High latitude regions are undergoing significant climate-related change and represent an integral component of the Earths climate system. Near-surface vapor pressure deficit, soil temperature, and soil moisture are essential state variables for monitoring high latitude climate and estimating the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change. Methods are developed and evaluated to retrieve surface soil temperature, daily maximum/minimum air temperature, and land surface wetness information from the EOS Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) on the Aqua satellite for eight Boreal forest and Arctic tundra biophysical monitoring sites across Alaska and northern Canada. Daily vapor pressure deficit is determined by employing AMSR-E daily maximum/minimum air temperature retrievals. The seasonal pattern of microwave emission and relative accuracy of the estimated land surface state are influenced strongly by landscape properties including the presence of open water, vegetation type and seasonal phenology, snow cover and freeze-thaw transitions. Daily maximum/minimum air temperature is retrieved with RMSEs of 2.88 K and 2.31 K, respectively. Soil temperature is retrieved with RMSE of 3.1 K. Vapor pressure deficit (VPD) is retrieved to within 427.9 Pa using thermal information from AMSR-E. AMSR-E thermal information imparted 27% of the overall error in VPD estimation with the remaining error attributable to underlying algorithm assumptions. Land surface wetness information derived from AMSR-E corresponded with soil moisture observations and simple soil moisture models at locations with tundra, grassland, and mixed -forest/cropland land covers (r = 0.49 to r = 0.76). AMSR-E 6.9 GHz land surface wetness showed little correspondence to soil moisture observation or model estimates at locations with > 20% open water and > 5 m2 m-2 Leaf Area Index, despite efforts to remove the impact of open water and vegetation biomass. Additional information on open water fraction and vegetation phenology derived from AMSR-E 6.9 GHz corresponds well with independent satellite observations from MODIS, Sea-Winds, and JERS-1. The techniques and interpretations of high-latitude terrestrial brightness temperature signatures presented in this investigation will likely prove useful for future passive microwave missions and ecosystem modeling.

Coalbed methane development has proliferated across much of the western United States. Campbell County, Wyoming, in the Powder River Basin is one area that has seem some of the highest amounts of this development, most of it occurring on land where the surface use is livestock grazing, resulting in conflicts over resource use. This thesis takes a grounded theory approach to understanding the meaning that the ranchers that operate on this land have attached to this development. In doing so, this paper argues that these ranchers form opinions and attitudes based on how CBM has affected the ranching way of life and not simply on the perceived opportunity for economic gain. It also argues that although objections raised by this population to the listing the Greater Sage-Grouse as an endangered species are largely framed as objections to the way in which scientific conclusions are drawn, this may be more representative of embedded cultural viewpoints thereby making efforts to resolve this conflict through further scientific research, futile. This paper concludes that a more collaborative approach to issues surrounding CBM may have helped to avoid much of the conflict that characterizes this issue.

Whitebark pine (WBP) is a keystone species of Rocky Mountain alpine and subalpine areas. A pervasive non-native fungal disease (white pine blister rust), mountain pine beetle infestation, and successional replacement by shade-tolerant competitors following decades of fire exclusion have severely reduced whitebark pine and threaten these high-elevation ecosystems. Land managers are attempting to reverse whitebark pines decline by increasing regeneration of rust-resistant trees while restoring successional processes. Restoration efforts include the planting of whitebark pine seedlings and over 200,000 seedlings have been planted on National Forest, BLM and National Park service lands. In this Rocky Mountain (RM) study, select whitebark pine plantations were surveyed and seedling survival rates and ecological data collected. The purpose of this initial study was to determine overall survival rates for planted whitebark pine seedlings and to identify environmental conditions that have promoted high seedling survival. Data were analyzed at the site, plot and tree level. Microsites created by stumps, rocks and downed logs in close proximity to WBP seedlings greatly enhanced survival, seedling height and seedling growth during the first year after planting. Potential direct solar radiation was inversely related to WBP survival. Wet planting sites were detrimental to seedling survival. Results as to the effect of fire on seedling survival were inconclusive. However for 1st year seedlings it does appear that moderate, mixed or severe burning did result in much higher survival than unburned. To further understand the environmental conditions that affect seedling survival, an experimental planting was designed and monitored using the knowledge gained from the RM study. Seedling survival in this planting was statistically significantly associated with the presence of a microsite. And increased health of seedlings was associated with the presence of beneficial mycorrhizal associates. Only seedling located in burned or unburned whitebark pine communities were colonized with native fungi and colonization was higher for burned than for unburned sites. Whitebark pine seedlings are successfully being planted and it is possible to discern how different environmental conditions are affecting the survival, height, growth and health of planted seedlings.

