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1
Gray, Robert D. "Happy Valley." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2012. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1591.
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Densley, Landon T. "Hiring Practices for Graphic Designers In Utah County, Utah." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2004. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd489.pdf.
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Wald, Laura Cardon. "Structural Analysis of Rock Canyon Near Provo, Utah." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2007. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/844.
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A detailed structural study of Rock Canyon (near Provo, Utah) provides insight into Wasatch Range tectonics and fold-thrust belt kinematics. Excellent exposures along the E-W trending canyon allow the use of digital photography in conjunction with traditional field methods for a thorough analysis of Rock Canyon's structural features. Detailed photomontages and geometric and kinematic analyses of some structural features help to pinpoint deformation mechanisms active during the canyon's tectonic history. Large-scale images and these structural data are synthesized in a balanced cross section, which is used to reconstruct the structural evolution of this portion of the range. Projection of surficial features into the subsurface produces geometrical relationships that correlate well with a fault-bend fold model involving one or more subsurface imbrications. Kinematic data (e.g. slickenlines, fractures, fold axes) indicate that the maximum stress direction during formation of the fault-bend fold trended at approximately 120°. Following initial thrusting, uplift and development of a thrust splay produced by duplexing may have caused a shift in local stresses in the forelimb of the Rock Canyon anticline leading to late-stage normal faulting during Sevier compression. These normal faults may have activated deformed zones previously caused by Sevier folding, and reactivated early-stage decollements found in the folded weak shale units and shaly limestones. Movement on most of these normal faults roughly parallels stress directions found during initial thrusting indicating that these extensional features may be coeval with thrusting. Other zones of extension and brittle failure produced by lower ramp geometry appear to have been activated during Tertiary Basin and Range extension along the Wasatch Fault Zone. Slickenline data on these later normal faults suggest a transport direction of nearly E-W distinguishing it from earlier events.
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Snyder, Iliana. "Assessing Perceived Marriage Education Needs and Interests of Latino Individuals in Utah County, Utah." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2006. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1113.
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This study utilized focus groups to assess the perceived needs and interests for marriage education among single and married Latino individuals residing in Utah County, Utah as well as the identification of common themes and differences for this population. Male and female groups at various points in the marital developmental life stage were studied including high school students (15-18 years of age), single never married young adults (19-30 years of age), committed (engaged or cohabiting) adults, married persons recently transitioning to parenting, and married people with children. The sample consisted of 10 groups, 5 female and 5 male. In addition, a professional group consisting of professionals who are in daily contact with the Latino population also participated (N=12). A total of 53 Latino individuals and 12 professionals were interviewed in the focus groups. The participants were asked 14 open-ended questions to assess various elements of marriage education including content, cost, convenient locations, sources of information, perceived barriers to getting services as well as strategies on how to get people involved in marriage education programs. The data from the focus groups were analyzed using inductive qualitative methods. The findings showed that most females were concerned about domestic violence and infidelity as topics in marriage education while males were more concerned about having financial stability, improving communication skills and increase their parenting skills. These results support the importance of conducting focus groups as a way to assess marriage education needs and interests of the Latino population. Limitations for future research are discussed, implications for marriage education programming for Latino couples as well as implications for marriage and family therapists.
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Johnson, Erik A. "County-Level Land Use Planning Policies and Regulations Impacting the Pattern of Settlement in Utah County, Utah." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 1988. http://patriot.lib.byu.edu/u?/MTGM,19181.
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Mooney, Adrien Carole. "An Analysis of the Archaeological Work of the Provo River Delta, Utah." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2014. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3974.
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Throughout the 20th century, a significant amount of work was conducted at archaeological sites in Utah Valley dating to the Archaic, Fremont, and Late Prehistoric periods. Despite the amount of work conducted, very little has actually been reported in the past. As a result, very little has previously been known about either the prehistoric archaeology of the Provo River Delta area or the historic archaeological work that has taken place. This thesis presents a synthesis of historical work, a reanalysis of artifacts from previous excavations, and a review of extant documentation (including field notes, maps, and student reports) of several sites in the Provo River Delta, including the Hinckley Mounds, Seamons Mound, and the Bee Sites.
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McKean, Adam Paul. "Volcanic stratigraphy and a kinematic analysis of NE-trending faults of Allens Ranch 7.5' quadrangle, Utah County, Utah." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2010. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2410.
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The mineral resources of the Tintic Mining District are influenced by three major events in its geologic history; the Mesozoic Sevier Orogeny, Paleogene volcanism and Late Neogene Basin and Range extension. In this paper a detailed analysis of each these geologic events is presented to help us understand the structural host, mineralization and exhumation of the Tintic Mining District ore. A kinematic analysis of the faults was completed to determine the origin of NE-trending faults, Sevier Orogeny or Basin and Range extension, in the northern part of the East Tintic Mountains in Allens Ranch 7.5' quadrangle, near the eastern margin of the Great Basin of central Utah. The structural history of the NE-trending faults found in the quadrangle was reconstructed to determine stress directions and fault kinematics. Maximum paleostress direction for the East Tintic fold and thrust system is between 80º–100º with fold axes oriented at ~350º. For example, the Gardison Ridge and Tintic Prince faults are NE-trending right-lateral transverse faults that formed at ~30º to paleostress directions similar to those of the Sevier Orogeny. The dominant NE-trending faults in the region are likely due to (1) differential shortening during progressive orocline development, (2) the pre-deformational Pennsylvanian-Permian Oquirrh basin geometry, and (3) the influence of the Leamington transverse zones of the Provo salient. Conversely, mixed paleostress directions for the north-trending Tintic Davis Canyon fault show it is a Basin and Range extension-related normal fault that may have originated as a Sevier related fault. Other N-trending faults within the quadrangle are only related to Basin and Range extension. However, large offset, range-bounding faults are buried by valley fill throughout the quadrangle and no young fault scarps are identified cutting Lake Bonneville deposits. An Oligocene to Miocene suite of extrusive volcanic units in the quadrangle correlates well with those of the East Tintic and Soldiers Pass volcanic fields. The Paleogene volcanic section is dominated by a suite of high-K calc-alkaline extrusive rocks (35 to 32 Ma). This intermediate to silicic sequence was followed by eruption of the mildly alkaline Mosida Basalt during the Miocene (19.5 Ma) marking the transition from subduction-related intermediate and silicic volcanism to extension-related mafic volcanism in the eastern Great Basin.
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Shelley, Wayne R. "The Development and Failure of Historic Agricultural Communities of Utah: A Case Study of Johns Valley, Utah." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 1989. http://patriot.lib.byu.edu/u?/MTNZ,22807.
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Madsen, Steven K. "Precinct Government in Salt Lake County, Utah 1852-1904." BYU ScholarsArchive, 1986. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4897.
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This thesis traces the origin, development, and decline, from 1852 to 1904, of Salt Lake County's judicial precincts. A precinct functioned as the basic subdivision of county government. Its boundaries were generally coterminous with those of local communities. It was established to allow for a degree of local control by the people.Chapter two reveals that precinct justices experienced over time a marked decline in socio-political prominence. This is largely due to legislative statutes that decreased their jurisdictional powers. Chapter three examines the evolution of precinct boundaries. It is demonstrated that geographic distribution of individuals played a major role in the growth and eventual consolidation of community precincts. The relative availability of government services also fostered the development of county districts. Chapter four studies the role of the minor precinct officials in local government--constables, estray poundkeepers, and fenceviewers. The last chapter devotes attention to the factors that influenced the institution. The appendix lists the county's justices of the peace from 1852 to 1904.
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Jewkes, Melanie. "An Assessment of Housing Affordability in Cache County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 2008. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/70.
