Research, Education & Technical Assistance

NEWSLETTER Fall 2019

RM-CESU NEWS & EVENTS The Cooperative Ecosystems Network Celebrated Its 20th Birthday at the 15th Biennial Conference of Science & Management on the Colorado Plateau & Southwest Region, on September 9-12, 2019 There was much celebrating in Flagstaff Arizona by the three regional CESU reps at this meeting: Rocky Mountains, Colorado Plateau and Desert Southwest. It started with individual business meetings and then a joint discussion by the three regional CESUs. Both the Colorado Plateau and the Rocky Mountains CESUs were among the inaugural four CESUs started in 1999.

During the RM-CESU business meeting we discussed current issues, and scheduled follow-up e-mail votes for some decisions. There was support for the “new logo” that coordinates with the National CESU logo, to include images of a river and a grizzly bear. The Partners of the Colorado Plateau, Desert Southwest and Rocky Mountains CESUs discuss shared issues at the Joint CESU Meeting RM-CESU executive coordinator, Lisa Gerloff, asked in Flagstaff, AZ. for input on modernizing the web site, especially concerning research needs and partner expertise.

In the afternoon of the “side meeting” day, the three regional CESUs joined together to share updates and to find out about Federal Partner news. A highlight of the joint CESU meeting was a presentation by the RM-CESU student award winner, Kimberly Verhoeven, who worked on an architecture project at University of Colorado Denver, sponsored by the NPS-Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) program at a BLM archeology site in SW Colorado (see following article).

On the first day of the full science conference, the three regional CESUs joined together in the session: Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units –successes in long-term science-management partnerships. This session was introduced by the National CESU Network Coordinator, Tom Fish. The balance of the session was a discussion of recent events (e.g. the approval of another five year agreement for the Colorado Plateau and the Rocky Mountains CESUs), and highlights of some projects and issues from each of the three CESUs. We hope to gather together for the next CESU milestone, maybe the 30th anniversary of the CESU Network? See full conference schedule and abstracts. Rocky Mountains CESU announces 2019 Student Award recipient Each year the RM-CESU recognizes the outstanding contribution of student(s) on a RM-CESU project. The recipient of the 2019 Student Award is Kimberly Verhoeven, University Colorado Denver, for her contributions to the CESU project: NPS Historic American Building Survey (HABS) - Documentation of Lowry Pueblo, Cortez, CO, August 2016 – March 2019. Kimberly’s work used LiDAR imagery and archival drawings to document the remains of the prehistoric pueblo found at the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.

She was nominated for this award by Kat Vlahos, Director, and Michael Nulty, Documentation Coordinator, of the Denver Center for Preservation Research. In their nomination, Nulty and Vlahos noted that “Kimberly played a critical role in delivering the final HABS drawings for the project. The goal to develop a well-crafted and complete set of drawings was achieved by using her background in both architecture and historic preservation, an important combination for this type of project. Her Kimberly Verhoeven, the 2019 RM-CESU Student Award recipient ability to master both the new technology and the craft of drawing was exceptional. The drawings show well-crafted, accurate and beautiful drawings that exceed HABS standards.” Nulty and Vlahos went on to report, “this project also provides an important case study on how to document and stabilize a public use site. Kimberley’s work on the project have allowed the BLM a way to better understand the site and implement the use of new technologies. This approach, in turn, leads directly to exploring new opportunities in resource management.”

Congratulations Kimberly, this recognition is well deserved!

Save the Date: 2020 Rocky Mountain National Park Research Conference will be held in Estes Park, Co on March 10-11, 2020!

When: March 10-11, 2020 Where: Estes Valley Community Center, 660 Community Drive, Estes Park, CO The conference theme is: Continual Change, Collaborative Stewardship

The Rocky Mountain National Park Research Conference:

• promotes collaboration between the park and its partners • provides a forum for researchers and park staff to share discoveries • highlights the past, current, and future issues relevant to park management • creates opportunities for young professionals and scientists to engage with park staff and the public • encourages dialog between the park, the public, students, and scientists • see information on past research conferences

A Request for Abstracts (posters and presentations) will be sent out in early October for researchers and collaborators who are currently working in Rocky or the region or have completed work in the past few years.

