The purpose of this study was to determine the optimum combination of various cattle production, range forage, and crop harvesting alternatives available to ranch owners and managers in Utah. While many promising alternatives are available, determining which alternatives to implement is difficult because the total ranch operation must be considered. Linear programming (LP) is a tool available to ranch managers which allows the profit maximizing combination of improvements to be easily determined. LP allows ranchers to examine the entire ranch operation and to reduce the amount of risk and uncertainty involved in the decision making process. The typical Utah ranch operation was described from a sample of 96 Utah ranches. Sixteen potential cattle options, 11 range forage options, and 3 crop options were developed to improve net variable cash ranch income of the typical Utah ranch. An LP model was developed to determine the optimum combination and level of options, the most efficient options, and the limiting constraints. Four scenarios based on range site and bush infestation type were compared to add flexibility to the model. The optimal solution ran 266 brood cows under the O'Connor Management System (cows in moderate body condition at calving, 60-day calving season, 48-hour calf removal, cows gaining weight for 5 weeks starting 2 weeks before breeding season, and cows bred to fertile bulls) compared to 196 brood cows under the typical situation. In all optimization runs, burning big sage brush (artemesia tridentata) or pinyon-juniper (Pinus - Juniperus) infestations on crested wheatgrass (Agropyron desertorum) foothill ranges was the most economically efficient range forage option. The most economically efficient crop option was the combination of grazing the grass hayfields and custom harvesting the alfalfa hayfields. It was necessary to construct stock water ponds and properly distribute salt to increase summer forage availability. The optimum combination of improvements required 808 hours of hired labor. The net variable cash ranch income after burning sagebrush or pinyon-juniper types was $56,145 and $55,861, respectively compared to $31,278 for the typical Utah cow-calf operation. The optimal solution will change as input and product prices change. The model was not designed to make general recommendations but to be applied to specific ranching operations.

No description available.

The recent and rapid growth of horizontal drilling in the Anadarko basin necessitates newer studies to characterize reservoir and source rock quality in the region. Most oil production in the basin comes from the Granite Wash reservoirs, which are composed of stacked tight sandstones and conglomerates that range from Virgillian (305-299 Ma) to Atokan (311-309.4 Ma) in age. By utilizing geophysical well logging data available in raster format, the Granite Wash reservoirs and their respective marine flooding surfaces were stratigraphically mapped across the regional fault systems. Additionally, well log trends were calibrated with coincident core data to minimize uncertainty regarding facies variability and lateral continuity of these intervals. In this thesis, inferred lithofacies were grouped into medium submarine fan lobe, distal fan lobe, and offshore facies (the interpreted depositional environments). By creating isopach and net sand maps in Petra, faulting in the Missourian was determined to have occurred syndepositionally at the fifth order scale of stratigraphic hierarchy.

Divorces in the United States during the twentieth century were, to say the least, extremely difficult to obtain. Most states had few grounds for divorce, and some, like New York, only allowed divorce in the instance of proven adultery. Waiting periods could stretch from one to three years. But for some hopeful divorcees, there was another way. Nevada had nine broad grounds for divorce, among them “mental cruelty.” After 1931, anyone could become a Nevada citizen and divorce within the state after a mere six weeks of residency. Before the widespread liberalization of divorce law in the early to mid-1970s, Reno, Nevada became the divorce capital of America. Divorcees, usually women, from all over the country poured into Reno to “get Reno-vated” and quickly part with their spouses. Subsequently, a complex local economy developed to accommodate the “six-weekers” during while they established residency. For the wealthy divorce-seeking elite, luxurious “divorce ranches” offered a relaxing six-week stay complete with catered meals, horseback riding, and trips to Lake Tahoe. The ranches brought together a substantial number of women who were overtly there for the same reason: to obtain a divorce. The simple fact of this mutual understanding provided a level of closeness and openness that was very unusual for the time, facilitating commiseration, camaraderie, and friendship. The closeness of ranch relationships was amplified by their demographics; the ranches were overwhelmingly female spaces, as the majority of their guests, proprietors, and staff were women. The Reno divorce industry demonstrates that women were willing to go to great lengths, measured in miles, days, and dollars, to obtain divorces. Affirming the existence of these Reno divorcees and examining their experiences during their quickie divorces illustrates substantial shifts in marital expectations throughout the twentieth century and contextualizes the 1970s expansion of divorce rights.

