The Effects of Agricultural Land Use in North Central Utah on Wildfire Conditions
Project Author
Issue Date
2023-03-24
Authors
Braverman, Jacob
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First Reader
Bethurem, Matt
Additional Readers
Swann-Quinn, Jesse
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Abstract
Wildfires in the American west have been a phenomenon that have been recorded and combated for the past hundred years. In recent years,wildfire frequency and intensity have increased, as well as national and international awareness. In the state of Utah, the situation is no different than that in other western states. With the surge of wildfires mostly attributed to climate change, I chose to examine through process tracing if the volume of agricultural land in Sanpete, Utah and Wasatch counties had an effect, adverse or not, on the volume of reported wildfires in the aforementioned counties. The three counties were chosen for their geographic location, situated in central Utah with a mix of subalpine forest and grassland steppe, where agricultural land is situated. The counties were also chosen for the density of agricultural land use, with some counties having slightly more or less than others. Examining atmospheric, wildfire and agricultural data gives a look at the role that changing ambient air temperature and precipitation play in the dynamic wildfire situation in Utah. The findings of this research may be used in the future to apply a more definite causation of growing wildfires not only in Utah, but the American west as a whole.
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Chair
Major
Environmental Science
Department
Environmental Science / Studies