada. While it is difficult to capture low-intensity Indigenous burns using traditional fire reconstruction methods, in-depth analysis of historical photos taken before the introduction of fire suppression laws may reveal new insights into historical fire regimes. Images were classified using machine learning software and compared to images classified by a human to verify the accuracy of the machine learning software. A case study of georeferencing images was also conducted, with the landcover estimates generated by georeferenced images compared to oblique estimates. Spatial signatures of Indigenous burning were identified and applied to repeat image sets to look for visual evidence of Indigenous burning on the landscape. The results from this study provide a useful starting point for further research into repeat photography and Indigenous burning. / Graduate

Debris-slides are one of the most frequently occurring geological hazards in metasedimentary rocks of the Anakeesta ridge in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM), which often depends on the influence of multiple causing factors or geo-factors such as geological structures, slope, topographic elevation, land use, soil type etc. or a combination of these factors. The main objective of the study was to understand the control of geo-factors in initiating debris-slides using different knowledge and data-driven methods in GIS platform. The study was performed in three steps: (1) Evaluation of geometrical relationship between geological discontinuity and topographic orientation in initiation of debris-slides, (2) Preparation of knowledge-driven debris-slide susceptibility model, and (3) Preparation of data-driven debris-slide susceptibility models and compare their efficacy. Performance of the models were evaluated mostly using area under Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve, which revealed that the models were statistically significant.

In this thesis, I examined the lives of my great-grandparents, Oscar and Emma Swett. Oscar began a homestead in the Uinta Mountains in 1909, which he successfully ran for nearly sixty years. My grandmother was born on the ranch, and my own father spent much of his time there. I look at how land policy changed from encouraging ranching and farming in the early 1900's to tourism and recreation in the 1960's, with the coming of the Flaming Gorge Dam. The lives of my great-grandparents and their children were shaped by these changes and they felt the consequences of the shifting values of the Forest Service and government. I used many primary documents in my research, from interviews given by the Swett children to photographs and documents. I also drew from literature and research by other western authors, such as Wallace Stegner, Mary Clearman Blew, and Steve Trimble. I connected my personal and family stories and memories with the larger framework of land policy in the West and the culture of ranching families similar to my own family. This enabled me to show how land policy affected many individuals and families on a personal level, looking through the prism of my own family and experiences.

Coyotes (Canis latrans) prey upon domestic sheep. The Animal Damage Control (ADC) program currently relies heavily on aerial gunning in winter to control coyote depredations on mountain grazing allotments. Some people claim that winter aerial gunning is not effective because coyotes migrate to lower elevations during winter, following herds of big game animals, and may not be on the allotments where summer depredations occur. I studied the seasonal movement patterns of coyotes in the Bear River Range of Utah and Idaho to determine if coyotes in montane habitats move on a seasonal basis. Radio-collared coyotes were located from fixed-wing aircraft from 13 November 1987 to 15 September 1989. I used 3 parameters to assess interseasonal movement patterns: overlap in seasonal home ranges, distance between harmonic mean centers of activity, and seasonal differences in mean elevation. All mature coyotes showed overlapping seasonal home ranges, which suggests they did not move substantially between seasons. In contrast, none of the sub-adult coyotes had seasonal home ranges that overlapped. Distances between harmonic centers of seasonal activity were easily assigned to one of two groups (≤5000 m and ≤10,000 m). These corresponded precisely with coyotes that did and did not display overlap in seasonal home ranges. Significant changes in the elevations of seasonal locations were not evident for any age or sex group. I conclude (1) that movement of sub-adult coyotes in the Bear River Range is part of dispersal behavior and is not motivated by seasonal change and (2) that these sub-adult coyotes generally cease wandering during their second years. My findings are similar to other studies where nomadic wandering was more common among sub-adult coyotes and was not correlated with season. I saw no movement of coyotes from the mountains to valley locations. Adult coyotes were in the same location in summer as in winter.