The original design of this dissertation project was relatively simple and straightforward. It was intended to produce one single, dynamic, classification and mapping system for existing vegetation that could rely on commonly available inventory and remote sensing data. This classification and mapping system was intended to provide the analytical basis for resource planning and management. The problems encountered during the first phase of the original design transformed this project into an extensive analysis of the nature of these problems and a decade-long remote sensing applications development endeavor. What evolved from this applications development process is a portion of what has become a "system of systems" to inform and support natural resource management. This dissertation presents the progression of work that sequentially developed a suite of remote sensing applications designed to address different aspects of the problems encountered with the original project. These remote sensing applications feature different resource issues, and resource components and are presented in separate chapters. Chapter one provides an introduction and description of the project evolution and chapter six provides a summary of the work and concluding discussion. Chapters two through five describe remote sensing applications that represent related, yet independent studies that are presented essentially as previously published. Chapter two evaluates different approaches to classifying and mapping fire severity using multi-temporal Landsat TM data. The recommended method currently represents the analytical basis for fire severity data produced by the USDA Forest Service and the US Geological Survey. Chapter three also uses multi-temporal Landsat data and compares quantitative, remote-sensing-based change detection methods for forest management related canopy change. The recommended method has been widely applied for a variety of forest health and disaster response applications. Chapter four presents a method for multi-source and multi-classifier regional land cover mapping that is currently incorporated in the USDA Forest Service Existing Vegetation Classification and Mapping Technical Guide. Chapter five presents a study using nearest neighbor imputation methods to generate geospatial data surfaces for simulation modeling of vegetation through time and space. While these results have not yet been successful enough to support widespread adoption and implementation, it is possible that these general methods can be adapted to perform adequately for simulation modeling data needs.

While advocates of Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) contend that this decentralized approach to natural resource management has higher potential for the distribution of conservation and social benefits throughout civil society than conventional protected area approaches, there is limited empirical research to confirm it, especially regarding goals and claims of gender empowerment. To assess the impact of CBNRM on women's empowerment, this research selected Kwandu Conservancy in Namibia's Caprivi Region for in-depth study, an area with a relatively long and nationally-praised experience with CBNRM. The research was organized around the following two questions: how do women residing in Kwandu Conservancy define empowerment; and how has women's empowerment changed as a result of CBNRM in Kwandu Conservancy? Given the range of CBNRM activities in the Conservancy, the research focused on the effects of income-generation activities, in part, because they have been emphasized in CBNRM as a mechanism for women's empowerment. The iterative, ethnographic methodology included participant observation, document review, 20 interviews with key informants, and 49 in-depth interviews with women residents in Kwandu Conservancy varied by household wealth, age, ethnicity, education, marital status, Conservancy involvement, religion, and 5 other characteristics over the course of 6 months. Results show that women residents talk of a female ideal in their culture as having the following characteristics, and translated from their language as a "real woman": 1) able to meet material needs by earning cash income from locally-respected livelihood activities, 2) educated, 3) hard-working, 4) engaged in nurturing relationships with other people, and 5) performing culturally-defined roles as a wife and mother. Kwandu Conservancy provided enhanced income-generation opportunities through four activities: cash-paid employment of five to seven women annually; harvesting and sales of grass, reeds, and Devil's Claw (<italic>Harpagophytum procumbens</italic>); sale of locally-produced crafts; and collection of household dividends from the Conservancy. This represents limited economic opportunity for women in Kwandu Conservancy but mixed capacity to achieve their own, locally-defined female ideal of being a "real woman". While the Conservancy's economic activities provided women opportunity to gain new income, skills, public-speaking training, and awareness of gender norms and alternatives, opportunities were limited by existing and persisting male-bias, relatively low monetary returns from dividends and craft sales, and the low overall number of economic opportunities provided relative to the Conservancy's population size. The research concludes that efforts to improve women's empowerment need to be built on women's own definitions and goals in a particular context. They should also directly address barriers in gender-based roles and responsibilities, particularly regarding economic participation, household and community-level decision-making, and women's control over their bodies. Gender-based norms continue to place women in roles of subservience and dependency, increasing women's risks for experiencing gender-based violence. Challenging cultural norms will be problematic in Kwandu Conservancy and likely in other CBNRM efforts because creating opportunities for women requires cultural and economic change on the part of men, and is likely to create resistance from within the community as well as resentment against the conservation organization. It also begs the question as to who besides nature conservancies need to implement and reinforce empowerment programs.

