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Research about San Carlos Indian Reservation

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including San Carlos Indian Reservation.

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BIA interpretation techniques for vegetation mapping using thematic mapper false color composites (interim report for San Carlos Reservation)

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is responsible for the natural resource management of approximately 52 million acres of Trust lands in the contiguous United States. The lands are distributed in a "patchwork" fashion throughout the country. Management responsibilities on these areas include: minerals, range, timber, fish and wildlife, agricultural, cultural, and archaeological resources. In an age of decreasing natural resources and increasing natural resource values, effective multiple resource management is critical. BIA has adopted a "systems approach" to natural resource management which utilizes Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. The GIS encompasses a continuum of spatial and relational data elements, and included functional capabilities such as: data collection, data entry, data base development, data analysis, data base management, display, and report generalization. In support of database development activities, BIA and BLM/TGS conducted a cooperative effort to investigate the potential of 1:100,000 scale Thematic Mapper (TM) False Color Composites (FCCs) for providing vegetation information suitable for input to the GIS and to later be incorporated as a generalized Bureau wide land cover map. Land cover information is critical as the majority of reservations currently have no land cover information in either map or digital form. This poster outlines an approach which includes the manual interpretation of land cover using TM FCCs, the digitizing of interpreted polygons, and the editing of digital data, used upon ground truthing exercises. An efficient and cost-effective methodology for generating large area land cover information is illustrated for the Mineral Strip area on the San Carlos Indian Reservation in Arizona. Techniques which capitalize on the knowledge of the local natural resources professionals, while minimizing machine processing requirements, are suggested.

Arizona

Management of flood-plain vegetation, 1967 to 1972, San Carlos Indian Reservation, Arizona

During 1967-71, 15,800 acres of flood-plain vegetation were cleared from a 26-mile reach of the Gila River valley and a 9-mile reach of the San Carlos River valley. Both areas are on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, Arizona. The area cleared in the Gila River valley included the Gila River Phreatophyte Project and the clearing was conducted as prescribed by the experimental design of that research program. Establishment of replacement vegetation was attempted on the cleared areas with indifferent success. The report outlines methods used to remove the vegetation and to discourage its subsequent regrowth. Costs of the clearing operation are given by vegetation type, and descriptions of the procedures used for establishing new vegetation are given. Clearing and subsequent maintenance of parts of the flood plain were hampered by channel clogging and subsequent flooding of adjacent areas. Part of the area selected for clearing lies within the San Carlos Reservoir. The wide range of water level in the reservoir further aggravated maintenance of an inflow channel. Both draglines and a dredge were used to open a channel to the reservoir. Because the flow of the Gila River is intermittent, vegetation becomes established in the channel at the head of the reservoir during periods of no flow. The report concludes that the presence of the vegetation promotes silt deposition and further clogging. Inflow channel maintenance is a persistent problem that will require well-planned repetitive clearing of vegetation at the head of the reservoir.

Arizona