http://hdl.handle.net/1957/18402 2013-05-20T13:38:07Z 2013-05-20T13:38:07Z Krebs, Jennifer http://hdl.handle.net/1957/29317 2012-06-01T22:05:10Z 2012-04-12T00:00:00Z

Managing for a Healthy and Diverse Parkway Tree Population: A Case Study in The Village of Mount Prospect, Illinois Krebs, Jennifer Parkway trees, trees within a designated landscape and often owned by the city, can be an asset to any municipality but also have the potential to be a liability if improperly managed. The many benefits of parkway trees include increasing property and retail value, providing natural shade and windbreaks that act to reduce household energy costs, preventing soil erosion, reducing urban noise, and enhancing the beauty of the parkway. However, parkway trees are highly susceptible to damage, insects, pests, and disease and careful long-term monitoring of their condition is necessary. The Village of Mount Prospect, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois has over 25,000 parkway trees. Yearly, the village inventories a subset of trees; the resulting data contribute to preparation of the annual budget and risk assessment report, and service requests. Each tree within the parkway is marked with a serial number at the time of planting, which is used for identification throughout the life of the tree. From June to September 2011, I inventoried 5,000 parkway trees from five sections within the village. I recorded each tree’s crown width and trunk diameter at breast height, and also recorded visual assessments of root structure, trunk stability, and potential presence of insects or disease. Each tree was given a numerical rating based on these observations and recommendations for treatment or removal were made accordingly. Information for each tree was collected in a tree inventory database, known as Hansen, and tree locations were noted in ArcPad GIS software. Given the importance of parkway trees to municipalities, planting a diverse and healthy parkway tree population is critical to the success of urban forestry. Over the summer of 2011, the trees within the village experienced major losses due to several storms (including one confirmed tornado), and the presence of two stressors, emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) and Dutch elm disease (Ophiostoma ulmi). These types of losses illustrate that parkway trees are susceptible to chronic problems from pests and diseases, and to acute and often catastrophic problems such as major storm events. As it is costly and time consuming to remove trees, it is important for urban foresters managers to identify specific program goals to ensure the health and vitality of their urban trees. To do so, they need to make long term plans for creating and maintaining a diverse parkway tree population. Based on my experience this summer and coursework taken through the PSM program, my internship report presents a community plan that addresses: (1) the importance of a healthy and diverse parkway tree population and (2) methods and practices that would allow a community to effectively maintain a healthy and diverse parkway tree population through development of a community urban forest plan. Original file is in .doc format. It was converted to .pdf using Microsoft Word for Mac 2011, Version 14.2.1

2012-04-12T00:00:00Z Fellas, Christy http://hdl.handle.net/1957/29272 2012-06-01T22:06:01Z 2012-05-03T00:00:00Z

What Do Stakeholders Know About Salmon and Steelhead Recovery in the Willamette Basin? Fellas, Christy In August 2011, the final Upper Willamette River basin salmon and steelhead recovery plan was adopted by NOAA Fisheries and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The plan highlights a variety of activities that need to be taken by both public and private entities in order to recover these listed species. The Willamette River basin is a diverse and complicated system that encompasses urban, forest and agricultural uses on public and private lands. It is the largest basin in Oregon, housing 70% of the state’s population and includes 16,000 miles of stream. Recovery cannot be achieved on public land alone - over 60% of land in the basin is in private ownership. All parts of the basin provide important areas for rearing, migration and spawning of salmon and steelhead. Information is lacking about how stakeholders view the Willamette River basin salmon and steelhead recovery plan. Through 25 interviews, I collected data from stakeholders to understand their knowledge of and engagement in Willamette River basin salmon recovery efforts. Interview themes came from a Delphi review of recovery plan themes provided by NOAA personnel. I found that recovery cannot be successful in the Willamette River basin unless private landowners are better informed and willing to participate in the process. I determined a baseline understanding of stakeholders while providing a roadmap for future education, outreach and restoration efforts.

2012-05-03T00:00:00Z Bell, Marc http://hdl.handle.net/1957/29268 2012-06-01T22:07:01Z 2012-03-19T00:00:00Z