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Multiple housing affordability indexes are used to measure and assess housing affordability. Each index has its own definition of affordability, causing varying viewpoints on what is to be considered affordable or unaffordable. Four indexes were used in this study: two from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), one from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), and the last from the National Low Income Housing Coalition. The indexes were applied to Census data to assess the housing affordability situation of both homeowners and renters in the census tracts of Cache County, Utah. The measures together show distinct differences in the housing markets throughout the county. The study provides implications for housing counselors, educators, lenders, and policy makers, and provides suggestions for preventing housing crisis, including the benefits of the residual income approach for determining housing affordability
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Creque, Jeffrey A. "An Ecological History of Tintic Valley, Juab County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 1996. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/6477.
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This work was a case study of historical ecological change in Tintic Valley, Juab County, Utah, an area historically impacted by mining and ranching activities common to much of the American West. The temporal framework for the study was approximately 120 years, the period of direct Euroamerican influence. In recognition of the ecological implications of cultural change, however, the impacts of prehistoric and protohistoric human activity on study area landscape patterns and processes were also explicitly addressed.
The study included a narrative description of historic land uses and ecological change in Tintic Valley, and examined the changes in landscape patterns and processes so revealed within the context of the state and transition model of rangeland dynamics. The case of Tintic Valley thus served as a test of the heuristic utility of the theory of self-organization in ecological systems, within which the state and transition model is embedded. This theoretical framework in turn was used to gain insight into the present state of the Tintic landscape, how that state has changed over time, and the nature of those forces leading to transitions between system states in the historic period.
The study employed archival research, personal interviews, repeat photography, field surveys, aerial photographs, and a geographic information system (GIS) to identify, describe, and quantify historic-era change in Tintic Valley landscape level patterns and processes. The analysis revealed dramatic change in both the landscape vegetation mosaic and the channel network of the study area over time. Evidence was found for direct anthropogenic influence in precipitating those changes, primarily through tree harvesting associated with mining and ranching activities and through the effects of historic roads and railroads on the Tintic Valley gully network. Results supported the working hypothesis of a change in system state in the Tintic Valley landscape in the historic period.
Taken together, historical narrative and theoretical context permitted a degree of prediction with respect to potential future conditions for the study area under different management scenarios. Future research directions and implications of the research results for ecosystem management are also discussed.
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Lowe, Michael V. "Surficial Geology of the Smithfield Quadrangle Cache County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 1987. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/6689.
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The Smithfield 7.5' quadrangle is located about 13.8 kilometers (8.6 miles) south of the Utah-Idaho State Line and occupies the central portion of the eastern side of Cache Valley, Utah. The mapped area contains more than 55 square miles. The Bear River Range on the eastern side of the quadrangle contains stratigraphic units ranging from Precambrian to Quaternary age. Cache Valley contains deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age. Quaternary units in the Smithfield quadrangle are subdivided into thirty-two map units based on age and genesis. Five ages of Quaternary units are identified, and these units are assigned to one of fourteen genetic types. The East Cache fault zone is mapped along the western edge of the Bear River Range.
Early Quaternary time was principally a period of pediment formation, followed by normal faulting, erosion, and alluvial-fan deposition. Cache Valley was later occupied by a pre-Bonneville cycle lake which is tentatively correlated with the Little Valley lake cycle. This lacustrine cycle was followed by more erosion and alluvial-fan deposition. The current Cache Valley landscape is dominated by the sediments and geomorphic features of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville. Alluvial-fan deposition has been the principal geologic process in post-Lake Bonneville time.
Geologic hazards in the Smithfield quadrangle include flooding, landslides, debris flows, rock fall, problem soils, shallow ground water, earthquake ground shaking, surface fault rupture, and liquefaction. Some of the areas affected by these hazards and measures for mitigating the hazards are identified. Bonneville lake cycle fine-grained offshore deposits and the Tertiary Salt Lake Formation are the primary geologic units susceptible to landsliding.
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Haney, Michael J. "Ungulate Damage to Safflower in San Juan County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 2011. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/1037.
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In Utah, farmers are concerned that ungulates are damaging safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) fields. I examined elk (Cervus elaphus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) damage to safflower production in San Juan County, Utah during 2009 and 2010. Data on damaged safflower plants were collected within 28 fields, totaling 1,581 ha (13 fields totaling 963 ha during 2009; 15 fields totaling 618 ha during 2010). I compared 3 methods to assess losses: ungulate-proof exclosures, adjacent plant compensation method, and counting the number of damaged plants in 50-m transects (safflower count method). Exclosures were of limited use because they could not be erected until farmers stopped using cultivating their fields. Hence, this method did not account for ungulate damage to young plants. The adjacent plant compensation method assessed yields within 1 m of a randomly-selected damaged plant to account for any compensatory growth of neighboring plants but this method proved inaccurate because ungulate herbivory was concentrated so that a browsed plant was often surrounded by other browsed plants so no compensatory growth by surrounding plants occurred. The most accurate method was the safflower count method which determined the number of damaged plants within a field and then multiplied this number by the decrease in yield from an average damaged plant. I used this method to examine 981,000 plants for damage. Deer and elk damaged or killed 7.2% of safflower plants during 2009 and 1.4% of plants during 2010. Overall yield reduction was 2.9% during 2009 and 0.6% in 2010. The total value of safflower loss within all surveyed fields in 2009 was $9,023 for a loss of $9.42 / ha. The loss of value within surveyed fields in 2010 was $2,330, or $3.77 / ha. The best model for predicting ungulate damage in 2009 included distance to canyon from field edge and the percent of a field bordered by a fallow field, while the best model for 2010 included distance to canyon from field edge and the percent of a field bordered by a wheat field. Safflower farmers were surveyed in the spring of 2010 to compare perceived losses in their fields during 2009 to those measured in this study. Farmers believed that damage by deer and elk reduced their yields by 20% with most damage caused by elk (x¯ =12% by elk, 7% by deer, 1% by other wildlife). On average, perceptions of damage were 5.2 times higher than the actual levels I measured during 2009. This was not surprising because farmers usually surveyed their field from the field’s edge and ungulate damage was concentrated along the edge of the fields.
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Packer, Brian Noel. "Mercury and Dissolved Organic Matter Dynamics During Snowmelt in a Montane Watershed, Provo River, Utah." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2018. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/7427.
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Mercury (Hg) transport in streams is typically facilitated by dissolved organic matter (DOM), however, the dynamics of Hg and DOM during snowmelt in montane watersheds are poorly understood. Hg transport during snowmelt is widely recognized as a significant source of Hg to downstream lakes and reservoirs, such as Jordanelle Reservoir where fish consumption advisories are in effect due to elevated Hg concentrations in certain species of fish. For this study, total mercury (THg), methylmercury (MeHg), and DOM samples were collected at three sites in the upper Provo River, northern Utah, during the 2016 and 2017 water years. To evaluate Hg and DOM sources, samples were collected from snowpack and ephemeral streams in the watershed. In-situ fluorescent DOM (fDOM) data and other parameters were measured in the river to characterize high-frequency variation in water chemistry. Excitation-emissions matrices (EEMs) were used to determine changes in DOM characteristics during snowmelt. Hg concentrations increased in the upper Provo River from <1 ng/L during baseflow to >;7 ng/L during the snowmelt period (~April-July), with filtered THg concentrations approximately ~75% of the unfiltered concentrations. In the watershed, filtered THg concentrations ranged from ~0.4 ng/L in snowpack to ~8 ng/L in ephemeral streams. Annual THg loading from the Provo River to Jordanelle Reservoir was approximately 1 kg/yr with ~90% of the flux occurring during the snowmelt period. High correlations between filtered THg and fDOM allowed for the development of a high frequency filtered THg proxy using in-situ fDOM sensors. DOM characteristic during the snowmelt period showed that Hg transport was facilitated by humic substances which was sourced from upland soils. Fractions of filtered methylmercury (MeHg) and filtered THg (filtered MeHG:filtered THg) were ~0.1 during baseflow and reduced to ~0.01 during snowmelt, implying that snowmelt runoff has little impact on the MeHg flux to Jordanelle Reservoir. The results suggest that Hg and DOM are flushed from soils during snowmelt, and that a significant majority of the Hg flux occurs the snowmelt period. Our study has implications for understanding Hg sources and transport mechanisms in other snowmelt dominated watersheds.
