Little Sac Woods Metro Forest, a Land Management Methodology and Plan

The Little Sac Woods Metro Forest is a 772 acre area located in north central Greene County, Missouri. The area has been designated an urban forest by the Missouri Department of Conservation. The urban forest designation provides land use to be based on a wide variety of outdoor experiences. The purpose of this thesis was two-fold: 1) to develop a methodology to evaluate the natural resources of the area as to their suitability for various land uses and 2) to utilize the results of the methodology in writing a land management plan for the Little Sac Woods Metro Forest. Data collection was accomplished through the use of maps and the area was divided into 320 grid cells of 2.5 acres each. Land management goals were determined for the area and criteria developed for six goals. Each grid cell was rated as to its suitability for the goal. The computer played an important role in the methodology. The computer was used to manipulate data and produced ratings for the development goals on a grid cell basis. Two computer software programs: SPSS-Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and SYMAP-Synagraphic Mapping Program were used to manipulate the data and produce computer maps to illustrate the results. The results of the computer manipulation and mapping were then used to produce a land management plan for the Little Sac Woods Metro Forest. This thesis was a test to determine the feasibility of utilizing the computer in land management planning.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Geospatial Sciences

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Geography, Geology, and Planning

Year

1981

Author dc:creator

• Hough, Ronald David

Contributors dc:contributor

• David Castillon

• Earth Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• © Ronald David Hough

Repository record dc:identifier

https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/758

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-1759