Regulatory Wetland Monitoring: Principles and Evolving Techniques within Washington State Department of Transportation Bell, Marc The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is the largest developer of wetlands land in the state of Washington. Consequently, they are also the largest wetland mitigation developer in the state. Through various federal legislation, state and county environmental policies, and legal court decisions, all negatively impacted wetlands must be compensated for with equal value wetland creation. The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is given oversight under the Clean Water Act Section 404 to regulate this policy. Permits for wetland destruction and mitigation are only issued by the USACE after steps have been taken to avoid known wetlands and all efforts to minimize the damage have been exercised. Since construction projects by WSDOT are limited by geography and existing road transportation in a region of the country with a very high density of wetland land, WSDOT increasing must compensate for wetland loss. Wetland creations involve developing wetland hydrology and specific soil conditions, which attract a specific subset of vegetation known as hydrophytic vegetation, adapted to survive and flourish within water saturated soils. Permitting from the USACE requires annual monitoring created mitigation sites for a period of 5-10 years. WSDOT Department of Wetland Monitoring exists to satisfy this legal requirement for every mitigation site in the state. WSDOT Wetland monitoring has formed a partnership with The Evergreen State College (TESC) to provide interns to collect the qualitative and quantitative data necessary for mitigation permits. The Monitoring Department gains access to TESC's plant laboratory, a ready source of internship candidates, and the reputation gained only by an alliance with an academic institution. TESC increases summer enrollment and provides an excellent professional experience to students. Each wetland site has development goals, which are monitored quantitatively, through specific performance standards each year. Monitoring teams develop site-specific sampling techniques based on sound ecological statistical experimental design parameters. In the majority of cases a baseline with orthogonal transect lines are established across the entire site. Along these transects pairs of data collectors sample to provide data on density, survival, and cover percentage of woody, herbaceous, and invasive plant species in specific zones (emergent, wetland, and buffer) of the mitigation site. Qualitatively, vegetative community sketch mapping and bird surveys give further indicators of the mitigation site's overall health and development progress. TESC's laboratory facilities are utilized by interns to identify unknown herbaceous specimens sampled during field days. This process is necessary to fully comply with USACE permitting and provides interns with an opportunity to develop robust botany and plant identification skills. The WSDOT Wetlands Monitoring Division is run on roughly half a million dollars a year. The majority of this money is salary and benefits for full time employees. The remaining pays for the internship program expenses, travel, and equipment each year. There has been an increasing trend in workloads while funding and full time labor have decreased over the last several years. These conditions have forced WSDOT to modernize and streamline workflows. The internship program has expanded over time; major efforts to increase efficiency through new technology and data collection methods have been explored and evaluated.

2012-03-19T00:00:00Z Rieder, Rebekka M. http://hdl.handle.net/1957/18403 2012-06-01T22:07:57Z 2010-09-16T23:15:48Z

Connections between science and business to increase environmentally-friendly food production Rieder, Rebekka M. This study represents an internship, as a requirement of the Professional Science Masters program at Oregon State University, performed with Western Ag Innovations Inc. The study consisted of two aspects -- one business and one science oriented. The two objectives of this internship were to: 1) qualitatively evaluate how two agrarian groups, Pesticide-Free Production Farmer’s Cooperative and Shepherd’s Grain, benefit from environmentally-friendly production and certification; and 2) quantitatively determine the belowground soil nutrient supply dynamics of intercropping pea with wheat using PRSTM-probes in a dryland agricultural region of Northeastern Oregon. The agrarian group Shepherd’s Grain (SG) is located in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), USA, and the Pesticide-Free Production (PFP) Farmer’s co-op was centered in the Western Canadian prairies. These food producers were changing from production-oriented models to consumer-driven systems by acquiring eco-friendly production certification in order to access niche markets. SG was successful while the PFP Farmer’s co-op was unable to find value-added markets for their commodity products. A comparative case study was conducted to compare and contrast the two agrarian groups with regard to organizational structure and third party certification. This study identified several factors contributing to the success or the failure of the agrarian groups. The major factors for success were establishing contracts with consumers and preserving the identity of food products. Effective direct marketing to consumers -- with a clear message backed by eco-friendly certification, to initiate market demand for branded products -- was critical. By comparing SG and the PFP Farmer’s co-op, I found that market incentives can promote environmentally-friendly agricultural practices for sustainable crop production and increase farm profitability. This is consistent with present trends in agricultural production, which are driven by consumer demand for increased transparency and sustainable food production. Plant Root SimulatorTM (PRSTM)-probes sold commercially by Western Ag Innovations in Saskatoon, Canada, were used to quantitatively determine nutrient supply rates in a dryland intercropping wheat-pea system. Intercropping is an agriculture system that is not practiced in the PNW of the USA. However, intercropping has the potential to serve as a tool for increasing environmentally friendly agricultural practices. PRSTM-probes are not used extensively in PNW dryland cropping systems either. The purpose of this research was to determine the potential benefits of intercropping by using the PRSTM-probes as a diagnostic tool. PRSTM-probes were used to measure nutrient supply rates within established agronomic trials at Pendleton, OR. PRSTM-probes showed an increase in nitrogen (N) supply associated with the observed grain yield response to N fertilizer. Similarly, PRSTM-probes did not show a difference in nutrient supply for intercropping treatments when no grain yield response was observed. In general, intercropping did not benefit grain yield in this dryland agricultural system. PRSTMprobe measurements of nutrient supply were related to plant response to N fertilizer and intercropping treatments in a 1-year field experiment.

2010-09-16T23:15:48Z