Birds may have the ability to view their environments at a wide range of spatial scales; accordingly, they may make habitat-selection decisions at multiple spatial scales. I investigated the implications of hierarchy theory and a landscape perspective on nestsite selection in cavity-nesting birds in the Uinta Mountains in northeastern Utah. I used · three different approaches to address the concept of a multi-scaled nest-site selection Ill process. First, I conducted an exploratory study in which I investigated nest-site selection at three spatial scales for Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis), Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus), Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), and Mountain Chickadee (Parus gambeli). By conducting a hierarchically structured analysis, I was able to investigate the habitat relationships that might result from a hierarchically organized nest site selection process . I found that the four species were associated with patterns of vegetation at three spatial scales and that these associations combined in such a way as to imply a process of nest-site selection that may be more complex than that posited by the niche-gestalt concept. Second, I conducted an experiment in which I investigated nest-site selection at two spatial scales. I compared the use of four types of aspen stands in a two-by-two factorial design according to within-stand structure and landscape context. Stands were classified as either dense or sparse and as having predominantly meadow or forested edges. To address nest-site selection by secondary cavity nesters , who may be limited by cavity availability, I augmented the natural cavities with nest boxes. I found that birds predominantly nested in sparse stands and in stands with meadow edges. Although only five nest boxes were used for nesting, all five of these boxes were in sparse stands with meadow edges. The third way in which I investigated the process of nest-site selection was to build and test predictive models using associations between birds and landscape patterns. By using landscape patterns to predict habitat, I was able to build models that were easily applied ; predictions could be made without any additional data collection in the field. The models were very accurate for both Red-naped Sapsuckers and Tree Swallows (86- 98% and 53-93% nests correctly predicted, respectively) but were less accurate for Mountain Chickadees and Northern Flickers (33-42% and 19-37%, respectively) .

The downstructure of viewing geologic maps, balanced and cross sections, and hanging-wall-sequence diagrams are applied to produce the first comprehensive synthesis of the structure below the willard thrust sheet. Development of the duplex beneath the Willard thrust may be explained with a "piggyback" thrust model where younger thrust slices form below and fold an older, overlying thrust sheet. Progressive failure of the footwall ramp of the Willard thrust sheet extended the sole thrust eastward and produced a duplex consisting of thrust slices (horses) which adhered to the overriding thrust sheet where it ramped from a lower sole thrust to an upper decollement horizon. The resulting structural culmination produced a distinct antiform in the Willard thrust sheet. The duplex is here named the Ogden duplex. Frontal folds (formed at ramps perpendicular to transport) and lateral folds (formed at ramps parallel to transport) mark the margin of Individual horses within the duplex. Folded thrusts, thrust-splay relationships, and lateral overlap of horses help determine the sequence of thrusting. The involvement of cratonic foreland basement rocks (Farmington Canyon Complex) in thrust slices within the Ogden duplex is similar to the Moine thrust belt in northern Scotland and pinpoints this area within zone III of Boyer and Elliott's (1982) model of a thrust system dominated by a major thrust sheet. The basement rocks form the core of several horses which moved a minimum of 9.6 km. Total shortening within the Ogden duplex is estimated at 8 to 12 km. The sequence of thrusting is proposed from higher to lower: the willard thrust fault moved first, then the Ogden thrust fault and, finally, the Taylor and Weber thrust system (here named). Striking similarities between the Ogden thrust fault, the Weber-Taylor thrust system, and the Durst thrust fault geometries suggest that they are all part of the same system.

This study integrates detailed mapping of Tertiary deposits along the divide between the lower Bear River basin and the Cache Valley basin with several other techniques to generate a depositional model, define extension-related structures, and compile a geologic history for this part of the northeastern Basin and Range province. The study area is situated along the topographic divide between Box Elder and Cache Counties, Utah, from the Wellsville Mountains north almost to Clarkston Mountain. These ranges are cored by folded and thrusted Paleozoic rocks. They are bound on the west by normal faults of the Wasatch fault zone and on the east by the West Cache fault zone. Between these two fault zones, poorly consolidated Tertiary deposits of the Wasatch Formation and Salt Lake Formation overlie Paleozoic rocks in the foothills and low divide between the north-trending ranges. The Miocene to Pliocene Salt Lake Formation accumulated above non-tuffaceous conglomerates of the Paleocene to Eocene Wasatch Formation, up to 0.5 km thick in the Wellsville Mountains, but thin or absent northward. The Salt Lake Formation in the study area consists of an apparently non-tuffaceous lower conglomerate member, up to 0.5 km thick in the Wellsville Mountains, and a widespread younger tuffaceous and lacustrine member, at least 1 km thick. The traditional names of Collinston Conglomerate and Cache Valley Member were used for these two lithologies. The Cache Valley Member was further subdivided into a local tuffaceous basal conglomerate, a widespread tuffaceous subunit, and an overlying oolitic subunit. Normal faults in the study area comprise three groups. North-striking normal faults are the youngest, and include major range-bounding faults. East-striking normal faults are less numerous, and are cut by the north-striking faults. The southwest-dipping low-to moderate-angle Beaver Dam fault separates the Cache Butte Divide and Junction Hills from the Wellsville Mountains. It may be unique within the area of study, and may comprise a newly identified segment of the Wasatch fault zone. Most of its displacement appears to pre-date the late Miocene, at the time that previous authors have suggested for the onset of Basin-and-Range normal faulting.