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Shamo, Michael Lyle. "Making the Desert Blossom: Public Works in Washington County, Utah." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2010. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2555.
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The following thesis is a study of how communities of Washington County, Utah developed within one of the most inhospitable deserts of the American West. A trend of reliance on public works programs during economic depressions, not only put people to work, but also provided an influx of outside aid to develop an infrastructure for future economic stability and growth. Each of these public works was carefully planned by leaders who not only saw the immediate impact these projects would have, but also future benefits they would confer. These communities also became dependent on acquiring outside investment capital from the Mormon Church, private companies and government agencies. This dependency required residents to cooperate not only with each other, but with these outside interests who now had a stake in the county's development. The construction of the Mormon Tabernacle and Temple in St. George during the 1870s made that community an important religious and cultural hub for the entire region. Large-scale irrigation and reclamation projects in the 1890s opened up new areas for agriculture and settlement. And in the 1920s and 1930s the development of Zion National Park and the construction of roads provided the infrastructure for one of the county's most important industries, tourism. Long after these projects' completion they still provided economic and cultural value to the communities they served. Some of these projects provided the infrastructural foundation that allowed Washington County communities to have greater security and control over their economic future. Over time the communities of southern Utah created dramatic reenactments and erected monuments of these very projects to celebrate and preserve the story of their construction. During the first decade of the twenty-first century Washington County has become one of the fastest growing areas in the country, and as a result public works programs continue to be important to support this growth.
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Driscoll, Nicholaus D. "Geologic Map of the Deer Point Quadrangle, Garfield County, Utah." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2012. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3276.
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A new geologic map of the Deer Point 7.5' quadrangle located in the southern region of Capitol Reef National Park in south-central Utah provides stratigraphic and structural detail not previously available. The Deer Point quadrangle was mapped at a scale of 1:24,000 and is the fourth geologic map completed at this scale in Capitol Reef National Park. Twelve Quaternary units and eighteen bedrock formations and members are exposed in the Deer Point quadrangle. Bedrock formations range in age from Triassic to Cretaceous. The details not available on previous geologic maps include: four alluvial terrace units, two lacustrine units, two mass movement units, and members of the Moenkopi, Chinle, and Carmel Formations. Historically the Page Sandstone has been mapped as part of the Navajo Sandstone or the Carmel Formation. This map identifies the Page Sandstone as a separate and independent unit. The Deer Point quadrangle is cross cut by a portion of a Laramide-age, basement cored, NNW-SSE trending asymmetrical anticline called the Waterpocket Fold. Strikes and dips measured throughout the Deer Point quadrangle identify the vergence of the anticline as eastward with a maximum dip of 49˚ on the forelimb and 7˚ on the backlimb. The maximum dip on the forelimb dramatically decreases in the southern quarter of the quadrangle to 15˚.The Utah Geological Survey is mapping the Hite Crossing 30' x 60' quadrangle at a scale of 1:62.500. The Deer Point quadrangle is one of 32 quadrangles that comprise the Hite Crossing quadrangle. The Utah Geological Survey is working to establish erosion rates on the Colorado Plateau. To do this, they are dating alluvial terrace deposits. Within the Deer Point quadrangle four new terrace levels have been identified that could help with this research. Additional research could use these terrace deposits to better understand erosion rates in the Deer Point quadrangle and the broader Colorado Plateau. Numerous mass movement deposits are found within the Deer Point quadrangle. The largest has been named the Red Slide. Several aspects of the Red Slide are identified including classification, breakaway zone, source, deposit size, composition, debris flow path and depositional history. The Red Slide has been classified as a debris flow. The breakaway zone is a concave cliff 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the west of the debris flow's present location. The flow's scarp is no longer identifiable. The source of the debris flow material is the Chinle Formation and Wingate Sandstone. The Red Slide deposit covers an area of over 16.6 million ft2 (~1.5 million m2). The toe of the debris flow is 1 mile (1.6 km) wide. The estimated maximum thickness of the debris flow is sixty meters. The Red Slide is composed of fine-grained, clay- and silt- sized material, and a small amount of angular pebble- to cobble-sized limestone clasts from the Owl Rock Member of the Chinle Formation. Boulder- to sand-sized grains from the Wingate Sandstone are scattered throughout the deposit with the larger grains forming inversely grading packages. The Red Slide likely occurred as a series of large debris flows, not one catastrophic event, although they may have occurred at about the same time.
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Peterson, Kathryn A. "Modeling Potential Native Plant Species Distributions in Rich County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 2009. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/649.
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Georeferenced field data were used to develop logistic regression models of the geographic distribution of 38 frequently common plant species throughout Rich County, Utah, to assist in the future correlation of Natural Resources Conservation Service Ecological Site Descriptions to soil map units. Field data were collected primarily during the summer of 2007, and augmented with previously existing data collected in 2001 and 2006. Several abiotic parameters and Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery were used to stratify the study area into sampling units prior to the 2007 field season. Models were initially evaluated using an independent dataset extracted from data collected by the Bureau of Land Management and by another research project conducted in Rich County by Utah State University. By using this independent dataset, model accuracy statistics widely varied across individual species, but the average model sensitivity (modeling a species as common where it was common in the independent dataset) was 0.626, and the average overall correct classification rate was 0.683. Because of concerns pertaining to the appropriateness of the independent dataset for evaluation, models were also evaluated using an internal cross-validation procedure. Model accuracy statistics computed by this procedure averaged 0.734 for sensitivity and 0.813 for overall correct classification rate. There was less variability in accuracy statistics across species using the internal cross-validation procedure. Despite concerns with the independent dataset, we wanted to determine if models would be improved, based on internal cross-validation accuracy statistics, by adding these data to the original training data. Results indicated that the original training data, collected with this modeling effort in mind, were better for choosing model parameters, but sometimes model coefficients were better when computed using the combined dataset.
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Draper, Ronald T. "Health Care Provider Recruitment and Retention in Millard County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 2019. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7522.
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Millard County, Utah, rural and sparsely populated, continues to experience challenges in recruiting and retaining primary health care providers. My study addressed the lack of a rigorous and systemic analysis of this problem by collecting and analyzing data from a series of semi-structured interviews conducted between January and March 2019. These interviews were with nineteen of the twenty-four known health care providers who began practice in the county from the mid1980s to 2018, as well as with four administrators.
The study, taking advantage of this comprehensive analysis, provided a more extensive understanding of the root causes underlying the recruitment and retention shortcomings. Findings showed that decisions to stop practice in the county were not typically made for a single over-riding reason but occurred when the cumulative effect of negative experiences reached a tipping point, prompting the provider to seek another practice venue. Providers who left reached this tipping point in spite of most having a rural background.
The study recommended implementing a comprehensive and on-going support program aimed at addressing providers concerns. The stressors associated with rural health care practices need to be regularly assessed and resolved in a timely fashion.
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Goodsell, Timothy Holman. "Trace Element Inputs from Natural and Anthropogenic Sources in an Agricultural Watershed, Middle Provo River, Utah." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2016. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6223.