This conference, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Conservancy, is free and open to all. If you have questions, please contact: Carissa Turner, Science Communication Coordinator, [email protected]

2 RM-CESU Partners Meet for the Annual Science and Management Workshop of the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation (WPEF): The Far View from the Mountaintops: Meshing Past and Present Whitebark Pine Science, Management, and Cultural Significance at Salish Kootenai College

This conference, held on Friday Sept 13 2019, was hosted by the Salish Kootenai College (SKC), the Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribe (CSKT), and the Northern Rocky Mountain Fire Science Network, along with WPEF. The organizer of this meeting was Rick Everett, Department of Natural Resources, Salish Kootenai College. There were more than 85 attendees to the conference who discussed whitebark pine ecology and management, along with information on the cultural significance of whitebark pine to the Confederated Salish Kootenai tribe. The RM-CESU partners were legion at this meeting, with delegations of scientists and Field Trip to Three Lakes Peak, Flathead Indian Reservation, Photo Credit: managers from the USFS, NPS, CSKT, Mary Auld, Valley Journal SKC and the RM-CESU regional universities, including, University of Idaho, Montana State, University of Montana, Utah State and University of Colorado Denver.

The conference started with a Keynote talk on fire regimes and forest management by Dr. Penny Morgan, University of Idaho. The rest of the morning speakers discussed issues associated with whitebark pine restoration and current status in the west. The afternoon was devoted to whitebark pine and its cultural significance, education, and communication. Tony Incashola Sr., CSKT, covered Salish cultural use, Mike Durglo, CSKT, discussed whitebark pine significance and education on the Flathead Indian Reservation. Tony Incashola Jr., and James Lozeau (both from CSKT Forestry) updated us on whitebark pine management on CSKT forests.

On Saturday the group visited a culturally important stand of whitebark pine at Three Lakes Peak area on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

See list of speakers and topics. There was coverage of the conference and a scrap book of photos in the Valley Journal, Ronan. MT .

RM-CESU PROJECT SPOTLIGHT University of Colorado Boulder Researcher Investigates Lakes at Treeline in Rocky Mountain National Park The Continental Divide Research Learning Center at Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) is tasked with getting the “science done” with partners to understand changes in park ecosystems due to climate warming and migration of treeline into the alpine. They worked with Kim Vincent, Ph.D. student at University of Colorado

3 Boulder (and her advisor, Tim Seastedt) to design a study to look at lake productivity (as measured by chlorophyll a) above and below the treeline. This arrangement between agency and university was made possible (and in a timely way) through the Rocky Mountains CESU.

The two types of lakes surveyed during this study can be seen in the photos below: alpine lakes are known for their extreme environments of cold temperatures, intense ultraviolet light, short growing seasons, and low nutrient contents. Lakes located below treeline, but above the montane zone (subalpine lakes), are generally warmer in temperature and have been found to have higher concentrations of dissolved organic carbon than alpine lakes. To make this comparison the researcher made two sampling visits to 16 lakes in drainages within RMNP and the Snowy Range in Wyoming, that spanned the elevation gradient between the alpine and treeline: one in the beginning of the growing season and one at the end.

Photographs of an alpine lake on the left (Cony Lake, RMNP) and subalpine lake (Mills Lake, RMNP) on the right. Both lakes were surveyed in this study. Credit: Kim Vincent

To make this project happen, the investigator, Kim Vincent, recruited undergraduates and graduate students to do the “heavy lifting” and backpacking into remote lakes in the park. This feature of RM-CESU projects – the involvement of many students in field and lab work – is a significant positive outcome of these agreements.

The study did not show large differences in productivity and cyanobacteria abundance between the two classes of lakes. However, there were large differences in lake productivity between the early and late season samplings. The student investigator concluded that increased dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in the subalpine lakes was not sufficient to impede photosynthesis. Climate change is likely to affect alpine lakes in the Rocky Mountains, but not via changes in DOC concentrations, and related changes in Prepping the Alpaca raft for water sampling at phototrophy. Lion Lake II in RMNP with Adalee Darling, undergraduate crew member, Credit: Kim For more information on research going on at RMNP, go to Vincent https://www.nps.gov/rlc/continentaldivide/research-highlights.htm .

