Tracking a half century of media reporting on gray wolves

Natural resource and wildlife managers must balance the disparate priorities of a diversity of stakeholders. To manage these priorities, a firm understanding of topics salient to the public is needed. The media often report on issues of importance to the public; therefore, these reports may be a useful measure of public interest. However, efficient methods for distinguishing diverse topics related to a wildlife management issue reported in the media and changes in the salience of those topics have been lacking. We used latent Dirichlet allocation, a Bayesian mixture model, to quantitatively assess the salience of topics surrounding the gray wolf (Canis lupus), which was reintroduced to Idaho (U.S.A.) in 1995. We analyzed articles published from 1960 to 2015 in an Idaho newspaper. We identified 6 distinct topics associated with gray wolves: policy, hunting, biological status, implementation of management, recovery, and human-wolf conflict. The salience of topics pre- and postreintroduction of wolves (1995) and pre- and postdelisting of wolves from the U.S. Endangered Species Act (2009) differed significantly, underscoring that these events were turning points in how issues were being publicly discussed and framed. Articles written by the local reporters were more likely to report on topics regarding conflict between humans and wolves, whereas articles sourced from a national outlet reported more on topics pertaining to wolf policy and biological status. In the context of managing a contentious, far-ranging, and long-lived wildlife species, our methods can help guide the location and timing of a suite of management strategies (e.g., media relation plans and stakeholder engagement) that promote human-wildlife coexistence across different landscapes.     

Assessing the economic impact of invasive species: the case of yellow starthistle (Centaurea solsitialis L.) in the rangelands of Idaho, USA

Yellow starthistle (Centaurea solsitialis L.) is an invasive weed that creates problems for the management of Idaho's rangelands. A bioeconomic approach combined with an input-output economic model is used to estimate direct and secondary economic costs of the weed in relation to its interference with agricultural and non-agricultural benefits that rangelands provide. Direct economic costs of the infestations were estimated to be of 8.2 million '05 dollars per year, and secondary costs of 4.5 million '05 dollars per year, for a total of 12.7 million '05 dollars; agricultural related economic impacts accounted for 79% of this total cost, and non-agricultural for 21%.     

Northern Idaho House Dust and Soil Lead Levels Compared to the Bunker Hill Superfund Site

House dust has been identified as a major exposure medium for lead (Pb) in children. High levels of Pb in soil and house dust have been recorded at the Bunker Hill Superfund Site (BHSS) in northern Idaho, an historic mining and smelting district. Soil and dust remediation at the site was required; however, regional background soil and dust Pb levels had not been well characterized. The objective of this survey was to determine background house dust Pb levels and to compare those levels with concentrations, and dust and Pb loading rates measured at the BHSS. Soil and house dust samples were collected in five towns demographically similar to the BHSS but unaffected by the mining industry. The background concentrations and loading rates were significantly lower than those observed at the site. House age was a significant factor affecting background soil and house dust Pb concentrations and loading rates.     

The environmental audit. II. Application to stream network design

The planning and execution of water quality management programs requires careful collection and analysis of data coupled with a systematic review and analysis of programmatic success. The environmental audit is a tool which facilitates improved water quality planning and management. This article demonstrates the utility of the environmental audit by reviewing portions of a comprehensive review of the water quality management program for the state of Idaho. The audit is a tool which forces careful design of a sampling program before data are collected. In the audit approach, program objectives are clearly stated prior to initiation of sampling. Stated objectives are also evaluated regularly to identify tension points, that is, conflicts between expectations and reality. In the example taken from Idaho, a management review team followed a directive to redesign the water quality monitoring program. We present a summary of the redesign as proposed by that team, to illustrate the results of a typical review of monitoring programs. That summary is followed by an example of how the proposed program would differ if the audit approach had been used. The two approaches offered both coincident and conflicting recommendations. Management review team and audit recommendations for lake sampling programs were similar even though a different process was used to develop the recommendations. The most striking contrast between the two results lies in the review team's approach to the problem. The directives followed, and the team's responses, concentrate on tools, such as increasing biological monitoring or reliance on monthly BWMP stations. In contrast, the audit results stress addressing management questions for which clear objectives have been stated, depending on specific tools only as needed to meet stated objectives. Although the audit does integrate externalities in its structure, it is little affected by economic or political influences. A major strength of the audit approach is its ability to provide defensible data for management decision making.     

Short-Term Influence of Tank Tracks on Vegetation and Microphytic Crusts in Shrubsteppe Habitat

Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) habitat within the Idaho Army National Guard Orchard Training Area in southwestern Idaho. The purpose of this study was to determine the short-term (1–2 years) influence of tank tracks on vegetation and microphytic crusts in shrubsteppe habitat. The two types of tank tracks studied were divots (area where one track has been stopped or slowed to make a sharp turn) and straight-line tracks. Divots generally had a stronger influence on vegetation and microphytic crusts than did straight-line tracks. Tank tracks increased cover of bare ground, litter, and exotic annuals, and reduced cover of vegetation, perennial native grasses, sagebrush, and microphytic crusts. Increased bare ground and reduced cover of vegetation and microphytic crusts caused by tank tracks increase the potential for soil erosion and may reduce ecosystem productivity. Reduced sagebrush cover caused by tank tracks may reduce habitat quality for rodents. Tank tracks may also facilitate the invasion of exotic annuals into sagebrush habitat, increasing the potential for wildfire and subsequent habitat degradation. Thus, creation of divots and movement through sagebrush habitat by tanks should be minimized.     