The importance of surface water to chukar partridges (Alectoris graeca) and the feasibility of rain-catchment devices for improving chukar habitat were studied on the Thomas and Dugway Mountain Ranges in western Utah during 1969 and 1970. Sources of surface water were removed from one mountain rang~ and chukar populations on that range were compared with populations on an adjacent range with permanent sources of water. Providing drinking water did not improve chukar productivity, survival, or availability to hunters. Although most birds concentrated around water supplies in the summer, some chukars appeared to live completely independent of any permanent sources of surface water. Food habits of chukars near water did not differ from those in waterless areas. It was concluded that in habitats comparable to those studied, installation of rain-catchment devices is not a feasible technique for improving chukar habitat.

The late Miocene Cedar Springs fault system is a high-angle transpressional system in the Silverwood Lake area, western San Bernardino Mountains, southern California. This thesis presents the study of oblique-slip faults with modest amounts of slip, which represent the early stages of fault development by using slip as a proxy for maturity. A structural and geochemical characterization is provided for six fault zones ranging from 39 m of slip to 3.5 km of offset in order to develop a model of fault zone geometry and composition. Basic geometric and kinematic results are provided for an additional 29 small-displacement (cm- to m-scale) faults. The main faults of this study can be divided into the fault core composed of sheared clay gouge and micro breccia, the primary damage zone made up of chemically altered rock with microstructural damage and grain-size reduction, and the secondary damage zone, which is characterized by an increased fracture density relative to the host rock. Although there appears to be a general increase in fault core thickness with increasing slip, the correlation is insignificant when analyzing all faults. Both the primary and secondary damage zones appear to thicken with increased slip on the main fault. Overall, the structure and composition of the faults studied here are similar to those of larger strike-slip and reverse faults. This indicates that the fault core develops early in a fault's history. Subsequent slip appears to be focused along these narrow zones, with some deformation accumulating in the damage zone. Whole-rock geochemical analyses typically show a reduction in the abundance of Na, Al, K, and Ca in the fault core and primary damage zone relative to the host rock. This indicates enhanced fluid-rock interactions in these zones. Calculations of the energy consumed to produce the chemical alteration in the fault core indicate that a considerable amount of the total earthquake energy may be lost to alteration. This thesis concludes that fault processes are similar throughout the different stages of development, and the study of relatively small-displacement faults can therefore be used to understand fault evolution through time and the processes of larger faults in the brittle crust.

The majority of the Middle Cambrian Wheeler Formation in the Drum Mountains was deposited during a single 3rd order sequence. Superimposed onto this sequence are three indistinct 4th order cycles and twenty distinct 5th order cycles. These higher order cycles were likely deposited within short intervals of geologic time (204 to 405 ky). The lower sequence boundary zone occurs within the Swasey Formation. The Transgressive Surface is the contact between the Swasey and Wheeler Formations. The Maximum Flooding Surface is located near the top of the lower Wheeler Formation, which also approximates the base of the Ptychagnostus atavus range zone. The upper sequence boundary is marked by stromatolites, which occur near the top of the upper member of the Wheeler Formation in the Drum Mountains. Deposition of the Wheeler Formation in the Drum Mountains was controlled by eustacy and tectonics. Local normal faulting associated with Middle Cambrian postrifting thermal subsidence may have caused some of the 5th order cycles. The cycles and surfaces defined in this stratigraphic analysis, and the base of the Ptychagnostus atavus and P. gibbus range-zones, can be used to correlate strata occurring in other localities in the eastern Great Basin. In addition, this study enables the evaluation of the effect of tectonics (faulting) versus global eustacy on the sedimentary regime occurring within the Middle Cambrian House Range Embayment.