As pressure on the dairy industry to reduce its environmental impact increases, efficient recycling of manure nutrients through local cropping systems becomes crucial. The aim of this study was to calculate annual nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) budgets in six counties located in the Magic Valley, Idaho and estimate what distance manure would need to be transported to be in balance with crop nutrient demand given current dairy cattle populations and cropping systems. Our analysis suggests that crop N needs will not be met solely by manure, and synthetic fertilizer will need to be applied. However, to balance P with crop production, manure would need to be transported a minimum of 12.9 km from dairies and would have to replace synthetic fertilizer P on 91% of regional cropland. Education of producers and technical specialists would be necessary to improve the management of manure use in regional cropping systems. Technical solutions such as alternative diets for cattle and nutrient capture from manure streams will also likely be necessary to bring regional P into balance to protect environmental quality and improve the sustainability of the regional dairy industry.

A naturally-occurring infestation of mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, 1902 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), in the Shattuck Arboretum on the campus of the University of Idaho, Moscow, was found to be attacking non-native conifers. The arboretum had experienced a prior infestation in similar tree species in the late 1960s (Furniss & Schenk 1969). Infested trees were harvested, and an approximately 0.3-m section of each tree was cut from a height of 10 m on the bole and maintained under laboratory conditions. All insects that emerged from the bolts were collected and identified. In the current infestation, trees successfully attacked by mountain pine beetle included jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), Austrian pine (P. nigra L.), red pine (P. resinosa Sol. Ex Alton), pitch pine (P. rigida Mill.), eastern white pine (P. strobus L.), Scots pine (P. sylvestris L.), Norway spruce (Picea abies H. Karst.) and white spruce (P. glauca (Moench) Voss). A total of 777 mountain pine beetle were captured as they emerged from the bolts, and emergence densities of the beetle were similar across tree species. Insects from three orders, 15 families and 27 species emerged from the bolts. Species richness of the emerged insect assemblages were similar across tree species. Shortleaf pine had the largest number of emerged species of insects captured, followed by white spruce and eastern white pine.

The objective of this study is to provide a framework to reconcile streamflow permanence products that provide information on whether a stream is perennial or nonperennial. Accurate classification of streams as perennial or nonperennial is important for a variety of land and water resource management decisions. However, resource managers are challenged with how to reconcile different streamflow permanence information to determine if it is sufficient to avoid field verification, which can be prohibitively costly and time consuming. The study evaluates two datasets for the Pacific Northwest Region, U.S., the National Hydrography Dataset Plus High Resolution (NHDPlus HR) hydrographic classification and the PRObability of Streamflow PERmanence (PROSPER) model output, which differ in structure, output type, and temporal and spatial resolution. The framework includes a two-level evaluation that involves assessing agreement between the two datasets and evaluating the reliability of the two datasets. Summarized at a regional scale, the two datasets agree for 68% of flowlines with higher agreement for nonperennial streams. PROSPER nonperennial stream classifications may be considered generally reliable in arid regions relative to other ecoregions within the Pacific Northwest study area but less reliable for high elevation mountain regions and larger streams and rivers. More than 75% of NHDPlusHR classifications may be considered reliable when evaluating reliability based on approximate climate conditions associated with the year that the NHDPlus HR classification was assigned. The decision procedure is reproducible, flexible to varying criteria of end user applications, and is intended to help provide cost saving opportunities for land managers by providing information for more strategic field verification of streamflow class determination based on available yet imperfect data sources.

Models of tamarisk occurrence were created on a Landsat scene by scene basis. There were six scenes modeled in total that included portions of the Dolores, Green, Gila, Verde, and Colorado River. Models were developed using a presence background approach with multi-temporal Landsat imagery and derived indices using the random forest algorithm.

This raster provides a mosaic of six Landsat scene extent model results of tamarisk occurrence for 2016. The models were developed using filtered and vetted public and private occurrence records for tamarisk in the respective Landsat scenes. The models used Landsat images and associated derived indices in a random forest model.