The proponents of New Urbanism claim the neighborhoods they design, called Traditional Neighborhood Developments (TNDs), promote community, sense of place, physical health, and environmental sustainability. Critics assert that community is stressed at the expense of individuality, that design unity has become rigid uniformity, and that the neighborhoods are orchestrated and do not reflect real life. This thesis, a post occupancy evaluation (POE), examines how one TND works for its residents and whether it accomplishes the goals of the architect/planner. An additional, essential purpose of this POE is to serve the "feed-forward" role of informing future neighborhood planning projects. The Village of River Ranch in Lafayette, Louisiana is the site of my research. Utilization of multiple research methods (survey, interviews, naturalistic observations) offered opportunities for triangulation and the ability to produce a more comprehensive analysis.

The purpose of this study was to show how organizations involved with the Hearst Ranch Conservation Easement negotiations might have used the feedback loop characteristic of two-way Symmetrical communication theory to reach consensus on the Hearst Ranch Conservation Agreement. Conservation easements are complex situations and each has separate and distinct goals, constraints, compromises, funding mechanisms, and public values. This study analyzed public documents from seven different organizations that provided input in the public consultations regarding the Hearst Ranch Conservation Easement, which completed in 2005. This study concluded that one of the communication methods adopted during the Hearst Ranch Conservation Negotiation was Hunt and Grunig’s two-way symmetrical communication theory.

Efforts to reintroduce and maintain populations of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) to the California Central Valley, specifically the Carrizo Plain National Monument (CPNM) and the Mojave Desert (Antelope Valley) portion of Tejon Ranch, have largely been unsuccessful due to dwindling numbers of translocated animals. The objective of this study was to improve upon previous models for the CPNM using aerial survey data and then apply the model to the Tejon Ranch. Aerial survey data collected from 2000-2010 on the CPNM was used to establish “use” and “non-use” areas in the model. Model variables included vegetation type (forest, shrub, grassland, semi-desert scrub, crops, and bare areas), slope, and road density. Vegetation and road density variables were treated categorically and slope as a continuous variable. Kernel density estimation (KDE) was used to estimate utilization distributions and home ranges (Fieberg 2007). An 80% isopleth was used to define “used” and “unused” habitat areas within the study site. Binary logistic regression was used to detect correlations between habitat variables and habitat use by pronghorn. Results of the regression analysis indicated overall significance with a p-value of < 0.0001 (testing that all slopes = 0). Each habitat variable comparison was made after adjusting for the other variables (e.g., slope effects were evaluated after adjusting for road density and vegetation type) and was found to be significant. Each variable coefficient was then included in a predictive equation and entered into GIS to generate a map to predict where pronghorn would likely be observed. Similar layers were created for the Tejon Ranch and the predictive equation was run with the CPNM statistical analysis. Limited conclusions about habitat suitability on the CPNM or the Tejon Ranch can be made based on the habitat data available for this model. While slope, road density, and vegetation type are all significant habitat variables influencing pronghorn habitat use, further study is needed to understand the mechanisms driving these relationships. With additional data expansion of the current habitat suitability model would help to further define pronghorn habitat use, specifically the creation of a focused model of a particular season, life history period, or individual animal use to identify more detailed habitat use patterns.

Thesis (M.A. in anthropology)--Washington State University, December 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 184-202).

Thesis (M.A. in anthropology)--Washington State University, December 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-180).

Thesis (D. Min.)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 1999. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-83).