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Water chemistry in rivers is impacted by a variety of natural and anthropogenic processes including agricultural runoff, urban runoff, storm runoff, groundwater inputs, and the built environment. In this study we used trace element concentrations (including As, B, Ce, Co, Cu, Li, Mn, Rb, Sb, Sr, Tl, V, and Zn) and continuous measurements of flow rates and specific conductance to investigate dynamic processes affecting water quality in a rapidly urbanizing agricultural area typical of the western U.S. The middle Provo River, located in northern Utah, USA, was selected as the study area because it is well instrumented with water quality stations and streamflow gauges. We sampled 6 sites on the middle Provo River and 15 sites on tributaries in the watershed a minimum of 5 times between April 2014 and March 2015 to evaluate potential contributions from surface water and groundwater inputs to the Provo River. Additional water samples were collected at 13 cold, thermal, and mixed cold/thermal springs in Heber Valley during summer 2014 to evaluate regional groundwater chemistry. Samples were also collected during two storm events including high frequency sampling in a tributary and road-puddle samples to characterize potential storm runoff chemistry. Specific conductance data loggers were deployed in tributaries to monitor effects of precipitation and other runoff on the middle Provo River at 15-min intervals. See Table 1 for a summary of sampling events. Middle Provo River water chemistry is impacted by natural groundwater inputs as well as surface water tributaries. Li, B, Sr, As concentrations increased dramatically (3-10 fold) downstream of the confluence with a major tributary, Snake Creek. Snake Creek had average As concentrations of ~15 µg/L above the confluence with Provo River and accounted for roughly 20% of the flow to the middle Provo River, but increased the As concentration in Provo River ~4 fold. Thermal springs had ~20 and ~80 times higher concentrations of As and Li, respectively, relative to cold springs and was found to be a major contributor of trace elements to Snake Creek and the middle Provo River. Cl mixing calculations indicated that groundwater contributions increased downstream with up to 15% of the flow to the middle Provo River being contributed within the most downstream reach. Tributaries were found to impact the Provo River based on specific conductance fluxes in tributaries corresponding to fluxes in the river. Notably, Spring Creek, a dominantly agricultural tributary, accounts for >40% of the annual V load and >18% of the annual U, Mn, Pb, Ba, La, and Ce loads to the middle Provo River. The trace elements B, Li, As, and Sr which are found in high concentrations in groundwater, were strongly correlated with Provo River specific conductance and may indicate a potential method of predicting select trace element concentrations in the middle Provo River based on specific conductance data. Filtered puddle samples collected during a storm event had higher concentrations of Co, Cu, V, and Zn, but lower concentrations of major and select trace elements including As, Li, and Sr, relative to the middle Provo River. This study has implications for understanding water quality in complex coupled human-natural systems.
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Peterson, Camille J. "Mortgage Default and Neighborhoods: A Case Study of Weber County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 2006. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/2655.
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The purpose of this study was to examine housing, demographic, and economic characteristics that are present in neighborhoods with high rates of mortgage default. In addition, the effect of minority percentage was studied in neighborhoods with high rates of default. Defaulted properties recorded in 2003-2004 in Weber County were geo-coded and assigned into one of 42 census tracts in Weber County. Descriptive statistics then profiled the characteristics of the census tracts. Correlations were used to determine which characteristics had statistical significance with mortgage default rates as well as minority percentage. Logistic regression was conducted to create a model describing the characteristics of neighborhoods that have high rates of default.
The findings from the analysis show that mortgage defaults in Weber County occurred mostly in two well-defined housing markets. The first housing market is found in census tracts with low minorities, newer homes, higher priced homes, more use of second mortgages and home equity loans, more self-employed households, more dependents, and more vacant homes. The second housing market is described as census tracts with high minority percentages, fewer number of dependents, older and lower value of homes, and fewer second mortgages and home equity loans.
The results show that the two housing markets that experienced mortgage default in 2003-2004 are different in their needs and possible prevention strategies. Educators can use this information to help target at-risk neighborhoods for education on horneownership and pre-purchase counseling, therefore strengthening communities.
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Hope, Daniel C. "The Economic Impact of Federal Land on Country Governments in Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 1998. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/3908.
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County governments cannot assess property taxes on federal land, yet local governments are required to provide similar services as they do on all other areas of the county. Federal government payment programs have been implemented to compensate county governments for the expenditures incurred due to federal land.
In the mid-1960s, the Public Land Law Review Commission implemented and completed a study which analyzed whether selected individual states and counties were being compensated for the expenditures incurred on federal land. It also estimated tax revenues local governments would receive if federally owned acreage was privately owned. The study then compared these potential revenues with existing revenues from government payment programs.
The purpose of this study was to identify net revenues from county government expenditures and revenues due to federally owned land for the years 1975 through 1990. Comparisons were also made between estimated tax revenues, if federal land acreage was privately owned, and federal land-related government payment programs. Two Utah counties, Box Elder and Kane, were selected for this study. County government audit reports and other county records, along with information and data obtained from county and federal government personnel, were obtained and analyzed. Comparisons were made between these findings and the Public Land Law Review Commission mid-1960s results and conclusions. The results are opposite between the two counties and from the Public Land Law Review Commission Study.
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Robison, Robert M. "The Surficial Geology and Neotectonics of Hansel Valley, Box Elder County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 1986. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/4865.
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Hansel Valley, located at the north end of the Great Salt Lake in Box Elder County, Utah, has exposures of the lacustrine sediments of the Little Valley, Bonneville, and Gilbert lake cycles. A 1:50,000 scale map was constructed of the surface geology. Although no trenches were dug for this study, about 240m of logs were compiled in an arroyo in lake bottom sediments. Sediments from at least three lake cycles were found in this gully: 1) compact bottom deposits from the Little Valley cycle; 2) bottom sediments from an intermediate cycle (the Hansel Valley cycle); and 3) beach gravel and bottom sediments from the Bonneville cycle. Evidence gathered indicates that a previously undescribed lake, the Hansel Val ley cycle, which reached a maximum elevation of about 1342 m (4400 feet). Thermoluminescence (TL) dating, supplemented by ostracode identification and stratigraphic position, dates the Hansel Valley cycle at about 80 ka (late Oxygen Isotope Stage 5).
Hansel Valley is seismically very active and the site of the largest and only historic earthquake to rupture the ground surface in Utah. Scarp heights up to 50 em were measured from the 1934 M6.6 event, which was contiguous with an older 6 km long scarp that crosses Lake Bonneville recessional shoreline s. Scarp heights range from 1.6 m to 9.0 m and control recessional shorelines (instead of simply displacing them). This morphologic evidence suggests that a portion of the scarp was formed underwater, and that slumping occurred along the trace of the fault. The fault scarp intersects the gully mentioned above and reveals highly fractured sediments with 11 main faults within a 240 m zone. Movement on individual faults ranges from 0.1 to 2.5 m, with a net displacement of 1.3 m down to the east, which agrees with the offset measured on the scarp on both sides of the gully. Most faults offset Little Val ley, and transgressive Bonneville shoreline sediments, but are not continuous through intensely convoluted Bonneville lake bottom sand, silt and clay. Two units of Bonneville bottom sediments show convolutions, features and slump blocks. roll structures, liquefaction Fault scarps, liquefaction features, and subsurface faults indicate one pre-BonneviIIe, possibly two Bonneville, and one post-Bonneville-age large earthquakes.
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Bond, Michael Dale. "Economic Analysis of Dryland Wheat Tillage Practices in Box Elder County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 1992. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/4095.
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The purpose of this study was to determine the economic viability of various dryland wheat tillage systems, many of which were developed from years of cooperative research efforts.
In the study three conventional tillage methods were analyzed along with ten conservation tillage practices. The study farm consisted of 2000 acres, of which 1000 acres are classified as land 1 and its wheat yield is assumed to be 35 bushels per acre for non-continuous tillage methods and 23 bushels per acre for continuous tillage methods. The remaining 1000 acres are classed as land 2 and its assumed wheat yield is 30 bushels per acre for non-continuous tillage methods and 20 bushels per acre for continuous tillage practices.
The farm operating conditions were changed to allow for an economic evaluation of questions that a dryland farmer would face. Questions such as: 1. do no-till chemical-fallow treatments have higher profits than do conventional tillage treatments; 2. will it pay for my farming enterprise to participate in the 1990 Farm Bills' Acreage Reduction Program (ARP); 3. what effect will be on returns to land, labor and management of a new 20-ft combine purchase, were analyzed using the Cost and Return Estimator (CARE) computer enterprise budgeting program developed for USDA-Soil Conservation Service (SCS) for each land class totaling 104 CARE budgets.
