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Abstracts of Papers Presented 1999 APCG Meeting, Reno, Nevada DOROTHY ALBRIGHT Fire Response GIS Application Geographic information system (GIS) support for the Incident Command System (ICS) has been evolving over the past several years. The U.S. Forest Service and Firefighting Resources of California Organized for Potential Emergencies (FIRESCOPE) are spearheading an effort to create a standard approach to the problem. The result is an application designed to streamline the process to map and produce products for fire suppression. The application is a customized version of ARCVIEW, an off-the-shelf product widely used in the fire management community. A product suite of maps and reports hasbeen developed that provides critical decision support tools for both field and command staff. This effort also will provide a platform for modeling programs such as FARSITE that require GIS inputs. Many agencies are involved in this effort, developing standardized framework data, fuel inventories, deployment protocols, and ICS position descriptions. Long-term goals also include integration of real-time infrared fire perimeter mapping. JAMES P. ALLEN, California State University, Northridge Studying Ethnic Patterns in Local Areas Geographers have much to offer local communities. Other academics and the public are eager to see maps of and learn about their locality. Because making maps is the one distinctive thing that geographers do, it makes sense for geography departments to produce an abundance of local area maps covering a range of topics relevant to people's lives. The second task is to learn as much as possible so as to be able to explain the patterns on the map in nonacademic publications and in talks to local audiences. I provide examples of local area map-making, research, and teaching on ethnic populations, an especially hot topic in my locality, greater Los Angeles. NATALYA V. ANTONOVA and DAVID O. WALLIN, Western Washington University Mapping Potential Ferruginous Hawk Habitat Using Satellite Data Land-use change in the western United States is one of the major factors affecting the structure and function of natural systems. In recent decades, the lands of northwestern Utah have undergone tremendous changes, 167 168 APCG YEARBOOK •Volume 62 •2000 resulting from grazing, increased recreational use, and replacement of natural plant communities by exotic species. The land-use and biological changes greatly influence wildlife habitat distribution and abundance, eventually resulting in habitat alteration and loss. Vegetation structure and patterning are important factors in predicting wildlife habitat quality and distribution. This research attempts to map potential habitat for ferruginous hawk populations in northwestern Utah based on the spatial pattern of vegetation derived from satellite imagery. Using 1993 imagery, a vegetation cover classification of the 2,500 ha study area in northwestern Utah is developed. The classification results are then used to develop a model of ferruginous hawk habitat and determine habitat's distribution and abundance. The methodology used in this research tests the utility of remotely sensed data in assessing vegetation structure and patterning. The results provide information for management of wildlife habitat in the study area. MIKE APPLEGARTH, Arizona State University Use of Debris Characteristics and Soil Development to Assess Stability on Bedrock Hillslopes, South Phoenix, Arizona I used debris characteristics and soil catenas to assess the surface stability of some bedrock hillslopes in south Phoenix, Arizona. With growth occurring in many metropolitan areas of the desert Southwest, urban development is progressively expanding out of the central valleys and into the foothills of surrounding mountains. Problems associated with slope instability and overland flow may arise at those structures built near or on these hillslopes. Change in characteristics of debris mantles downslope aid in determining the presence of fluvial and colluvial processes along a slope. Soil catenas allow an interpretation of variations in soils and soil development along a slope. Data acquired indicate that the slopes assessed are stable in their present conditions and apparently adjusted to contemporary hillslope processes. Debris mantle characteristics show little change with slope position, and soils developed at lower slope positions exhibit signs of increased development including carbonate and clay accumulation. Furthermore, many grussified clasts found in the soilprofiles indicate that in situ weathering is occurring. Results suggest that this fieldbased technique is one method available to evaluate surface stability on slopes...

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