Throughout the developing world, countries face a number of issues regarding the health and welfare of their populations. One issue that stands out with critical and growing importance is the availability-and accessibility-of water. Across the Sahel, access to potable water for domestic use, as well as contaminant-free water for agricultural and animal husbandry purposes is of growing concern. This study evaluates Government of Senegal efforts at improving rural water access through public-private operation contracts to manage deep groundwater resources. In West Africa, Senegal currently counts itself among the few Sahelian countries having sufficient freshwater supplies to support its populations growing domestic and industrial needs, though this is threatened by global climate change, and the Sahels natural ecological variability. Surface water supplies the majority of urban areas in the country, while rural regions commonly draw water from groundwater systems. From 2002-2009, the Senegalese government, in cooperation with external partners, launched the Projet dOrganisation et de Gestion Villageoise (Village Organization and Management Project) which aimed to reduce poverty and improve quality-of-life at the village level. In 2007, the village of Tawa Fall received the technology necessary to access deep groundwater resources through this project. In a unique public-private system, the government of Senegal engaged Associations dUsagers de Forages (Drilling User Associations, ASUFOR) to manage operation and maintenance contracts for these boreholes. Proceeds from the sale of water is managed by ASUFOR associations, and used both for borehole maintenance and to further village development. This study explores the effectiveness of deep borehole wells at reducing womens workload, evaluating the wells effects on communities from the perspective of women as primary domestic water drawers and users. The study also examines the efficiency of the ASUFOR system at maintaining decentralized management of natural resources. It examines how Tawa Falls ASUFOR committee has used proceeds from the sale of groundwater to bring electricity to the village, and also explores how village women manage their household water needs through a combination of purchased, and well-drawn water. The data collection methods utilized include spot observation, site visits, semi-structured and unstructured interviews with key informants, and a survey of female heads of household to determine domestic water use patterns. The results suggest that, while deep borehole wells provide a fairly reliable source of water for villagers and reduce womens labor burden, the cost of water is often prohibitive, and the majority of residents continue to regularly use open wells in addition to public taps. This suggests that Senegals management of rural water systems is still at an emerging stage, and would benefit from increased financial investment to maintain continuous access and expand the existing rural water provision network.

The results of the ongoing study to monitor visitors use, and the shuttle experience in Glacier National Park demonstrate that use levels in the park have increased considerably. Thus, it was pertinent to evaluate to which extent the conditions on the trails are so undesirable or unexpected for visitors that they would usually employ coping responses to deal with those situations. This research was structured to provide a description of the salient setting attributes and personal factors associated with the identification of the detracting elements of the recreational experiences, and types of coping mechanisms usually used. The study reported here was implemented at four of the most popular trails in GNP: Avalanche Lake, The Loop, Sunrift Gorge, and the Highline trail. A total 765 on-site collected surveys were used for the analysis. Ordinary least squares regression was used to test whether situational and personal factors could predict detracting elements and coping responses. One-way analysis of variance was used to test whether the use of coping mechanisms varied by type of detractor, and by use level. From the overall sample, results indicated that 67% of the respondents experienced a lot of other hikers as the most common detracting element (48%), followed by non-natural sounds (42%) and overflights (32%). For hikers experiencing detracting elements, 80% would usually use a coping mechanism to reduce the negative effect of that kind of detractor. Hikers sampled employed different cognitive coping mechanisms. Rationalization and product shift would be used 49% and 47% respectively. Displacement, in the form of seasonal, time of the day, activity or location changes, was also a usual response considered for 47% of the hikers sampled. The results suggested that personal factors were more useful than situational factors to predict detracting elements, especially crowding. The regression models suggested that there is still much of the variance in the use of coping responses that needs to be explained by factors other than the ones used in this study. Furthermore, there was not enough evidence found to support differences in the use of coping responses by use levels and number of detractors. However, encounters with wildlife were found to have incidence in the use of cognitive coping responses.

