Project ID:2006MT101B
Title:: Student Fellowship: Settlement, environment, and identity: Understanding processes of vegetative change along the Wind River
Project Type: Research
Start Date: 03/01/2006
End Date: 06/30/2007
Congressional District: At large
Focus Categories: Ecology, Hydrology, Recreation
Keywords: Wind River, riparian composition, Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Native American cultures
Principal Investigator: Wyckhoff, William
Federal Funds: $ 1,000
Non-Federal Matching Funds: $ 0
Abstract: Wind River water and its uses have been a mounting ecological and social concern for decades (Mergen and Liu 1997). The decline of fisheries (McGinn 2004, Bergstedt and Bergesen 1997), $20 million of legal fees (Roncalio 1993), and continuing disputes (United States v. Hubenka 2005), exemplify the ongoing problems focused on the region. Moreover, these problems are not purely ecological or social; they stem from the dynamic interplay of environmental and human forces. Changing riparian vegetation is an indicator of these complicated interactions and provides a window through which to better understand the relationship between history, culture and ecology. My research investigates 1) vegetative change 2) the history of land and water use affecting this change, and 3) the relationship between vegetative change and place identity.
Progress/Completion Report, PDF