A computer linear programming optimization model was run using LINDO to examine the 104 CARE budgets for an optimal tillage practice. The results are as follows:
1. Under the study assumptions chemical-fallow (no-till) treatments have higher profits than do conventional tillage treatments, if conventional tillage equipment can be adapted to no-till tillage methods.
2. Participation in the government ARP set-aside will offset the higher machinery ownership costs and thus it would pay to participate.
3 . The purchase of a new 20-ft combine or no-till Yielder drill as well as other major purchases could bankrupt a farming enterprise. It should be handled with CARE.
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Stringham, Roger Blair. "Greater Sage-Grouse Response to Sagebrush Reduction Treatments in Rich County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 2010. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/693.
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Management of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the west has changed over the last several decades in response to environmental and anthropogenic causes. Many land and wildlife management agencies have begun manipulating sagebrush with herbicides, machinery, and fire. The intent of these manipulations (treatments) is to reduce sagebrush canopy cover and increase the density of grass and forb species, thus providing higher quality sage-grouse brood-rearing habitat. However, monitoring of sage-grouse response to such manipulations has often been lacking or non-existent. The objective of our study was to determine the response of sage-grouse to sagebrush reduction treatments that have occurred recently in Rich County, Utah. Our study areas were treated with a pasture aerator with the intent of creating sage-grouse brood-rearing habitat. We used pellet transects, occupancy sampling, and GPS radio telemetry to quantify sage-grouse habitat use in treated and untreated areas. Pellet transect, occupancy, and GPS radio telemetry methods all showed a strong pattern of sage-grouse use of treated sites during the breeding and early brood-rearing periods. Sage-grouse use of treated sites was greatest in lower elevation habitat (1950 to 2110 m), and use was highest during the breeding and early brood-rearing periods. We found very little use of higher elevation (2120 to 2250 m) treated or untreated sites. Our results suggest that sagebrush reduction treatments can have positive impacts on sage-grouse use at lower elevations and can be successful in creating brood-rearing habitat. Elevation differences and period of sage-grouse use were significant factors in our study in determining how beneficial sagebrush reduction treatments were for sage-grouse.
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Goydas, Michael J. "Stratigraphy, structure, and halokinetic history of Fisher Valley quadrangle, Grand County, Utah." Thesis, Kansas State University, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/16137.
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Anderson, Alvin D. "Geology of the Phil Pico Mountain Quadrangle, Daggett County, Utah, and Sweetwater County, Wyoming." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2008. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd2384.pdf.
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Checketts, Hannah Nicole. "Dissolved Organic Carbon and Dissolved Metal Pulses During Snowmelt Runoff in the Upper Provo River Watershed, Utah, USA." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2017. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/7235.
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Snowmelt river systems exhibit seasonal fluxes in water chemistry, potentially affecting the water supply of one-sixth of the world<'>s population. In this study, we examined water chemistry of the upper Provo River, northern Utah, which supplies water to over two million people along the urban Wasatch Front. Seasonal changes in water chemistry were characterized by analyzing discharge and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) with dissolved trace metal and cation concentrations (La, Pb, Cu, Al, Be, Sr and K) over three consecutive water years 2014<&hyphen>2016, with intensive sampling during snowmelt runoff. To better understand links between metal movement and DOC, we sampled the river in three locations (Soapstone, Woodland, and Hailstone), snowpack, and ephemeral snowmelt channels. Concentrations of La, Pb, Cu, Al, and Be increased with discharge/snowmelt during the 2014, 2015 and 2016 water years. Over 90% of La, Pb, Cu, Al, Be and between 70-90% Sr and K loads occurred during the snowmelt season (April-June). In relation to discharge, concentrations of each element varied between the river sampling sites. At Soapstone, DOC, La, Pb, Cu, Al and Be increased slightly with discharge, but Sr and K remained chemostatic. At Woodland and Hailstone, DOC, La, Pb, Cu, Al and Be had sharp increases with discharge, and Sr and K were diluted. Hysteresis patterns showed that concentrations of DOC, La, Pb, Cu, Al, Be, Sr and K all peaked on the rising limb of the hydrograph at the higher elevation Soapstone site but patterns were variable at the lower elevation Woodland and Hailstone sites. Concentrations for ephemeral channels were significantly higher than river and snow concentrations in La, Pb, Cu and Al, suggesting soil water was a significant source of flushed metals and DOC to the upper Provo River. DOC was highly correlated with La (R2 = 0.94, P = < .0001), Pb (R2 = 0.76, P = < .0023), Cu (R2 = 0.83, P = < .0001), Al (R2 = 0.94, P = < .0001) and Be (R2 = 0.93, P = < .0005), and likely facilitating metal transport. More work is needed to determine the mechanisms of DOC and metal transport, and potential metal complexation. This study has implications for understanding water quality impacts from metal flushing during snowmelt in mountain watersheds.
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Donaldson, Fredric J. "Historical land cover impacts on water quality in the Provo River watershed, 1975 - 2002 /." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2005. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd1027.pdf.
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Lindgren, Nikki, and Claes Lindgren. "Marketing’s Evolution as an Economic Development Strategy : a Washington County, Utah Case Study." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Avdelningen för ekonomi, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-9891.
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ABSTRACT Authors: Nikki Lindgren and Claes Lindgren Professor: Stig Sörling Title: Marketing’s Evolution as an Economic Development Strategy: A Washington County, Utah Case Study Background: Economic development has been a priority of areas for some time. In the mid-1980s, economic policies and marketing practices joined forces. During this time, cities, regions, states and countries began a clear shift from narrow economic development views to a broader set of strategies to attract new and maintain old businesses, boost tourism, attract investors and expand overseas trade. Today, places have increased their use of highly sophisticated marketing strategies aimed at building competitive markets while targeting specific buyers and positioning the community’s resources to respond to specialized buyer needs and desires. Aim and Purpose: The purpose of the study is twofold: first, to explore how place marketing fits into general marketing efforts and secondly, to provide insights into what factors influence the success of places. Three questions were developed to assist in the direction of the research and to assist in gaining practical and tactical insights obtainable through a case study analysis. Methodology: Theoretical and empirical data is provided and analyzed using the actor’s approach. Primary data is collected via direct observations, email, phone interviews and open dialogues. Secondary data is collected via Internet, magazines and newspapers and meeting notes to provide further depth and to elaborate upon the theoretical findings. Results: We expect the study to highlight important phenomena that occur when viewing place marketing as a general marketing effort. We also expect to uncover practical “success factor” insights into place marketing from which civic and private entities can learn.
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Banis, David. "The Wilderness Problem: A Narrative of Contested Landscapes in San Juan County, Utah." PDXScholar, 2004. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/1972.
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Wilderness preservation has been at the center of debates about public land policy for almost half a century, and nowhere has the controversy been more intractable than in Utah. Despite its vast expanses of unsetded and undeveloped red rock desert, managed primarily by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Utah has less designated wilderness than in any other state in the West. In this study, I focus on San Juan County in southeast Utah to study the conflict over the designation of wilderness. The controversy pits local residents and state politicians against state and national environmental groups, with the BLM shifting positions in between.
I analyze and interpret the wilderness debate from three different perspectives. The fIrst explores the history of the Utah wilderness debate from the first BLM wilderness inventory in the 1970's through its re-inventory in the 1990's. I examine the influence of national, regional, and local forces such as institutional change within the BLM, in-fIghting among Utah-based environmental interest groups, and the sagebrush rebellion and county supremacy movements. The second perspective incorporates the spatial analytical techniques of geographical information systems to provide a relatively objective view of landscape characteristics used to defIne wilderness. I interpret the landscape as a continuum of varying degrees of wildness, a product of inherent naturalness and the influences of human impacts. Lastly, I examine the personal views of the meaning of wilderness through the words of actual participants in the debate. In an analysis of the statements of both county residents as well as the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, I explore the mental images and ideas that influence the ways in which people value and understand the desert environment.
