Thesis (M.S.), Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin--Stevens Point, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-50).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan State University, 2007. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 440-477).

Thesis (M.S.)--Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2008. / "Department of Geology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-61). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--East Tennessee State University, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 35-36). Also available via Internet. Adobe Acrobat .pdf file, requires Adobe Acrobat Reader software.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, June, 2005. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-114)

Federal downsizing and reduced appropriations within the USDA Forest Service (USFS) have resulted in increased use of partnerships to deliver visitor services. Partnerships are the relationships in which two or more parties combine resources (e.g., funds, labor, information, skills) to accomplish a shared objective. Examples of USFS recreation partners include individual volunteers, professional contractors, and concessionaires. Partnerships provide a variety of services that may be otherwise neglected with fiscal constraints; for example, campground hosts, trail maintenance crews, and specialized recreation outfitters and guides provide visitor services the public desires. Although previous studies and USFS Accomplishment Reports indicate that partners are being used to deliver recreation services, there is a lack of understanding concerning the structure and function of these relationships. This thesis presents data from the second phase of a multi-phase study exploring the role of recreation partnerships on national forests. Using grounded theory, Phase I gathered and analyzed semi-structured interview data with key informants (n = 21). From these interviews, a conceptual framework of USFS recreation partnerships evolved, and internal commitment to partnerships and the external environment of forests emerged as indicators of agency capacity to partner. Internal commitment was defined by the presence, or lack of, a partnership coordinator on the forest. External environment was characterized by geographical location with urban forests, rural forests and amenity forests typifying various levels of partnership access for forest personnel. Phase II investigated these themes of commitment and environment using a multiple-case study methodology. Interviews with USFS personnel (n = 45) on six national forests representing a variety of internal commitment and external environment scenarios enabled the refinement of the partnership conceptual framework and indicators of agency capacity to administer partnerships. Specifically, this study illustrated that personnel motivations also influence agency capacity to partner. Fifteen distinct motivations emerged from informant interviews, which were classified within three categories of motivations: interpersonal, intrapersonal, and institutional. Together these themes of agency capacity--commitment, environment, and motivation--describe six unique cases of partnership involvement. These findings enable an increased awareness of agency capacity to partner and may enhance the leadership support, agency-partner interactions, and personnel motivations necessary to sustain USFS partnerships.

The goal of this study was to determine if watering and fertilizing would help maintain favorable vegetation conditions on forested recreation sites. Sunrise Campground on the Cache National Forest in northern Utah was the study site. Treatment applications of water and nitrogen- phosphorous fertilizer were made from 1964 through 1968. Covariance analysis of variables indicated that all treatments produced significantly greater amounts of ground cover vegetation than control plots. Ground cover response to treatments was greater under aspen than under coniferous overstory, and treatments under aspen produced differences in appearance of vegetation . There were no significant differences in diameter growth of overstory trees. The results showed that watering and fertilizing are effective management tools for maintaining ground cover.

The photographer discusses the work in wild | life: a forest for the people, his Master of Fine Art exhibition held at the Slocumb Galleries, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee from March 12 through March 23, 2012. The exhibition consists of 24 large-scale color archival Inkjet prints representing a large body of work that examines the human experience through viewing public and private land and land use within or tangential to the Cherokee National Forest. A complete catalogue of the wild ife exhibit is included at the end of the thesis. Historical and contemporary influences are discussed in regard to how they pertain formally and conceptually to Hathaway’s work. Included are photographs from Carleton Watkins, the Archives of Appalachia, Joel Sternfeld, and Jeff Whetstone as well as literary and critical influences from poets Albert Camus and John Szarkowski.

