Improving Seeding and Mulching Specifications In West Virginia and Creating a Materials Estimate Tool

Vegetation is established following construction through various seeding and mulching practices. Environmental permits in West Virginia require a minimum of 70% of ground cover by area for release of a construction site. The West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH), like many other states, has specifications for temporary and permanent seeding and mulching practices. This research critically evaluated the best management practices (BMPs) utilized in the WVDOH specifications, developed recommended revisions to the specifications, and created supplemental materials for future application.;Recommended revisions to the WVDOH include: topsoil, improved soil tests, rolled erosion control products (RECPs), biological growth stimulants (BGSs), hydraulic growth mediums (HGMs), and different types of hydraulic erosion control products (HECPs). Topsoil contains many important properties for the establishment and longevity of vegetation, such as organic matter, water, minerals, and microorganisms. BGSs are a source for organic matter and other important nutrients for vegetation. HGMs are products that can be used as a direct topsoil replacement in areas topsoil may not be available. Soil testing determines the amount of soil amendments to add to the soil for optimal vegetation results, such as limestone, fertilizer, and organic matter. Mulching procedures, such as HECPs and RECPs, were added based on their effectiveness in erosion prevention during seed germination and long term vegetation establishment. The most effective methods in each of the BMPs were added to a revised version of the WVDOH specifications.;A materials estimate tool was created to assist in the application of the revised specifications. The tool takes information about a construction area to determine the most cost effective method of seeding and mulching. The tool compares different methods within the revised specifications to guide a user to choose the most efficient practices for a site. The tool creates a custom output to allow a user to create a detailed cost analysis of applying the seeding and mulching BMPs within the revised specifications to a construction site. Three case studies were developed with this research to show the applicability of the tool. The results of the case studies show the price comparisons of applying seeding and mulching to each site

Rural environmental concern: Effects of position, partisanship and place

The social bases of environmental concern in rural America resemble those for the nation as a whole, but also reflect the influence of place. Some general place characteristics, such as rates of population growth or resource-industry employment, predict responses across a number of environmental issues. Other unique or distinctive aspects of local society and environment matter as well. We extend earlier work on both kinds of place effects, first by analyzing survey data from northeast Oregon. Results emphasize that “environmental concern” has several dimensions. Second, we contextualize the Oregon results using surveys from other regions. Analysis of an integrated dataset (up to 12,000 interviews in 38 U.S. counties) shows effects from respondent characteristics and political views, and from county rates of population growth and resource-based employment. There also are significant place-to-place variations that are not explained by variables in the models. To understand some of these we return to the local scale. In northeast Oregon, residents describe how perceptions of fire danger from unmanaged forest lands shape their response to the word conservation. Their local interpretation contrasts with more general and urban connotations of this term, underlining the importance of place for understanding rural environmental concern

An empirical analysis of a submarine motion model

This report describes an empirical analysis of a motion model that has been used to generate random submarine tracks for an antisubmarine warfare tactical decision aid. The model describes a submarine's motion as a series of transitions between the square cells of a grid that covers a defined operating region. A 3 x 3 transition matrix is associated with each cell of the grid which determines the submarine's transitions from a cell. The set of transition matrices define a Markov process. Despite its discrete nature, this Markov track generating process has been called a diffusion process in antisubmarine warfare tactical decision aid literature. The transition matrices are determined by tracks generated by an auxiliary stochastic process that is presumed to be of higher fidelity but more costly to implement than the Markov processPrepared for: Naval Air Development Center, Johnsville, Pennsylvaniahttp://archive.org/details/empiricalanalysi00forrO&MN, Direct FundingN