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An apparatus and method for the moisture content measurement of compressible materials using pressure to firmly hold surface probes against the material to be measured. The apparatus uses moisture measurement circuitry employed in frequency domain impedance or time domain reflectometry devices to obtain moisture content readings from materials. These moisture content readings are based on the apparent dielectric constant of the measured material. Subsurface air voids or gaps found in loose, layered materials undesirably influence moisture measurement readings by reducing the apparent...

Environmental attributes relevant for spatial prediction of landslides triggered by rain and snowmelt events were derived from digital elevation model (DEM). Those data in conjunction with statistics and geographic information system (GIS) provided a detailed basis for spatial prediction of landslide hazard. The spatial prediction of landslide hazard in this paper is based on discriminant analysis. Discriminant analysis is a multivariate technique that can be used to build rules that can classify elements or observations successfully between stable and unstable areas. The discriminant rule...

Wilderness is a source habitat for grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) and bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) populations in the northern Rocky Mountains of the United States, helping sustain these indicators of ecosystem health. The spatial distribution of grizzly bear mortalities has changed since the end of legal hunting seasons, increasing the source potential of wilderness habitat. Due to its fragmented spatial distribution, wilderness alone cannot sustain viable populations, and wilderness refugia must be linked through strategies that include restoration. A wilderness-based reserve network...

This study was designed to identify conflict situations that cause stress, and predict appraisals of stress, coping strategies and outcomes of the coping process among private boaters on the Ocoee River in Tennessee. Results show that 72 percent of the respondents experienced conflict. Conflict was of moderate intensity and concern, boaters generally psychologically distanced themselves from it, exercised self-control, and in general, satisfaction with the experience was not adversely affected. However, additional statistical analyses failed to identify significant relationships.

There is a positive correlation between the debt crisis of countries. To combat the crisis, Lovejoy (1984) introduced the debt-for-nature swap process that involves a mechanism of exchange in which a certain amount of the debtor’s foreign debt is cancelled or forgiven, in return for local currency from the debtor government to be invested in domestic environmental projects such as designation and management of protected areas. Currently, in excess of $1.5 billion in transactions have occurred among 19+ countries. The demand for nature-based tourism is on the rise, and developing countries...

Bark beetles act as "agents of change" within the conifer forests of the Rocky Mountain area. They play a critical role in the development, senescence, and rebirth of Western forests. Bark beetle-caused tree mortality can be extensive, covering thousands of acres. This report is the Forest Service response to a Congressional direction in the FY2000 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act asking for the causes, effects, and management options for native bark beetle outbreaks in the Rocky Mountain area. This report focuses on three principal species: mountain pine beetle, spruce...

Wilderness areas comprise 65% of the 1.92 million acre Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. Fire history studies indicate that fire frequency increased substantially in both white and black spruce forests after European settlement. Dendrochronolgy studies indicate that regional-scale spruce bark beetle outbreaks occurred in the 1820s, 1880s, and 1970s. None of these outbreaks was as intense as the 1990s outbreak, which has killed most of the large white and Sitka/Lutz spruce on the southern Kenai Peninsula. Strong climatic warming appears to have accelerated the recent outbreak,...

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been the subject of more than 50 major studies investigating the bio-physical resources potentially threatened by oil development. This continuing project investigates the more elusive qualities at risk: the set of meanings this place holds for those who value it as wilderness. Findings indicate that these meanings may also be diminished or dispelled by the potential introduction of new technologies, public uses or management actions that leave no footprint, some as intangible as the mere naming of a mountain. A network of fourteen meanings is...

Needs for analytical tools, the roles existing tools play, the processes they represent, and how they might interact are elements of key findings generated during a workshop held in Seattle February 17-18, 1999. The workshop was attended by 26 Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) stakeholders and researchers. A focus of the workshop was the Fire and Fuels Extension to the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FFE-FVS). Gaps in required capabilities are exposed where indicators (e.g., model outputs), processes, or linkages needed to address stakeholder requirements are missing. The workshop process...

Fire, competition for light and water, and native forest pests have interacted for millennia in western forests to produce a countryside dominated by seral species of conifers. These conifer-dominated ecosystems exist in six kinds of biotic communities. We divided one of these communities, the Rocky Mountain Montane Conifer Forest, into 31 subseries based on the ability of shrubs and forbs to predict soil-moisture regimes and conifers to predict soil-temperature regimes. This classification facilitated correlation of fire regimes, ecophysiological theory, and genetic theory to create an...