SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
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Managers\u27 Perceptions of Crowding in New York State Parks
No full textAs visitation to New York State Parks continues to rise, it is important to evaluate potential crowding impacts on visitor experiences and the natural resources. This study examines the managers’ perceptions of crowding in New York State Parks. Using a semi-structured interview format, twenty managers were interviewed by telephone to determine their definition of crowding, what potential impacts exist in their parks, what strategies are currently in place to address any potential impacts, and their perceptions of the effectiveness of these strategies. Most managers expressed concern about visitor accommodation, park facilities and staffing resources. Additionally, impacts on the natural resources and visitor experiences were identified in several parks. The impacts identified were seemingly exacerbated by the current staffing and budgetary trends among New York’s Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation, requiring managers to adapt and develop their own strategies to best combat some of the issues identified
An Assessment of the National Water Model’s Ability to Reproduce Drought Series in New York State
Get PDFAccurately quantifying the spatiotemporal extent and intensity of drought is important for water resources planning and management. The onset of drought is impacted by a multitude of meteorologic, climatologic, and anthropogenic triggers. Currently, the United States Drought Monitor (USDM) is the tool used in the United States (U.S.) to both categorize drought and allocate emergency funding based on drought categories. Two key issues with the USDM are the nonuniform scale of its input variables, and its inability to predict drought into the future. This work proposes employing output from the NOAA’s National Water Model (NWM) 25-year reanalysis to augment the USDM. A numerical comparison is presented between concurrent New York State Mesonet (Mesonet) observed and NWM simulated soil moisture data at three depths in the soil column for 119 locations across NY, and between USGS observed and NWM simulated streamflow data for 28 locations across NY. Drought categories are determined according to USDM percentile ranges based on the percentiles derived from the non- exceedance probabilities of NWM streamflow and soil moisture output and USGS streamflow data. It was determined that while there was mixed (streamflow) to poor (soil moisture) agreement between the NWM reanalysis and observational data, the NWM was generally able to reproduce the spatial extent of the 2016 drought in NY with reasonable skill, especially when using data representing deeper soil moisture. It was generally observed that NWM derived drought categories were typically more extreme than those of the USDM
NUTRITIONAL EFFECTS ON CAUSAL ORGANISMS OF BEECH BARK DISEASE IN AN AFTERMATH FOREST
Get PDFBeech bark disease (BBD) invaded North America over a century ago but is still not completely understood. This disease occurs when an invasive scale insect, Cryptococcus fagisugaLind., feeds on the inner bark and cambium of American beech (Fagus grandifolia, Ehrh.) making trees susceptible to fatal infections by Neonectria fungi. These causal agents were examined in the context of experimental additions of N and P across six northern hardwood stands in New Hampshire. Scale cover varied significantly with tree diameter (p = 0.02) but was nearly identical (0.6%) at two heights on the bole (0.5 m and 1.5 m). Nearly all Neonectria samples collected were identified as N. faginata; 3% that were N. ditissima. New lesions developed on 58% of trees, with 96% developing at or below 0.5 m. Trees receiving P additions developed 2 times as many lesions as those not receiving P (p = 0.04). These results differ from previous research reporting higher BBD severity where P was low relative to
Visual Impact Assessment: New Guidance from FHWA
Get PDFIn 2015, in response to a study conducted by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), the FHWA adopted new guidance on how to conduct an assessment of the visual impacts caused by highway projects. The new guidance replaced the agency’s original VIA process published in 1981. The older guidance was premised on the concept that scenic beauty was an attribute inherent in the landscape. It assumed that the less a landscape had been modified by human intervention—that is, the more natural it was—the greater its scenic quality. Although the 1981 FHWA VIA process recognized that people reacted to changes in the landscape, it strictly defined impacts to visual quality only as changes to existing visual resources.
The revised 2015 FHWA VIA process was premised on a very different assumption of the nature of the perception of visual quality and, subsequently, visual impacts. The new process was based on the concept of transactional perception, a concept that our perception of the environment, and consequently our assessment of visual impacts, is a result of our interaction with the environment. Visual quality was an experience that could not be isolated in the nature of the environment nor strictly “in the eye of the beholder.” It isn’t made up but it isn’t concrete, either. It is the nebulous interaction between viewers and visual resources.
The 2015 FHWA VIA process has four phases—Establishment, Inventory, Analysis, and Design. The Establishment Phase identifies the visual attributes of the proposed project, the legal and customary visual preferences of viewers, and the geographic Area of Visual Effect (AVE). The Inventory Phase identifies the visual resources as being from the natural, cultural, or project environments. It also identifies viewers as either neighbors or travelers. It concludes by defining the experience of visual quality as a composite of three components: 1) the viewer’s perception of the harmony of the AVE’s natural resources, 2) the perceived order of its cultural resources, and 3) the coherence of the resources that were used to build the highway. The Analysis Phase begins by identifying the compatibility of the visual character of the proposed project with the visual character of the surrounding landscape. It continues by identifying the sensitivity viewers will have to the changes to visual resources the project will cause. It concludes by assessing if the project will adversely or beneficially affect the experience of perceiving natural harmony, cultural order, and project coherence of neighbors and travelers. The Design Phase completes the VIA by determining methods for mitigating adverse impacts and advancing beneficial impacts to visual quality
Technologies and Practices to Reduce Impacts of Artificial Light at Night on Nightime Scenery
Get PDFArtificial light at night (ALAN) adversely impacts nighttime scenery values. Current standards for LED lighting have led to brighter nighttime lighting, using color temperatures that are more harmful to human and ecological health, and which create an exponentially larger landscape impact than historical ALAN technologies. Less-harmful LED lighting and other existing technologies can be used to control artificial light at night, creating safe and pleasing perceptual nighttime experiences while minimizing ecological impacts. Minimizing the impact of artificial light at night requires understanding new lighting technologies, and management practices that extend beyond current lighting standards. This is crucial in order to sustain and protect the visual and cultural qualities of the landscape, and the ecological functions that we enjoy and depend upon. This paper will outline how the human body perceives and is affected by light, a key component to the success of implementing light pollution mitigation; discuss existing and evolving fixture programming technologies, and present challenges faced and lessons learned in implementing new lighting standards that support visual resource stewardship
Vibratory screen system on a middle mezzanine of current walters hall
No full textA male student using a vibratory screen system in a Pulp and Paper lab on the middle mezzaanine of Walters Hall
5861 x 4577https://digitalcommons.esf.edu/paperimages/1014/thumbnail.jp
Pulp and Paper graduate student lab
No full textA male student working in the Pulp and Paper graduate student lab
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Syracuse Pulp and Paper foundation officers
No full textFive of the Syracuse Pulp and Paper foundation officers including Lamont Bidwell, Alfred G Blake, F W O\u27Neill, Walter B Morehouse and Ralph G Unger
5768 x 4258https://digitalcommons.esf.edu/paperimages/1022/thumbnail.jp
Pulp and Paper professors
No full textTwo Caucasian male professors at Pulp and Paper sitting next to each other in front of storage boxes
5924 x 4777https://digitalcommons.esf.edu/paperimages/1009/thumbnail.jp
Dr Phil Luner
No full textDr. Phil Luner working in an office
4088 x 2954https://digitalcommons.esf.edu/paperimages/1053/thumbnail.jp