Income and employment impacts associated with changing federal grazing policy were evaluated within functional demand areas. Changes in federal land policy do have employment and income effects on the functional demand areas. But whether they are significant or not is open to debate. The percentage of total employment lost for each functional demand area ranged from. 0159 percent for Region 2 to 4. 031 percent for Region 7. This was the maximum employment loss or gain to the demand areas. All other gains and losses in employment within functional demand areas were between this maximum and minimum. Income changes followed a similar pattern. It seems likely that very little actual migration of labor will take place because of the policy changes studied in this paper. More likely, the loss in employment or income due to the pricing and reduction in grazing changes will res ult in a higher degree of underemployment in each of the functional demand areas, thereby generating even higher unused manpower capacity. The amount of unemployment would probably increase by some small amount also. This entails a waste of a human resource. In the case of the increase in productivity change, it seems likely that the gain in employment or income will not create an influx of migration labor. Instead, the underemployed or individuals with unused capacity could absorb the new jobs, in which case most of the increase would show up as increased productivity. If still more labor was acquired in the area, the unemployed would be provided with new opportunities for employment.

Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts. Bibliography: p. 273-289.

Bibliography: leaves 157-174. This study examined the fate of three common sulfonylurea herbicides in highly alkaline soils through a series of laboratory and field experiments to determine if existing leaching models could be used to describe their field behaviour under Australian climatic conditions. A liquid chromatographic method was developed to simultaneously determine levels of triasulfuron, metsulfuronmethyl, and chlorsulfuron in soil and water. The investigation of base hydrolysis for the herbicides in aqueous buffer and soil solutions determined that it was unlikely to be a major loss pathway for sulfonylureas in alkaline soils. The herbicides were found to have low sorption, very little retardation and high mobility, moving at a marginally slower rate than water. Degradation did not follow first-order kinetics, but rather a two-stage process appeared to be involved. Both VARLEACH and LEACHM models predicted the measured concentration of the herbicides reasonably well in profile under low rainfall conditions but were less adequate under high rainfall. Forecasts with the LEACHP model predicted levels of the herbicides for a dominant soil type of the cereal belt of southern Australia with median rainfall after a year.

This thesis consists of two essays on applied microeconomics issues. The first essay presents a hedonic price econometric model of vacant commercial land. The second essay presents cost frontier analysis on the industry and firm's performance of the U.S. Motor Carrier industry. Our hedonic price econometric model includes two new developments in estimating land values in a multicentric urban area First, two composite indexes of market accessibility and highway accessibility are developed to account for the impacts of different characteristics of different regional nodes on land value at a particular site. Second, we use nonlinear least squares to estimate the decay parameters of the accessibility indexes within the model. We found that market accessibility is the dominant land value determinant. The estimated market accessibility decay parameter is different in value from the ones that are commonly assumed in hedonic models. The effect of access to highway interchanges is insignificant. Corner lots are of higher value. Finally, under Seattle's zoning policy, zoning classification of neighborhood commercial and community commercial land does not have significant effect on land value. The second essay uses the stochastic cost frontiers to analyze the performance of the U.S. motor carrier industry in the pre- and post-MCA periods. The average industry inefficiencies were between 14 and 27 percent during studied period. Our results indicate that the deregulation has no impact on industry efficiency. After a short adjustment period, the average industry inefficiency in the post-MCA years falls back to its pre-MCA level of around 14 to 16 percent. We analyzed the firm-specific inefficiencies by tobit regression. Our result shows that union firms are 1.5 and 4 percent less efficient than non-union firms in the pre- and post-MCA years, respectively. Firms located in the southern region are relatively efficient and the ones in the northern regions are relatively inefficient. Our result supports Stigler's Survivor Principle that survivor firms are relatively efficient. / Graduation date: 1998

This thesis examines the barriers that impede intensification (infill and redevelopment) within Regina’s Warehouse District (The District). In addition this study provides recommendations to overcome said barriers in order to facilitate residential development. This research expands upon two previous studies from 2002 and 2009, which were initiated by community stakeholders and that identified the need for additional residential development within The District. To date, success of the two previous plans in attracting new infill and redevelopment has been limited. This research looks to understand why this is, through the use of semi- structured interviews with key informants. Additional data from secondary documents and visual observations was collected to substantiate this approach. This research found that intensification in The District has been limited due to; unbalanced growth, existing municipal policies and zoning, a negative perception, proximity to noxious uses, an absence of amenities and services, unfavourable land development economics, and a soft demand amongst prospective residents. The second part of this research identified possibilities or factors to facilitate intensification within The District. Similarly these findings are grounded in the discussion with key informants. This data is corroborated by existing planning literature, as well as best practices from a number of North American jurisdictions. This study found that intensification could be facilitated in The District by; balancing growth, revising municipal policy and zoning, increasing public investment, improving the perception, having the city engaged in development, and with increased financial incentives. This research has explored intensification in two unique contexts, a mid-sized Canadian city and a historically industrial neighbourhood. It has contributed to the academic literature by establishing a better understanding of the barriers to intensification within both contexts. More specifically, it has explored intensification within Regina’s Warehouse District, a city that has been largely bypassed by academic planning literature.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xvii, 195 p. : ill. (some col.), col. map. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-90).