Boise State University Partners with the National Park Service, through the Rocky Mountains CESU, to Develop Methods to Assess the Possible Impact of Climate Change on Cultural Resources: Boise State University, in partnership with the National Park Service, is investigating the vulnerability of cultural and historic resources in National Park units due to climate change. In spring 2019, Associate Professor Pei-Lin Yu 4 from the Boise State Department of Anthropology worked with the National Park Service’s Climate Change Response Program to author a national analysis of cultural heritage vulnerability reports in national parks.

To build on the report’s recommendations for best practices and address data gaps, Pei-Lin Yu and anthropology master’s student Jennifer Cuthbertson conducted a workshop for park managers and scientists in Santa Fe and Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico, in June 2019. These projects were funded through the Rocky Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit agreement.

The workshop was led by faculty at Boise State, the University of Arizona and the Workshop participants assessing the vulnerability of cultural resources in University of Pennsylvania, and was designed the field, Bandelier National Monument, 2019. Photo: P. Yu. to help park science staff and managers develop methods to conduct vulnerability assessments that are integrated across natural ecosystems and cultural heritage. The immediate objective of the workshop was to build a “community of practice” for parks, regional technical support offices, and research partners in universities and non-governmental organizations. And these methods were tested in the field at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico, home to an ancient ancestral Puebloan community.

This RM CESU project will ultimately result is a vulnerability assessment guidebook for park managers and partners. This will allow individual parks to know how to respond to fires, floods, debris flows and other extreme climate events to protect irreplaceable cultural resources.

CALENDAR:

October 23-26, 2019: The 2019 National Wilderness Workshop, Bend Oregon. The conferences/workshops provide a great way for stewardship groups around the country to connect with each other and with key wilderness specialists in the federal land management agencies.

November 18-22, 2019: 8th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress, Tucson, AZ. This conference hosted by the Association for Fire Ecology in cooperation with the Southwest Fire Science Consortium, will redefine the ecological concept of pyrodiversity to explore cross-cutting issues across a variety of disciplines.

March 8-13, 2020: 85th North American Wildlife & Natural Resources Conference, Omaha, NE. Conference attendees include the administrators of federal, state and provincial wildlife and other natural resource agencies, college and university program leaders, heads of leading private conservation organizations, and other managers, scientists, researchers, officials and students of natural resources. The conference is a regular gathering of professionals to learn and exchange ideas, through a formal program, related meetings and other scheduled business, social and educational events.

March 19-26, 2020: Symposium on Science and Stewardship to Protect and Sustain Wilderness Values: 11th World Wilderness Congress, Jaipur India.

5 April 22-26, 2020: Society for American Archaeology 85th Annual Conference, Austin, TX. SAA's Annual Meeting brings together the archaeological community to share ideas, best practices, and state of the art knowledge; meet and network in interest groups, panels, symposia, and committees; and to celebrate their field.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES For details, visit Job Opportunities

Assistant Professor- Coupled Human-Natural Systems Modeling and Analysis, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO (screening begins 11/1/2019)

Postdoctoral Research Associate – Center on American Politics, University of Denver, Denver, CO (screening begins 11/1/2019)

Professor – Geosciences, Boise State University, Boise, ID (closes 10/31/2019)

Assistant Professor of Sedimentological Processes and Records, Utah State University, Logan, UT (screening begins 10/31/2019)

CIRES/EARTH LAB Social and Economic Impacts of Extremes – Post-Doc, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO (screening begins 10/18/2019)

CIRES/EARTH LAB Carbon Dynamics across Disturbance Legacies in the Western US Forests Post-Doc, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO (screening begins 10/18/2019)

CIRES/EARTH LAB Frontiers in Teaching & Learning Earth Data Science Post-Doc, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO (screening begins 10/18/2019)

Assistant Professor-GIScience, Department of Geography, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO (screening begins 10/15/2019)

Assistant Professor, Fish Ecology and Management, Utah State University, Logan, UT (screening begins 10/10/2019)

Assistant Professor in Water Quality (Extension and Research, Utah State University, Logan, UT (screening begins 10/8/2019)

If you would like to post an announcement in the next RM-CESU Newsletter or on the website, please contact the RM-CESU Coordinator at [email protected].

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