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Hales, Stephen A. "The Effect of the Rivalry Between Jesse Knight and Thomas Nicholls Taylor on Architecture in Provo, Utah: 1896-1915." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 1991. http://patriot.lib.byu.edu/u?/MTGM,13951.
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Stum, Alexander Knell. "Random Forests Applied as a Soil Spatial Predictive Model in Arid Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 2010. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/736.
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Initial soil surveys are incomplete for large tracts of public land in the western USA. Digital soil mapping offers a quantitative approach as an alternative to traditional soil mapping. I sought to predict soil classes across an arid to semiarid watershed of western Utah by applying random forests (RF) and using environmental covariates derived from Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and digital elevation models (DEM). Random forests are similar to classification and regression trees (CART). However, RF is doubly random. Many (e.g., 500) weak trees are grown (trained) independently because each tree is trained with a new randomly selected bootstrap sample, and a random subset of variables is used to split each node. To train and validate the RF trees, 561 soil descriptions were made in the field. An additional 111 points were added by case-based reasoning using aerial photo interpretation. As RF makes classification decisions from the mode of many independently grown trees, model uncertainty can be derived. The overall out of the bag (OOB) error was lower without weighting of classes; weighting increased the overall OOB error and the resulting output did not reflect soil-landscape relationships observed in the field. The final RF model had an OOB error of 55.2% and predicted soils on landforms consistent with soil-landscape relationships. The OOB error for individual classes typically decreased with increasing class size. In addition to the final classification, I determined the second and third most likely classification, model confidence, and the hypothetical extent of individual classes. Pixels that had high possibility of belonging to multiple soil classes were aggregated using a minimum confidence value based on limiting soil features, which is an effective and objective method of determining membership in soil map unit associations and complexes mapped at the 1:24,000 scale. Variables derived from both DEM and Landsat 7 ETM+ sources were important for predicting soil classes based on Gini and standard measures of variable importance and OOB errors from groves grown with exclusively DEM- or Landsat-derived data. Random forests was a powerful predictor of soil classes and produced outputs that facilitated further understanding of soil-landscape relationships.
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White, Ryan. "Redefining Landscape Norms: Exploring the Influence of Normative Landscaping Patterns in Washington County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 2017. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/5813.
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As water supplies in the American West become increasingly strained by growing populations and threats of drought and climate change, water managers and governments are working to maximize water-use efficiency. With well over half of municipal water being used on outdoor irrigation, improved landscape water efficiency has been a clear candidate for conservation messaging. Because social norms play a significant role in what conservation behaviors individuals adopt voluntarily, conservation messaging strategies often try to influence and shift norms in favor of improved behaviors. A clear understanding of the existing norms, demographics, and cultural values of an area is essential to tailoring relevant and effective conservation messages.
The purpose of this research was to identify landscape norms in Washington County, Utah and whether residents had perceived a shift in norms over time toward desert-adapted landscapes. We also researched whether social norms played a significant role in the types of landscapes residents preferred. To answer these questions, we surveyed three populations: visitors to a popular, local conservation garden, participants in conservation programs and workshops, and members of a homeowner association. Based on their responses, we found that residents did perceive a shift in landscape norms toward desert landscapes. The vast majority of respondents also indicated approval of homeowners using desert landscaping in their neighborhoods, regardless of their own landscaping decisions. However, little social pressure exists to motivate homeowners to adapt to a specific neighborhood norm. As such, conservation strategies in Washington County should emphasize the approval and growing use of appropriate water-conserving landscape norms.
To increase effectiveness, conservation messaging should address the needs of specific demographics. For example, because we found that homeowners with children tend to prefer larger amounts of lawn, conservation messaging needs to demonstrate how child-friendly alternatives to lawn-dominant landscapes can meet the needs of children. In addition to suggestions for improving voluntary behavior changes, we discuss how policies can help to accelerate changes in landscape norms.
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Peaden, Stephen J. "Classification of Urban Forms and Their Relationship with Vegetation Cover in Cache County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 2019. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7678.
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As residential urban development increases in the western United States, few studies have shown how different urban forms influence vegetation cover. The two studies in this thesis examine how to define and measure urban form in order to understand the relationship between urban form characteristics and vegetation cover.
In the first study, urban form was defined by using past methods of identifying and measuring urban sprawl. Past studies showed the most essential metrics that define residential urban form are building density, centrality, connectivity, land use mix, and parcel size. This study reviews these metrics and proposes revised unified definitions and measurement methods. It is recommended that consistent definitions and methods be used in further research of urban form.
Cache County, Utah was used as a study area to apply these methods as a representative community of the western U.S. Residential parcels were measured for each metric. A K-means cluster analysis assign each parcel to one of 50 groups based on metric measurement similarities. The 10 most widely used groups contained 87% of the residential parcels in Cache County. These groups represented urban forms with distinct identifiable characteristics such as Agricultural residential, urban sprawl, historic plat patterns, and evolved versions each.
The second study used the metrics and groups from the first study to check for correlations with vegetation cover. A normalized difference vegetation index ( NDVI) of aerial imagery of Cache County was used to classify land cover into three groups: dense vegetation, light vegetation, and no vegetation. Measurements of vegetation cover were extracted for each parcel and each urban form group. Total vegetation cover ( TVC) and dense vegetation cover (DVC) measured higher in urban areas than in the county as a whole. Agricultural residential groups had among the highest TVC, but had the lowest DVC. Non-agricultural residential groups had the highest DVC as a percentage of TVC with the exception of group 4 “Modern Suburban Sprawl” which had the lowest DVC as a percentage of TVC. Group 7 “Satellite Centers” had the highest TVC while group 3 “Dead End Semi-sprawl” had the lowest TVC. Both groups 3 and 7 had the highest DVC as a percentage of TVC.
A correlation analysis revealed that TVC had stronger correlations than DVC with urban form metrics. Building density had the strongest correlation with TVC (r = -0.62, p= 0). Correlations with TVC were also found with Parcel size (r = -0.23, p= <.001) and centrality (r = -0.21, p = <.001). Very weak relationships with TVC w ere found with connectivity and land use mix.
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Westover, Matthew D. "Habitat Selection of Greater Sage-Grouse Centrocercus urophasianus and Northern River Otters Lontra canadensis in Utah." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2012. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3937.
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Greater sage-grouse populations have decreased steadily since European settlement in western North America. Reduced availability of brood-rearing habitat has been identified as a limiting factor for many populations. We used radio-telemetry to acquire locations of sage-grouse broods from 1998 to 2012 in Strawberry Valley, Utah. Using these locations and remotely-sensed imagery, we proceeded to 1) determine which features of brood-rearing habitat could be identified using widely available, fine-scale imagery 2) assess the scale at which sage-grouse selected brood-rearing habitat in our study area, and 3) create a predictive habitat model that could be applied across our large study area to identify areas of preferred brood-rearing habitat. We used AIC model selection to evaluate support for a list of variables derived from remotely-sensed imagery. We examined the relationship of explanatory variables at three scales (45, 200, and 795 meter radii). Our top model included 10 variables (percent shrub, percent grass, percent tree, percent paved road, percent riparian, meters of sage/tree edge, meters of riparian/tree edge, distance to tree, distance to transmission lines, and distance to permanent structures). Variables from each scale were represented in our top model with the majority of scale-sensitive variables suggesting selection at the larger (795 meter) scale. When applied to our study area our top model predicted 75% of naive brood locations suggesting reasonable success using this method and widely available NAIP (National Agricultural Imagery Program) imagery. We encourage application of this method to other sage-grouse populations and species of conservation concern. The northern river otter is a cryptic semi-aquatic predator that establishes and uses latrines. Highly used river otter latrines indicate otter "activity centers" since frequency of scat deposition is thought to be correlated to frequency of habitat use. We compared an indirect method (scat counts) and a direct method (remote cameras) of determining latrine utilization in order to assess the accuracy of the commonly used indirect method. To further compare these methods we used them to examine effects of anthropogenic disturbance on otters of the Provo River in Utah. We found that overall the direct and indirect methods were highly correlated. There was significant seasonal variation in the degree of correlation between the indirect and direct methods with correlation being significantly higher in the summer. We found similar results when using these methods to examine effects of anthropogenic disturbance. For each method the distance of the latrine to trails was significant in one of the top competing models. We suggest that space use of otters in our study area is being affected by anthropogenic disturbance as measured by distance to trails. We also suggest that scat counts should only be conducted during the summer when they correlate best with actual levels of otter activity.