There is longstanding conflict related to planning standards and guidelines (S & Gs) used by the U.S. Forest Service to guide and constrain National Forest System land management. The role these prescriptions have played in the past in forest management, and the role they ought to play in the future, is often disputed. However, the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) and the new 2012 NFMA planning regulations require S & Gs, so they must be included in forest plans in the future. The goal of this research was to provide a common understanding of how planning S & Gs were used in the past in order to provide recommendations for how standards, specifically, might be written and applied more effectively in the future. To understand the history and conflicts associated with S & Gs, I analyzed public comment letters from NFMA planning regulations, applicable case law, and background literature. Twenty-five forest plans, strategies and amendments were examined in order to create a typology of common standards and assess their use. This typology found three primary continuums of common standards: mandatory and discretionary, scale of application, and complexity. Several sub-categories are also described, including prioritization, threshold, process-based, management method, and mitigation. Fifteen interviews were conducted with USFS personnel, interest group representatives, and legal experts in order to supplement and validate findings. Findings reveal compelling reasons why the USFS should impose binding, enforceable standards upon itself, including bolstering legal accountability, political credibility, and organizational efficiency. Recommendations for writing standards, incorporating best available science, working within an adaptive management system, supporting recovery efforts for threatened and endangered species, and making use of suitability determinations and management area designations are also provided.

Emerging interests in wildland fire behavior and risk, bioenergy utilization, carbon sequestration, and wildlife conservation increasingly rely on accurate assessments of the amount and location of biomass within the dominant plants on the landscape, often at finer scales than traditional methods have provided. At the tree scale, current studies often distribute biomass uniformly through simple volumes (e.g., cones and cylinders). However, biomass is heterogeneous at a variety of scales from needle clusters to groups of trees. This thesis presents techniques for using terrestrial laser scanning data to define crown profiles and describe within-crown heterogeneity in Pseudotusga menziesii, Pinus ponderosa, and Abies lasiocarpa of the Interior Northwest. Crown profiles were modeled using parametric curves applied to crown-length normalized laser point clouds, dimensioned by height above ground and distance from bole-centroids. A crown-base metric was derived from the laser data and compared to conventional field measurements. For all species, a modified Weibull curve fit crown points with significantly smaller error than a beta curve, cone, or cylinder; crown profile Weibull curves were species-specific and not interchangeable without producing signifcantly greater error. Within-crown patterning was described using a 3-D form of the Ripleys K function. Ripleys K analysis detected maximum clustering occuring at scales of 1.25 2.50 percent of crown length (e.g., 25-50 cm radius clusters in a 20 meter crown). P. ponderosa demonstrated clustering over the largest range of scales and to the greatest degree, while A. lasiocarpa exhibited clustering over the smallest range of scales. The scale of clustering did not change when points roughly corresponding to branchwood were excluded from the analysis. This study provides groundwork for predicting the spatial distribution of biomass with tree crowns. Limitations of the work include uncertainty regarding the impacts of occlusion of inner crowns and the relationships between laser points and foliage-branch elements, and the lack of spatial explicitness inherent to Ripleys K. Future work should examine these issues with an eye toward refinement of predictive models linking traditional biomass allometry with spatial arrangement of canopy material.

This paper is designed to give the reader basic in-sight to the different attitudes and perception that local residents have in regards to the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program and the Southwestern Collaborative's ability to accomplish their mission.