Session
2025 Session 4
Location
Brigham Young University Engineering Building, Provo, UT
Start Date
5-5-2025 11:20 AM
Description
Recreation is growing in desert areas of the western United States, and mapping the expansion of these activities is vital to management and conservation efforts. Desert ecosystems provide many critical ecosystem services, including carbon storage, and the growing popularity of outdoor recreation in Western US desert regions poses a threat to these ecosystems. Unregulated recreational activities can harm desert plant and soil health, including the functioning of biological soil crusts. This research project focuses on mapping several types of popular recreational activities in order to monitor and evaluate the impact of these activities within the Indian Creek areas of Bears Ears National Monument. Mapping the presence of recreational activities is critical for devising effective conservation strategies and promoting sustainable land use in desert ecosystems. Comprehensive maps of foot trails, climbing routes, motorized off-roading trails, and campsites were created using a combination of data from recreation websites, satellite imagery, privately shared data from mapping organizations, and in-situ data collection. A literature review detailing the impacts of each of these types of recreation on desert ecosystem functioning was also performed. After quantifying and mapping all recreation in Indian Creek, researchers selected 30 study sites using these data. These study sites were later used in a more comprehensive study of the impacts of each type of recreation on desert soils and vegetation. A model of soil erosion risk in Indian Creek was also created using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, and this model was visualized as a map. Satellite imagery was also used to calculate and display average vegetation loss in the area from 2015-2021.
Mapping and Examining Recreation in Indian Creek, Bears Ears National Monument
Brigham Young University Engineering Building, Provo, UT
Recreation is growing in desert areas of the western United States, and mapping the expansion of these activities is vital to management and conservation efforts. Desert ecosystems provide many critical ecosystem services, including carbon storage, and the growing popularity of outdoor recreation in Western US desert regions poses a threat to these ecosystems. Unregulated recreational activities can harm desert plant and soil health, including the functioning of biological soil crusts. This research project focuses on mapping several types of popular recreational activities in order to monitor and evaluate the impact of these activities within the Indian Creek areas of Bears Ears National Monument. Mapping the presence of recreational activities is critical for devising effective conservation strategies and promoting sustainable land use in desert ecosystems. Comprehensive maps of foot trails, climbing routes, motorized off-roading trails, and campsites were created using a combination of data from recreation websites, satellite imagery, privately shared data from mapping organizations, and in-situ data collection. A literature review detailing the impacts of each of these types of recreation on desert ecosystem functioning was also performed. After quantifying and mapping all recreation in Indian Creek, researchers selected 30 study sites using these data. These study sites were later used in a more comprehensive study of the impacts of each type of recreation on desert soils and vegetation. A model of soil erosion risk in Indian Creek was also created using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, and this model was visualized as a map. Satellite imagery was also used to calculate and display average vegetation loss in the area from 2015-2021.