Understanding sedimentation impacts to benthic macroinvertebrates in headwater, mountain streams is a top priority of watershed management programs in the Chattahoochee National Forest. Five studies involving the analysis of historical, biological survey data and current data were conducted to improve our understanding of macroinvertebrate response to sedimentation and to support the development of biological information for sediment load models to be applied in the Chattooga River watershed. An initial analysis of historical data involving a composited, macroinvertebrate reach-scale sample revealed weak relationships between assemblage metrics and sedimentation, which was similar to results of two recent macroinvertebrate studies that found biological ratings of good or excellent with reported physical impact attributed to sedimentation. Those findings and field reconnaissance in the Chattooga River watershed revealed that patchy, coarse sands may be the primary issue of concern regarding sedimentation impact to benthic macroinvertebrates. Therefore, a modified sampling approach was used to investigate relationships of macroinvertebrates and environmental conditions that included micro-habitat patches containing coarse sands, a product of erosion associated with Southern Blue Ridge, silicate parent geology. At the microhabitat, patch scale, flow velocity was the main environmental factor associated with a macroinvertebrate assemblage gradient, and was significantly correlated with percent deposited sediment across 264 samples. The high dominance of just a few macroinvertebrate genera, and the majority lack of individual macroinvertebrate associations with dominant substrate types may suggest that the dominant macroinvertebrates utilize a multi-microhabitat portion of the streambed at any given time, which may be due to the homogenization of streambeds due to sand (providing ease of movement) and its immobility (low bedload volume and sand patch shift). Because flow was the only significantly correlated environmental variable on an assemblage gradient produced by ordination (and was individually correlated with dominant substrate and percent deposited sediment), a subsequent study was conducted to determine macroinvertebrate sensitivity to deposited sediments among two flow-differentiated habitat types. Results showed that more taxa were related to a gradient of percent deposited sediment in fast water habitats, and no taxa were positively correlated with percent deposited sediment. Indicator species analysis found a number of taxa that were associated with a four-level grouping of percent deposited sediment levels. Therefore, a final study involved calculating deposited sediment tolerance values using indicator species associations and individual cumulative abundances across percent deposited sediment levels. The final index developed from cumulative abundances showed a relationship with deposited sediment within the range 0 – 30%, and that low range was due to the low deposited sediment levels at which all 50% cumulative abundances fell (1 - 10%). The sedimentation index produced from indicator species analysis produced a reach-scale index that was related to percent pool embeddedness. Key findings from these studies are: (1) sand is the primary deposited sediment type, with most streambed comprised of cobble-sand substrate, (2) few taxa are associated with deposited sand substrate, (3) there are high numbers of a relatively few dominant taxa across samples and streams, (4) macroinvertebrate response to deposited sediments is greatest in fast water habitats, and (5) the developed sedimentation biotic index is a potential, assemblage-level indicator of increasing sedimentation in these headwater systems. The functional and habit organization of the four most dominant taxa determined in recent studies suggest that they may be utilizing sand patches for crawling and collecting food, therefore structurally adapting to long-term, press disturbances due to historical and contemporary anthropogenic activities and natural erosion. In addition, macroinvertebrate assemblage composition in these streams indicates overall good "health" and suggests streambed stability in the presence of a large portion of coarse sand. However, an important question that remains involves sand movement along streambeds and the ecological consequences of continued sediment inputs to these headwater systems. / Ph. D.

Historically the U.S. Forest Service has used uncorrected aerial photographs to delineate proposed and past management activities on the land base it manages. Transferring a boundary from an image not planimetrically correct to a planimetrically corrected image introduces errors. Positional accuracy of boundaries affects the number of acres the Forest is accountable for managing, and the annual sale quantity (ASQ) or annual board feet targets. The purpose of this study was to develop a methodology that eliminated the need to transfer the boundary from an uncorrected to a corrected image. Raster and vector warping methods were evaluated with reference to positional accuracy and efficiency. Due to the rugged topography of the Siuslaw National Forest, selection of ground control points (GCPs) was an important function in the accurate transformation of images. A Vector warping method, Rubber Sheeting the ARC/INFO projective transformation for all digital GCPs, to all of the Global Position System (GPS) ground control points, provided the most accurate rectification of vector boundaries that had been digitized or scanned from an uncontrolled low elevation photograph. / Graduation date: 1992