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Item Blackfoot traditional knowledge, bison drive lines, and geospatial analysis(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2024) Edmo, Kendall Rae; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: David B. McWethy; This is a manuscript style paper that includes co-authored chapters.Bison drive lines provide material evidence of ancestral Blackfoot practices. The spatial dimensions of drive lines highlight a sophisticated understanding of bison-environment interactions and the strategic use of geographic landforms and environmental features to maintain a critical lifeway. Here we examine broad-scale landscape use patterns among prehistoric Blackfoot bison hunters on the Northwestern Plains through an analysis of a network of drive lines in traditional Blackfoot territory (US) using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and previous archaeological and anthropological research. The findings of this study show that ancestral Blackfoot designed bison drive lines to be positioned in proximity to key landscape resources including water, forested areas, and wetlands and kettle lakes. This study builds on previous research that applies an Indigenous archaeological framework that incorporates ethnohistoric narratives and traditional knowledge to provide important context for understanding the relationship between ancestral Blackfoot, bison, and the cultural landscape. Examining the relationship between drive lines and landscape features helps advance our understanding of the Blackfoot knowledge system that has adapted and endured for millennia.Item Long-term environmental history of two low-elevation mixed-conifer forests, Mission Valley, Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2021) LaPierre, Kari Richard; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: David McWethyLow elevation mixed-conifer forests are widespread throughout the Northern Rocky Mountains, yet there are few long-term environmental histories from these structurally and compositionally heterogenous ecosystems. We reconstructed >10,000 years of vegetation change, fire activity, and human presence (e.g., pollen, charcoal, biomarkers) for two closed-basin lakes in mixed-conifer forests in the Mission Valley, western Montana. Environmental reconstructions highlight periods of pronounced changes in climate, vegetation, and fire activity. The late glacial period (>18,000-11,000 cal yr. BP) was characterized by post-glacial warming, generally wet conditions, establishment of mixed-conifer forests and infrequent fires. Following an abrupt, short-lived return to Juniper/Douglas fir parkland associated with the Younger Dryas (~12,900-11,500 cal yr. BP), warming temperatures during the early Holocene (11,000-6,000 cal yr. BP) promoted the expansion of open parkland/grasslands and frequent fire activity until cooler summers and warm, wet winters facilitated the development of modern-day closed mixed-conifer forests. Organic biomarker analyses indicate human presence within the Rainbow Lake watershed for millennia c. 7,000-3,000 cal yr. BP. Regional fire frequency increased during this period at Rainbow Lake, suggesting a possible increased role of human influence.Item Spatio-temporal analysis of large magnitude avalanches using dendrochronology(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2020) Peitzsch, Erich Hans; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Jordy Hendrikx; Jordy Hendrikx, Daniel K. Stahle, Gregory T. Pederson, Karl W. Birkeland and Daniel B. Fagre were co-authors of the article, 'A regional spatio-temporal analysis of large magnitude snow avalanches using tree rings' submitted to the journal 'Natural hazards and Earth systems sciences' which is contained within this dissertation.; Gregory T. Pederson, Jordy Hendrikx, Karl W. Birkeland and Daniel B. Fagre were co-authors of the article, 'Trends in regional large magnitude snow avalanche occurrence and associated climate patterns in the U.S. northern Rocky Mountains' submitted to the journal 'Journal of climate' which is contained within this dissertation.; Chelsea Martin-Mikle, Jordy Hendrikx, Gregory T. Pederson, Karl W. Birkeland and Daniel B. Fagre were co-authors of the article, 'Vegetation characterization in avalanche paths using LIDAR and satellite imagery' submitted to the journal 'Arctic, antarctic, and alpine research' which is contained within this dissertation.Snow avalanches are a natural hazard to humans and infrastructure as well as an important landscape disturbance affecting mountain ecosystems. In many mountainous regions, records of avalanche frequency and magnitude are sparse or non-existent. Inferring historic avalanche patterns to improve forecasting and understanding requires the use of dendrochronological methods. In this dissertation, we examine a regional tree-ring derived large magnitude avalanche dataset from northwest Montana in the northern Rocky Mountains, USA, to produce avalanche chronologies at three distinct scales (path, sub-region, and region), assess seasonal climate drivers of years with large magnitude avalanche occurrence on a regional scale, and characterize vegetation in select avalanche paths. By implementing a strategic spatial sampling design and collecting a large dataset of tree-ring samples, we: (1) assessed scaling in the context of a regional avalanche chronology, reconstructed avalanche chronologies for 12 avalanche paths in four subregions, and examined the effects of two methods of sampling indexing on the resultant avalanche chronology; (2) identified specific climate drivers of large magnitude avalanche years across a region and identified trends in avalanche year probability