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Campo, Joseph B. "Site Suitability Analysis for an Intermountain Solid Waste Facility: A Study for Cache County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 1996. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/1634.
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The goal of this project was to analyze Cache County for potential sanitary landfill sites covering the period 2020 to 2120. The county population and per capita solid waste were estimated. The minimum landfill size was then calculated. A geographic information system (GIS) was used for data storage and vii analysis. Relevant data were gathered. Areas which would not support a landfill were eliminated. Remaining sites were rated as having slight, moderate, or severe restrictions for use as an area method sanitary landfill based on the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Sanitary Facility Report, and the NRCS Soil Interpretations Rating Guide. Seventeen sites were designated as sites for further evaluation. A landfill ranking system giving a primary and/or secondary rating to data items was developed. Nine prime sites had one secondary (.,a ting. These sites should be more closely investigated to determine which are the best potential sites. (136 pages)
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Sorber, Samuel C. "Geologic Map and Structural Analysis of the Twin Rocks 7.5 Minute Quadrangle, Wayne County, Utah." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2006. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd1352.pdf.
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Prather, Phoebe R. "Factors Affecting Gunnison Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus minimus) Conservation in San Juan County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 2010. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/827.
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Due to loss of habitat, Gunnison sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus) currently occupy 8.5% of their presumed historical range. One population survives in Utah, occurring in San Juan County. The Gunnison Sage-grouse Rangewide Conservation Plan and the San Juan County Gunnison Sage-grouse Conservation Plan recommended management strategies to address identified conservation threats to the Utah population. I addressed three conservation strategies identified in the plans: 1) creation and enhancement of brood-rearing areas; 2) assessment of habitat conditions within the Gunnison Sage-grouse Conservation Area; and 3) prevention or reduction of perching events by avian predators on distribution line power poles.
From 2007-2009, I addressed the conservation strategy of creating mesic brood-rearing areas in Conservation Reserve Program fields and native sagebrush areas by evaluating the role of irrigation and dormant season cattle grazing on habitat. Vegetation and arthropod diversity in irrigated versus non-irrigated plots did not differ (p>0.01). Conservation Reserve Program plots exhibited greater arthropod abundance and cover of perennial grass than the native sagebrush plots, but lower diversity of perennial grasses and abundance and diversity of forbs (p<0.01).
The second conservation strategy I addressed was the completion of an assessment of habitat conditions within the Gunnison Sage-grouse Conservation Area. I measured vegetation conditions within habitat occupied and unoccupied by Gunnison sage-grouse. Cover and height of grasses exceeded guidelines for occupied and unoccupied habitats. Forb cover was below recommended guidelines in occupied habitat. Sagebrush cover was below guidelines for winter habitat. Habitat restoration efforts should focus on retaining existing sagebrush cover and establishment of sagebrush, forb, and grass cover within Conservation Reserve Program fields.
The third conservation strategy I evaluated was the retrofitting of distribution line power poles with perch deterrents to discourage avian predators from perching. I evaluated the efficacy of five perch deterrents. The perch deterrents did not mitigate potential avian predators from perching. A deterrent designed for insulators, in combination with physical deterrents we tested, has potential to prevent perching.
These studies provided a sound first step that can be built upon by the Monticello/Dove Creek Local Working Group to improve habitat conditions, reduce the threat of avian predation, and plan future conservation activities within the Conservation Area.
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Boore, Danny L. "The Impact of Twelve-Mile Canyon Mudslides on Downstream Water Users in Sanpete County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 1986. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/4069.
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The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of major landslides during 1983-84 in Twelve-Mile Canyon, Sanpete County, Utah on agricultural water users in the Gunnison Irrigation System. Sediment content and stream flow data were gathered from Twelve-Mile Creek during the irrigation season of 1984. This information was used to estimate the sediment load of Twelve-Mile Creek and to compare historical averages . A survey of Gunnison Irrigation System Water Users was conducted to obtain information defining the damage and production losses caused by an increase in sediment carried by irrigation water. This information was tabulated and used as a basis for calculating the cost of mudslides . Alternatives for mitigating the impacts of the landslides were explored and evaluated. Recommendations were presented to lessen the economic loss suffered by Gunnison Valley farmers. Damages were estimated to be over three million dollars annually. Construction of sediment basins and alteration in specific management prac tices offered the potential to reduce damage and loss by nearly one third.
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Pearce, Madison Natasha. "Laying the Foundation for a Fremont Phytolith Typology Using Select Plant Species Native to Utah County." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2017. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6648.
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Archaeobotanical evidences for the presence of wild plants at Fremont archaeological sites are numerous. However, little can be positively argued for why those plants are present, if they were used by site inhabitants, and how they were used. Additionally, there are likely several wild plants that were used but that do not appear in the archaeobotanical record as pollen or macrobotanicals, the two most commonly identified plant remains. I argue that it is possible to provide better interpretations for how and why the Fremont used plants by researching how their historic counterparts, the Goshute, Shoshone, Ute, and Southern Paiute, used the same plants that are identified at prehistoric sites. I further argue that a phytolith typology for Fremont archaeology can provide more insight into prehistoric plant use. I demonstrate its utility through a phytolith analysis of ground stone tools from Wolf Village, a Fremont site in Utah County.
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Chen, Shuolei. "A Comparison of Park Access with Park Need for Children: Case Study in Cache County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 2017. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/5810.
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Childhood obesity is one of the nation’s most serious health problems. There are growing efforts to prevent childhood obesity by improving opportunities for physical activity in their communities. The outdoor settings of the built environment, such as parks and open spaces, can offer children opportunities for physical activities, experience with nature, and social interaction, which contribute to children’s physical and psychological health. However, children’s physical access to parks is often inequitable. Simultaneously, the quality of parks also varies. These disparities caused the inequitable distribution of health-promoting features of built environment among disadvantaged groups who may not have access to other resources. While most previous studies focused on physical park distribution inequities, the purpose of this study is to explore park access by both park physical proximity and quality related to children’s (5 to 17 years old) potential need for parks.
This study employs case study methods to explore these relationships across Cache County, Utah. Park proximity is identified by GIS network analysis methods to determine park service areas for all the 77 census block groups in Cache County. Both overall park quality and five separate park feature qualities (facilities, amenities, aesthetic feature, cleanliness and maintenance, and incivility) are measured using the PARK tool (Parks, Activity, and Recreation among Kids). The measure of children’s potential park need is an index created according to the following contributing factors; the population density of children, total population density, racial minority density, population percentage whose income falls below the federal poverty line, population percentage of unemployment, population percentage of low-education, percentage of renter-occupied housing, and yard size. Comparison between the measures is both graphical (spatial) and statistical (correlational). The graphical analysis identifies spatial gaps between the measures. The statistical analysis, using multiple linear regression, assesses the extent that the park location and quality distribution is correlated with children’s potential park need in the setting.
Proposed parks are added in the graphically identified spatial gaps, the effect of which is statistically analyzed to see whether children’s park needs can be better met in the study area. This study can be a model for examining park access and park need among children to ultimately improve opportunities for physical activity and reduce the rate of obesity among the population.
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Elder, Ann Schaffer. "The Paleoecology and Geomorphology of Holocene Deposits of the Southern Malad River, Box Elder County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 1992. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/6597.