SPRINGFLOW EFFECTS ON CHEMICAL LOADS IN THE SNAKE RWER,SOUTH-CENTRAL IDAHO1

ABSTRACT: The 150-kilometer middle reach of the Snake River (middle Snake) in south-central Idaho receives large quantities of water from springs discharging along the north side of the river from the regional Snake River Plain aquifer. Water-quality samples collected from nine north-side springs in April 1994 indicated that springs in the upstream part of the reach had larger concentrations of dissolved solids, dissolved nitrate, total nitrogen, tritium, and heavy isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen than to springs in the downstream part of the reach. Because the spring chemistry varies in the reach, discharge from the springs resulted in a degradation in water quality in some parts of the middle Snake and improvements in water quality in other parts. Depending on the annual discharge in the Snake River, the contribution from the north-side springs represented 33 to 66 percent of the discharge, 32 to 57 percent of the dissolved solids, 26 to 50 percent of the total nitrogen, and 7 to 14 percent of the total phosphorus transported annually from the middle Snake. Synoptic sampling showed that the north-side springs contributed 84 percent of the discharge and 35, 40, and 10 percent of the dissolved solids, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus load, respectively, to the Snake River during the peak of the irrigation season in 1994.     

ADMINISTRATION OF GROUND WATER AS BOTH A RENEWABLE AND NONRENEWABLE RESOURCE1

ABSTRACT: Ground water is intended to be administered in many western states as a flow or renewable resource. In Idaho, this administration is based on the appropriation doctrine of water rights. Two generalizations may be made concerning ground water. First, water artificially discharged from an aquifer system must deplete the total resource by that amount; water consumptively pumped from a well must be derived from either increased recharge, decreased discharge or a decrease of water in storage. Second, the annual rate of recharge to a ground-water system is often only a small percentage of the total resource in storage. Ground water may be divided into flow and stock portions. In those basins where the second generalization is true, most ground water may be classified as stock. However, only the flow portion of ground water may be developed if utilization of the resource is to be enjoyed over an infinite period. Data from the Raft River Basin in Idaho indicate that the flow and stock characteristics of ground water are time dependent. The resource exhibits the characteristics of both a renewable and nonrenewable resource. As a result, present administrative techniques do not provide for effective management of the resource.     

Modeling the Spatially Varying Water Balance Processes in a Semiarid Mountainous Watershed of Idaho1

Stratton, Benjamin T., Venakataramana Sridhar, Molly M. Gribb, James P. McNamara, and Balaji Narasimhan, 2009. Modeling the Spatially Varying Water Balance Processes in a Semiarid Mountainous Watershed of Idaho. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 45(6):1390‐1408. Abstract: The distributed Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrologic model was applied to a research watershed, the Dry Creek Experimental Watershed, near Boise Idaho to investigate its water balance components both temporally and spatially. Calibrating and validating SWAT is necessary to enable our understanding of the water balance components in this semiarid watershed. Daily streamflow data from four streamflow gages were used for calibration and validation of the model. Monthly estimates of streamflow during the calibration phase by SWAT produced satisfactory results with a Nash Sutcliffe coefficient of model efficiency 0.79. Since it is a continuous simulation model, as opposed to an event‐based model, it demonstrated the limited ability in capturing both streamflow and soil moisture for selected rain‐on‐snow (ROS) events during the validation period between 2005 and 2007. Especially, soil moisture was generally underestimated compared with observations from two monitoring pits. However, our implementation of SWAT showed that seasonal and annual water balance partitioning of precipitation into evapotranspiration, streamflow, soil moisture, and drainage was not only possible but closely followed the trends of a typical semiarid watershed in the intermountain west. This study highlights the necessity for better techniques to precisely identify and drive the model with commonly observed climatic inversion‐related snowmelt or ROS weather events. Estimation of key parameters pertaining to soil (e.g., available water content and saturated hydraulic conductivity), snow (e.g., lapse rates, melting), and vegetation (e.g., leaf area index and maximum canopy index) using additional field observations in the watershed is critical for better prediction.     

Attitudes and Perceptions about Ecological Resources, Hazards, and Future Land Use of People Living near the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory

This paper examines the attitudes and perceptions of local people about ecological resources, environmental hazards, and future land use of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Such monitoring of attitudes is an important aspect of environmental assessment. We interviewed 262 people who attended the 42nd Annual Free Fishermen's Breakfast at St. Anthony, Idaho, on 23 March 1997. We tested the null hypotheses that there were no differences in perceptions about ecological resources, hazards and future land use of INEEL as a function of gender, age, education, and place of residence. Dumping trash in the ocean and cutting rainforests rated as the environmental problems of highest concern, and ozone, radon and high voltage lines rated the lowest; cleaning up Department of Energy sites rated intermediate. Respondents were most willing to expend government funds to make drinking water clean. Three significant differences were found: 1) women rated environmental problems as more severe than did men, and women were more willing to expend federal funds to solve these problems, 2) respondents under 30 years of age rated environmental problems as more severe than older people, and they were more willing to spend money to solve them, and, 3) respondents who had not finished high school were more concerned with environmental problems and were more willing to spend money to solve them than respondents with a high school education. Maintaining INEEL as a National Environmental Research Park (NERP) rated as the most preferred future land use, followed by continued reprocessing of nuclear materials and hunting. Using INEEL for housing and additional nuclear waste storage rated the lowest. Men rated grazing livestock and additional nuclear waste storage higher than did women. In general, respondents from 30 – 49 rated several economic uses (hunting, grazing livestock, growing crops) higher than did people in other age groups. Respondents with some college rated these economic uses higher than did respondents who had not graduated from high school. These results indicate that respondents living around INEEL believe that INEEL should continue with a reprocessing and NERP mission, but that other peripheral uses, such as hunting, hiking and grazing, should be allowed on some of the land. These views should aid in environmental assessment of the site, and in developing further management plans for INEEL.