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  • Book cover of From Jeremiad to Jihad

    Violence has been a central feature of America’s history, culture, and place in the world. It has taken many forms: from state-sponsored uses of force such as war or law enforcement, to revolution, secession, terrorism and other actions with important political and cultural implications. Religion also holds a crucial place in the American experience of violence, particularly for those who have found order and meaning in their worlds through religious texts, symbols, rituals, and ideas. Yet too often the religious dimensions of violence, especially in the American context, are ignored or overstated—in either case, poorly understood. From Jeremiad to Jihad: Religion, Violence, and America corrects these misunderstandings. Charting and interpreting the tendrils of religion and violence, this book reveals how formative moments of their intersection in American history have influenced the ideas, institutions, and identities associated with the United States. Religion and violence provide crucial yet underutilized lenses for seeing America anew—including its outlook on, and relation to, the world.

  • Book cover of A Model of the Productivity of the Northern Pintail
  • Book cover of A Model of the Productivity of the Northern Pintail
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    This report provides a strategic approach developed by a Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies interagency working group for conservation of sagebrush ecosystems, Greater sage-grouse, and Gunnison sage-grouse. It uses information on (1) factors that influence sagebrush ecosystem resilience to disturbance and resistance to nonnative invasive annual grasses and (2) distribution and relative abundance of sage-grouse populations to address persistent ecosystem threats, such as invasive annual grasses and wildfire, and land use and development threats, such as oil and gas development and cropland conversion, to develop effective management strategies. A sage-grouse habitat matrix links relative resilience and resistance of sagebrush ecosystems with modeled sage-grouse breeding habitat probabilities to help decisionmakers assess risks and determine appropriate management strategies at both landscape and site scales. Areas for targeted management are assessed by overlaying matrix components with Greater sage-grouse Priority Areas for Conservation and Gunnison sage-grouse critical habitat and linkages, breeding bird concentration areas, and specific habitat threats. Decision tools are discussed for determining the suitability of target areas for management and the most appropriate management actions. A similar approach was developed for the Great Basin that was incorporated into the Federal land use plan amendments and served as the basis of a Bureau of Land Management Fire and Invasives Assessment Tool, which was used to prioritize sage-grouse habitat for targeted management activities.

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    I adapted an existing stochastic computer model to simulate productivity of the northern pintail (Anas acuta). The existing model was developed for the mallard (A. platyrhynchos) by researchers at the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.Information on the breeding biology of the pintail was obtained from a thorough literature review and discussions with waterfowl biologists. I compared all variables and parameters in the mallard model with available data for pintails. I evaluated mallard model functions for nest initiation in response to pond conditions, and nest site selection for their suitability to pintails. I adjusted all biological input variables and parameters for mallards, including initial body weights,weight loss during laying and incubation, incubation time, clutch size,and nest site selection characteristics to model pintails. The function for nest initiation in response to pond conditions adequately mimicked pintail behavior.