View thesis.
Juniper woodland expansion in the western United States is thought to result in increased wildfires throughout its range and has prompted land managers to search for effective fuel control methods. Recently, mechanical shredding (Bull Hog ®) has been used to reduce juniper trees to a mulch residue on or around the juniper mound. On hillslopes, tracking from rubber tires or steel tracks could potentially increase runoff and sediment yield while the tree mulch residue could decrease them. We investigated soil compaction and hydrologic responses from mechanical shredding on a gravelly loam soil with a 15% slope in the Onaqui Mountains of Utah