through time; and (3) tested the feasibility of using remote sensing products to quantify vegetation types in avalanche paths and characterized the vegetation composition based on return periods within specific avalanche paths. This dissertation is organized into 3 key chapters/manuscripts (Chapters 2, 3, and 4) and two supporting chapters (Chapters 1 and 5) that address the problem of assessing large magnitude avalanche frequency at various spatio-temporal scales using a tree-ring dataset. The results contribute toward a better understanding of reconstructing regional avalanche chronologies, a more accurate assessment of avalanche-climate relationships, and improved methods to characterize vegetation characteristics within avalanche path return periods. This work has applications for regions with sparse avalanche records.Item Geographic perspectives on state-directed heritage production in Twentieth-Century Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2019) Briwa, Robert Merrill; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: William Wyckoff; William Wyckoff was a co-author of the article, 'Making heritage through Montana's official state highway maps, 1914-2000' in the journal 'Geographical review' which is contained within this thesis.Heritage produces deeply entrenched understandings about places across a range of geographic scales. Heritage is a deliberate framing of identity, actively constructed to promote ties binding history to place. This research interrogates the intersections of heritage, landscape, and state government in twentieth-century Montana. It examines how selected Montana state institutions produced heritage. The Montana Department of Transportation (MDoT), Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP), and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) direct heritage production through numerous practices, including cartography (MDoT), state park management (FWP), and historic preservation (SHPO). This dissertation draws from conceptual frameworks of place identity and heritage and employs qualitative methods--principally archival research and document analysis--to examine how these state institutions produce Montana heritage. Between 1914 and 2000, the MDoT used its highway map program to anchor Montana heritage around five themes: territorial identity, mythic west, natural wealth, outdoor recreation, and hospitality. Montana's state park system, particularly Bannack State Park, demonstrates federal and local influences in evolving state visions of heritage at a Montana ghost town. National narratives centered on Euro-American westering experiences evolved to a more culturally inclusive heritage at Bannack. Montana's historic preservation movement under the direction of the SHPO shows a trend towards a decentralized planning model that increasingly emphasizes preservation outcomes grounded in regional and more inclusive perspectives. In Montana's urban landscapes, however, local contexts and generative forces weaken state-directed preservation. These case studies offer six common characteristics of state-directed heritage production in the American West. 1) States shape heritage production in a variety of ways and these diverse institutional drivers evolve over time. 2) State-directed heritage production reflects an evolving dynamic existing across institutional and geographic scales. 3) Key individuals matter in heritage production and they have the ability to shape long-term narratives of state-produced heritage. 4) Sufficient funding from state and federal sources consolidates states' abilities to produce heritage, while insufficient funding from state and federal sources weakens states' abilities to produce heritage. 5) The evolving content of heritage production reflects changing cultural values and related political mandates. 6) State-directed heritage in Montana relies on dispersed heritage governance.Item Structural geology and history of the Buck Mountain fault and adjacent intra-range faults, Teton Range, Wyoming(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 1991) Smith, Daniel JosephItem Land use and landscape evolution in the West : a case study of Red Lodge, Montana, 1884-1995(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 1998) Wiltsie, Meredith NelsonItem The evolving national park idea : Yellowstone National Park, 1872-1890(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 1999) Smith, LangdonItem Syn- and post-Laramide geology of the south-central Gravelly Range, southwestern Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 1997) Luikart, Ernest JanItem Fire and vegetation history of the last 2000 years in Jackson Hole, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2007) Jacobs, Karen Marie; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Cathy WhitlockFire is an important natural disturbance in the western U.S., and information on how fire occurrence has varied in the past is critical to understanding modern ecosystem processes and their link to climate change. Long-term fire and vegetation histories are obtained from charcoal and pollen records preserved in lake sediments. Most charcoalbased fire-history studies have been conducted in middle- and high-elevation forest ecosystems, where glacial and other natural lakes are abundant. We have almost no information on the long-term fire history of low-elevation forest and steppe. The last 2000 years is of particular interest because it encompasses both human-induced and natural environmental change. Pollen and high-resolution macroscopic charcoal records obtained from three lakes in Jackson Hole were studied to reconstruct the vegetation and fire history over the last 2000 years in low-elevation ecosystems.