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, November, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

The combustion of fossil fuels results in the release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, a known greenhouse gas. Evidence suggests that “most of the observed increase in global average temperatures…is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations” (IPCC, 2007). One solution currently being examined is carbon capture and storage (CCS). The advantage of CCS is that it does not require an actual reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide emissions created, but reduces emissions to the atmosphere by storing the greenhouse gases in the subsurface. Fundamentally, CCS works in the reverse of oil and gas production. Instead of extracting fluids from the subsurface, CCS injects carbon dioxide (CO2) into the pore spaces of developed oil and gas reservoirs, saline aquifers, or coal bed seams (Bachu, 2007), where it exists in a dense but low-viscosity phase (Supercritical state). The Gulf Coast Carbon Center, based at the University of Texas at Austin’s Bureau of Economic Geology, is currently evaluating the State of Texas Offshore Lands (STOL) in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) in order to evaluate the carbon-storage capacity in the state owned lands. “Capacity is defined as the volume fraction of the subsurface within a stratigraphic interval available for [CO2] sequestration” (Hovorka, 2004). There are a variety of methods currently used to calculate capacity. With so many options, how does a project decide which method to employ in determining capacity? This paper discusses the methods, presents an analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of the various methods, and develops a process for future projects to utilize in determining which methodology to employ. Additionally, storage capacity is calculated using the various methods presented, in order to compare the methods and understand their various advantages and drawbacks. Reservoir specific simulations are expected to predict smaller capacities in comparison to more broad static methods. This will provide end member predictions of capacity, shedding light on what can be expected in best case and worst case scenarios. The lessons learned from this study can be applied to future endeavors and formations all over the world. / text

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

In drylands, it is essential to maximize the coupling of social and ecological systems in order to achieve sustainability, particularly in human dominated landscapes such as cities. The enhanced use of greenspace in cities in drylands provides unique opportunities to maximize the coupling of social and ecological systems. It maintains the functioning of ecological systems while involving civil society in the conservation of biodiversity and improving human wellbeing in urban settings. The provision and access to greenspace in cities is determined by neighborhood design. The access for the human use of greenspace can be enhanced through walkability, or the characteristics of the built environment that influence physical activity. Walkable neighborhoods that provide access to greenspace can be catalysts for activity and health and have the potential to increase the level of conservation support in urban residents. The purpose of this research is to look for wellbeing and conservation synergies between walkable neighborhoods and the enhanced use of greenspace. To accomplish this research, first we assess walkability in the built environment through an interdisciplinary literature review that integrates the findings on walkability from several research domains. We create a conceptual framework that organizes the neighborhood design elements that influence physical activity into nine walkability categories: connectivity, land-use, density, traffic safety, surveillance, parking, experience, greenspace, and community. We call this the Walkability Framework. This analysis allows us to identify gaps and strengths of walkability in the Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) certification system. After a quantitative and qualitative analysis, we propose an enhanced version for walkability that we call LEED-NDW+ (walkability plus). The next step is to test if the Walkability Framework can be used as a model to measure the interactions between the built environment and physical activity. We accomplish this through the use of a questionnaire (N=486) that captures the perceptions, attitudes and behaviors of residents in Tucson, Arizona. Significant correlations between all the walkability categories and physical activity support the use of the framework as a model. We call this the Walkability Model. The final stage of this research uses the Walkability Model to evaluate walkability in four neighborhood design types in Tucson that include traditional development, suburban development, enclosed community, and cluster housing. We then look for wellbeing and conservation synergies between walkable neighborhoods and the enhanced use of greenspace. Results from this study suggest that neighborhoods with a high level of walkability have the potential to enhance the use of greenspace, which in turn provide important wellbeing and conservation synergies that can contribute to healthier communities and increase the support for conservation of biodiversity within and beyond cities. The enhanced use of greenspace maximizes the coupling of social and ecological systems in cities in drylands, which increases resilience in the face of climate change.