PERCEPTIONS ABOUT CROP YIELDS AND LOSSES TO WHITE-TAILED DEER ON FARMS SURROUNDING GETTYSBURG NATIONAL MILITARY PARK

Our objectives were to determine the perceptions of farm operators concerning crop yields, and effects of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on crop lands surrounding Gettysburg Park. The survey consisted of 4 multiple-choice and 5 fill-in questions. Questions were developed to gauge land area planted and harvested by crop type, relative severity of impacts to crops by 8 wildlife species, and amount of crop production lost to deer. Questions were also included to quantify perceptions on the 5-year trend in deer numbers, respondent\u27s wishes for future deer numbers, and the number and type of people permitted to hunt deer on the farms

SHIRAS MOOSE IN IDAHO: STATUS AND MANAGEMENT

Limited data indicate that Shiras moose (Alces alces shirasi) occurred in low numbers in Idaho throughout the 19th century. Harvest was allowed in Idaho during 1893-1898, after which seasons were closed. Shiras moose were fully protected in Idaho from 1899-1945. Moose populations increased during the 20th century and harvest seasons resumed in 1946. Harvest has focused on mature males, allowing continued population growth through the end of the 20th century. Rapid population growth during 1980-2000 resulted in moose dispersing westward from the Rocky Mountains and southward from the Panhandle region of Idaho. The management goal for moose in Idaho is to provide opportunities for recreational hunting and harvest of mature male moose. Although some managers assess moose populations directly by aerial survey, most managers rely on indirect measurements (e.g., hunter success rate and antler spread of bulls harvested) to assess the impact of harvest on moose populations. Other population indicators (e.g., dispersal into previously unoccupied areas, damage to private property) have been used as indicators of social tolerance for expanding moose populations. Where moose have approached the limit of social tolerance, attempts to stabilize or reduce populations by harvest of females and translocation of ‘problem’ moose have been utilized. Both a historic perspective of moose abundance and a revised statewide population estimate are provided

Infrastructure support for predictable policy enforcement

Component and service-based application infrastructures provide mechanisms for efficiently composing a system from a diverse collection of components and services. However, because of the lack of insight into the components and services within the application, integrating changes can be challenging. One class of change that we perceive as being both common and necessary is in the area of policy adherence (i.e., the constraints on a system’s behavior that are imposed across the system). Unless the mechanisms that implement the policy are well isolated from the core application logic, any upgrade to the policy can have a ripple effect through the system. For systems that require robust certification, this ripple effect hampers the ability to rapidly deploy changes in policy. In this paper we highlight some patterns for separating policy adherence from application core logic, and discuss how these patterns can be mapped to commercially available infrastructures. By realizing these patterns as common infrastructure extensions, we allow applications to be developed in a manner consistent with the commercial infrastructure, provide the power of policy enforcement mechanisms to the system developers, and separate the policy enforcement logic from core application functionality. 1

STATUS AND MANAGEMENT OF MOOSE IN MASSACHUSETTS

Moose (Alces alces) have inhabited Massachusetts at various times both before and since the colonial period. However, moose were extirpated with the advent of agricultural and land clearing in the early to mid-1800’s. as agriculture faded in the 1900’s, moose returned to Massachusetts. In recent years sightings of moose have increased dramatically with most occurring during late summer to autumn. Many moose sighted are dispersing young bulls, although reports of calf and cow groups have been increasing. Man's activities, including urbanization, agriculture and high speed automobile travel, make much of Massachusetts unsuitable for both moose ecologically and from a human cultural perspective. Automobile strikes, crop damage and nuisance complaints have increased along with sightings. The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW) has developed a moose response protocol and coordinates response activities with other state and local agencies. The current response protocol, molded by public and political constraints, includes monitoring and hazing, immobilization and translocation, and euthanasia depending on potential threats to public safety

Container services for high confidence software

Abstract. For high-confidence systems, substantial effort is expended to ensure that the system will behave in an expected manner. This paper presents the position that a commercial off the shelf Enterprise JavaBeans ™ (EJB™) container can be extended to constrain the behavior of high confidence software. These extensions are based on techniques that are not new; developers of high confidence software use these techniques already. We discuss how adding services to the container allows verification and validation of high confidence properties to be performed at the container level where they will require less revalidation when business logic changes. We present two examples of container augmentations, one based on communication mediators and one based on application monitors. These examples illustrate how method-level preconditions and postconditions, and application-level invariants can be asserted by an EJB container. 1