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Widespread Lake Bonneville sediments have been modified by river aggradation and degradation associated with Holocene fluctuations in the Great Salt Lake. Exposures of exceptionally abundant and well-preserved molluscan deposits in the Bear River Valley, Utah, allow detailed paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Holocene environments. The exposed basal unit consists of largely unfossiliferous deltaic silts and clays deposited during Lake Bonneville time ( roughly 11,000 - 13,000 yr B. P.). An unconformity representing at least 2000 yr separates the deltaic material from overlying highly fossiliferous stream sands. Eight species of molluscs, comprising a single community, occupied this low energy stream environment at 7690 ± 270 14C yr B. P. A second unconformity separates these sands from a dark brown silt unit deposited by a river-associated environment, most likely an over-bank marsh, at 2420 ± 135 14C yr B. P. Nine species of molluscs, comprising 3 communities, were present in this environment. Analysis of size-frequency distributions, percentage of pelecypod valves, preservation, and orientation of the shells that were present in each environment suggests that the 7690 ± 270 14c yr B. P. fossil assemblage has been only slightly altered by biostratinomic processes. The younger assemblage has also been altered, with the size-frequency curves of the smallest gastropods displaying normal distributions.
Geomorphic and stratigraphic data from the Malad River show that water levels in the Great Salt Lake twice rose and fell significantly during the Holocene epoch. The oldest rise, to an altitude of at least 1288 m, occurred before 7690 ± 270 yr B. P., perhaps in response to a worldwide period of climatic cooling. This high-stand was followed by a fall of lake level roughly corresponding to the classic Hypsithermal Interval, about 7000 - 5000 yr B. P. A second rise occurred by 2420 ± 135 yr B. P., when the Great Salt Lake rose to approximately 1286 m. During this second rise, the Malad River overflowed its levees and later, as the Great Salt Lake receded for a second time, the river was captured by a headward-cutting tributary of the Bear River.
The regional distribution of the fossiliferous deposits was controlled by the time at which capture occurred. Capture of the Malad channel by the Bear River occurred after the last fossiliferous sediments were deposited; thus no fossils are found downstream from the point of capture.
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Sanders, Jeffrey M. "Planning gone hog wild : mega-hog farm in a mountain west county /." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2007. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd2025.pdf.
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Mandurino, Sally Timmins. "The impact of the physical and cultural geography of southeastern Utah on Latter-day settlement." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 1998. http://patriot.lib.byu.edu/u?/MTGM,33227.
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Letts, Karen Louise. "Crisis Intervention: An Evaluation of Services Provided to Families of Sexually Abused Children in Davis County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 1992. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/2392.
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This study assessed the extent to which victim families are or are not helped by the support services in Davis County, Utah. A sample of 29 mothers of sexually abused children indicated that existing intervention services were greatly underutilized and hard to locate. Seventeen of these mothers reported that they were either ignored by their caseworkers or, conversely, told not to get counseling until their case was adjudicated because of the investigator's belief that any exposure to therapy might erode the child's credibility as a witness. Only 48% of the families were informed of their Victim Rights as required by Utah state law. When asked to state how the incident impacted the family, 41% of the mothers reported that they felt they were still functioning in an elevated state of stress and tension six months or more after the disclosure of the incident. Fully 72% of the mothers reported that the child abuse disclosure had created major changes in the family system. Results of the Moos & Moos Family Environmental Subscale testing indicated that the d i stressed sample families scored significantly higher on the conflict and control subscales as hypothesized. An unexpected finding was the sample's high score on the moral religious emphasis (MRE) subscale. The MRE finding may have some influence on the process by which victim families seek help in child abuse incidents.
The results of this study suggest the need for a uniform county-wide victim support and information program and improved training for professional investigators and public agencies charged with the implementation of the Victim's Bill of Rights as outlined in the Utah Code of Criminal Procedures, 77-37-1-5.
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Moscardini, Leo A. "Estimating the Effectiveness of a Seasonal Gas Tax for Controlling Episodic PM2.5 Concentrations in Cache County, Utah." DigitalCommons@USU, 2014. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/3870.
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For several years, residents of Cache County, Utah have suffered from the recurrence of what has come to be known as the winter-inversion, or “red-air-day” season. Each year during this season – which occurs primarily in the months of December, January, and February – particulate matter concentrations measuring two and half micrometers or less (commonly known as PM2.5) rise and languish (for periods of days or even weeks) above federally mandated standards, causing extensive harm to community health and confounding what have thus far been the relatively tepid control efforts undertaken by local and state policymakers.
Through time-series regression modeling, we establish a statistical relationship between PM2.5 concentrations and vehicle use in Cache County, and further calculate a gas-price elasticity for the region. Next, we analyze the benefits and costs associated with a potential seasonal gas tax which, if set appropriately and enforced effectively, could decrease vehicle use and thereby lower health costs through concomitant decreases in PM2.5 concentrations. Specifically, we find a relatively strong positive relationship between percentage of vehicle trips reduced and associated reductions in PM2.5concentrations, and a gas price elasticity of approximately -0.31 in what we call a “high price variability environment.”
Based upon these results, benefit-cost analysis suggests a potentially positive social net benefit for Cache County associated with imposing a seasonal gas tax to reduce PM2.5 concentrations during the winter-inversion season. Our benefit-cost analysis, which uses quantitative estimation techniques on both sides of the ledger, yields a first-of-its-kind social net benefit estimate for controlling elevated PM2.5 concentrations in Cache County through the imposition of a seasonal gas tax.
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Copfer, Torrey J. "Geology of the Deseret Peak East 7.5' Quadrangle, Tooele County, Utah, and Impacts for Hydrology of the Region." DigitalCommons@USU, 2003. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/6723.
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Detailed geologic mapping of the Deseret Peak East 7.5' Quadrangle yields new interpretations regarding the stratigraphy of the Oquirrh Basin, fault and fold geometry, and structural evolution of the region. The Stansbury Range consists of the north-southtrending Deseret anticline. Basal Mississippian units rest unconformably on Cambrian beds in the central part of the range. Paleozoic uplift, Mesozoic contraction, and Cenozoic extension have created a series of broad folds, large thrust faults, and several normal faults.
The area is dominated by bedrock springs, with the presence of abundant and thick Quaternary deposits unrelated to Pleistocene glaciation, burying drainages, and mantling hillslopes. The influence of bedrock on groundwater flow paths and stream baseflow is suggested by local anecdotal reports that high snowfall in the Deseret Peak region generates high discharge ten miles south in Clover Creek, though they are not in the same drainage basin.
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Sureda, Maite 1966. "Small mammal abundance within Mexican spotted owl home ranges in the Manti-LaSal National Forest, San Juan County, Utah." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/278552.
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Ecologists suspect that owls select specific areas based on prey availability. My objective was to determine and compare distributions and abundances of Mexican spotted owl prey species' within different vegetation types in the canyons and mesas of the Manti-LaSal National Forest in Utah. I conducted live-trapping during summer and fall, 1994-95. Woodrat species (Neotoma spp.) are the Mexican spotted owls primary prey species as determined by percent biomass. Peromyscus spp. are also important in terms of frequency. Woodrats were only captured in the canyons and were primarily captured within the pinyon (Pinus spp.) - juniper (Juniperus spp.) vegetation type. The Mexican spotted owls in southeastern Utah spend >75% of their time within the canyons and forage within pinyon-juniper stands in the canyons. Maintaining the present state of pinyon-juniper stands within the canyons may benefit Mexican spotted owl populations in the Manti-LaSal National Forest.
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Preston, Gary L. "Assessment of Influence that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has on Exercise Habit of Members Living in Utah County." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 1987. http://patriot.lib.byu.edu/u?/MTNZ,10580.
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Summers, Daniel David. "Vegetation response of a Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis) community to 6 mechanical treatments in Rich County, Utah." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2005. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd718.pdf.
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