Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2006MT101B

Student Fellowship: Settlement, environment, and identity: Understanding processes of vegetative change along the Wind River

Institute: Montana
Year Established: 2006 Start Date: 2006-03-01 End Date: 2007-06-30
Total Federal Funds: $2,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: Not available

Principal Investigators: William Wyckhoff

Project Summary: 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.