Category: Management

Landscape Vegetation Analysis (LaVA) in Southern Wyoming—Jake Barker

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

One project in particular in Wyoming has emerged in the national conversation concerning public forest management. The Medicine-Bow Routt and Thunder Basin Grassland National Forest (MBRTB) manages forest and grassland in Wyoming and Colorado, and is several years into the implementation of a landscape-scale forest resilience project. Supported by the 2003 Healthy Forests Restoration Act, Read more about Landscape Vegetation Analysis (LaVA) in Southern Wyoming—Jake Barker[…]

Gaining a Deeper Understanding of Ecosystems Through Collaboration—Rowan Sharkey

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

The past year working with the Ucross High Plains Stewardship Initiative has presented a wide range of experiences, connections, and memories that I find carrying me forward on the path of conservation. Throughout this process, our team has been fortunate enough to collaborate with incredible partners such as The Nature Conservancy-MT, World Wildlife Foundation, and Read more about Gaining a Deeper Understanding of Ecosystems Through Collaboration—Rowan Sharkey[…]

2022 Annual Report

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

Check our UHPSI’s newly released 2022 Annual Report! Read about student projects, impacts, and journeys from the past year.

Funding Priorities for Improving Ecological Value and Agricultural Viability on Colorado Rangelands

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

Kathleen Voight is working with the Additive Conservation department of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT) to determine funding priorities for their internally-managed Agricultural Resiliency Fund. CCALT holds easements over 700,000 acres of ranchland across Colorado, with the goal of conserving working landscapes for the benefit of future generations. The Agricultural Resiliency Fund will Read more about Funding Priorities for Improving Ecological Value and Agricultural Viability on Colorado Rangelands[…]

On Developing a Systems Thinking Model—Julia Chen

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

George E. P. Box once said that “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” As we try to make sense of the world, we attempt to rationalize the patterns we see and how they are connected. However, generalizing these connections often narrows our views and eventually solidifies the basic facts we begin to organize Read more about On Developing a Systems Thinking Model—Julia Chen[…]

Beavers and Space—Sam Wilson

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

It’s December here in New Haven, Connecticut. The leaves have all fallen, the grass is done growing, and the days are getting quite short. It also means that Christmas is right around the corner. I was having a conversation with friends the other day about Christmas movies. Afterward, I remembered one that hadn’t come up Read more about Beavers and Space—Sam Wilson[…]

Stepping Out of the Steppe—Rachel Renne

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

As temperatures climbed this summer, so did the elevations of the plots that I visited. My gradual ascent was an attempt to capture the plant community of each site at a time when I would be able to detect and identify most of the plant species. Higher elevations mean lower temperatures, and while many grasses Read more about Stepping Out of the Steppe—Rachel Renne[…]

Improving Model Outputs and Recommendations Through Field Work—Rob Anderson

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

As I write this, while sitting in my 82-degree New Haven apartment, I cannot help but feel some nostalgia for the two summers I have now spent in Pinedale, WY doing research for my Master’s degree. I have spent the vast majority of my life in New England. Prior to the past two field seasons, Read more about Improving Model Outputs and Recommendations Through Field Work—Rob Anderson[…]

Why study outdoor recreation in the American West?—Mara MacDonell

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

Industry, based on landscape, has been foundational to the American West’s cultural and ideological underpinnings since the beginning of colonization. While natural resource extraction industries (mining, logging, ranching, agriculture) spurred westward expansion and continues to be a significant industry in the West, a new industry is of increasing importance, outdoor recreation. Both the extraction and Read more about Why study outdoor recreation in the American West?—Mara MacDonell[…]

Gold Underfoot! Soil Organic Matter matters—Raffa Sindoni

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

Soil is the tapestry upon which all life is weaved. Our water is cleaned through it. Our food rises from it. As young children, our bare feet kiss it. After death, we return back to it. And so, the cycle goes, for time immemorial. Most splendid of all, a full-spectrum of life flourishes in just Read more about Gold Underfoot! Soil Organic Matter matters—Raffa Sindoni[…]

Methods and Modalities to Explore Rural Gentrification— Mara MacDonell

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

Over the last year, the rural gentrification research group has been approaching the subject of rural gentrification from a variety of perspectives. Rural gentrification has many, mutable meanings and definitions, both within academia and public discourse. Our research reflects this, as we have investigated the topic through a variety of avenues including changing land-use, environmental Read more about Methods and Modalities to Explore Rural Gentrification— Mara MacDonell[…]

Framing the “New West”— Molly Ryan

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

The “Old West” and the “New West.” These terms are often used to characterize the transformation of rural western economies and communities from places oriented around extractive industries to those based around natural amenities and recreation (Bryson & Wyckoff, 2010; Krannich et al., 2011; Shumway & Otterstrom, 2001). This transformation is driven by in-migration from Read more about Framing the “New West”— Molly Ryan[…]

Rural Gentrification: The Housing Crisis — Mara MacDonell

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

There are two things that are common knowledge if you live in a ski town (and you don’t have a trust fund to support you): 1) Getting a job is easy, which is good because you’ll probably need at least two; and 2) there is no housing. Previous to matriculating at Yale, I lived in Read more about Rural Gentrification: The Housing Crisis — Mara MacDonell[…]

Is Oregon’s Land Use System Protecting Farmers? — Shannon Bell

Posted on by Madeline Gupta

Between 2001 and 2016, 11 million acres of farmland in the United States were developed, with 4.1 million acres converted to urban and highly developed land uses and almost 7 million acres converted to low-density residential use. The 2017 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Census revealed that from 2012 to 2017, the amount of Read more about Is Oregon’s Land Use System Protecting Farmers? — Shannon Bell[…]

Seeing the Forest for the (Burnt) Trees: How Salvage Logging in Oregon is Perpetuating Outdated Extractive Approaches to Federal Forestland Management—Shannon Bell

Posted on by ucross-admin

In late May of 2021, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved a plan to log over 900 acres of forestland burned in the Holiday Farm Fire, which swept through the landscape in September of 2020 [1]. As a result of a policy change issued by the Trump administration in late 2020, the BLM is Read more about Seeing the Forest for the (Burnt) Trees: How Salvage Logging in Oregon is Perpetuating Outdated Extractive Approaches to Federal Forestland Management—Shannon Bell[…]