The following chapters attempt to show the work that has been done toward restoration, preservation, and marking of historic spots in Texas by patriotic societies, individuals, civic groups, the Centennial Commission, and other agencies. It has not been the purpose of the writer to go into details regarding every one of the sites and individual markers, especially in instances in which several of the same type were erected. In such cases a general description of the markers is given, together with a general idea of the type of inscription that appears on them. Since so much was done by the Centennial Commission, more attention has been devoted to its activities than to those of other organizations unable to carry out such an extensive program...in many instances it has been necessary to rely upon information from magazines, newspapers, Chamber of Commerce bulletins, pamphlets, and personal letters, because of lack of recorded materials. The information obtained, however, has been weighed and carefully compared with other sources on the same subject until its authenticity is assured.

The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether or not Denton County gained or lost from the construction of Lake Dallas from the tax valuation standpoint.

"The Tennessee Valley Authority is a world example of the full development of a river basin in soil conservation, flood control, navigation, electric power, afforestation, and recreation... Many river basin areas in the United States have created planning commissions to further develop the advancement of their own watershed problems. The Trinity Improvement Association is the planning commission for the Trinity River watershed area... In Chapter II a factual resume of the Tennessee Valley Authority will be given, and this chapter will be used as a basis of comparison for the development of the Trinity River Basin. Chapter III covers the problem of soil conservation and flood control within the watershed area; Chapter IV deals with the industrial and municipal use of water and the resources of the tributary area; Chapter V contains a brief history of the canal movement on the Trinity, the feasibility of such a canal, and miscellaneous developments; and Chapter VI contains the conclusions that it seems appropriate to draw. " -- leaf 1.

"The development of newspapers in Dallas can be classified into certain definite dates: 1849-1865---the founding of the first newspaper to the Reconstruction period following the Civil War; 1865-1885--the postwar period and the expansion of newspapers; 1885-1906--the development of the present newspapers, the Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times Herald, and others; 1906-1942--the advent of sensational journalism and the emergence of the newspaper as big business; and 1942 to the present--a decade of unprecedented growth and entrenchment."--leaf iv.

"The area of study was restricted to those common flowering herbs of Denton County, Texas, which have conspicuous flowers or a conspicuous flower cluster. There were, however, many plants included in this flora which are common to several counties of north-central Texas. Since there has been no previous key devised for the herbs of Denton County, Texas, the purpose of this key was to provide a flora which could be used by elementary and high school instructors, as well as any other interested persons who lack an extensive knowledge of botanical nomenclature." -- leaf iv.

"As a means of defining the purpose of the problem, the following objectives were considered: (1) to list the species of birds observed in Denton and neighboring counties; (2) to assign a descriptive status to each species; (3) to estimate the relative abundance of each species (4) to annotate the list with data from other sources, when additional data provide a more accurate and complete description of the status of the species in Denton County; (5) to designate the section of the county in which each species was most frequently observed; and (6) to briefly summarize the changes in bird populations during the period 1950-1956, and to suggest some hypotheses which help explain these changes." -- leaf 6.

This thesis analyzes the movement for Trinity River improvement and describes the methods used to promote the project.

The purpose of the present study of the herpetofauna was to obtain additional information regarding the vertebrates of Denton County, and to produce a well-preserved, cataloged collection of the amphibians and reptiles for the Museum of Zoology, North Texas State University. An understanding of the vertebrate life of the county also involves an investigation of the habitats within the county that may, in part, count for the distribution of these animals. It is well recognized that the environmental areas of the county have altered vastly during the last one hundred years. This alteration is due largely to agriculture and industry. However, there are adequate numbers of natural environments, as well as newly created ones that may contribute to the distribution of the vertebrates at the present time. Therefore, the problem not only concerned the collection of specimens, but also the identification, abundance classification, general habitat classifications, and county distribution.

This thesis studies and explores the history of the highway system in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Various laws enacted to establish an effective transportation system are discussed including the different government agencies affected and their relations.

"In the first fifty years of the twentieth century, Denton County's chief asset was the fertility of its land. Today the county's main asset is still its land but for a different reason. As industry decentralizes, as the city populace searches for new areas of settlement, as the county's educational institutions expand, as investors look for new tracts of land, as builders construct large interstate highways, and as digging machines create lakes and recreational areas, the principal asset of the county becomes the non-agrarian utility of its land. Accompanying this land value shift has been an occupational change."-- leaf 103.

"This paper analyzes the decision making processes in the federal system through a case study, that of the Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport controversy, and reveals the role of the many governments and interest groups involved. ...In this study the background of conflict is reviewed, after which the CAB [Civil Aeronautics Board] decision, accomplishments and problems are discussed. The presentation will reflect the cooperative role of all governments in the federal system, plus pressure groups that contribute to decision-making in the federal system."-- leaves 2,13.

This thesis describes the present nature of one facet of some of the flood plain forest stands in Denton County, Texas. The specific purpose was to demonstrate the presence or absence of difference between the Celtis laevigata (commonly known as the hackberry, southern hackberry or sugarberry) populations in stands on Denton Creek and Elm Fork of the Trinity River.

The effects of thermal discharges on the density, distribution, production, and drift of benthic organisms were studied at North Lake reservoir.

This study compares the staff structures and the employment opportunities of Dallas area businesspapers and company publications. The study has five main purposes. They are (1) to examine the staff organization of various Dallas area business publications, (2) to examine the job roles and responsibilities within each type of publication, (3) to determine the education requirements for employees, (4) to determine the experience requirements for employees, and (5) to evaluate business and industrial journalism as a career choice for journalism graduates in the Dallas area.

The problem with which this investigation was concerned was the comparison of cedar elm populations in different stands along creeks in Denton County, Texas, and the relationship of certain population parameters to various substrates present at stand sites, Parameters investigated eluded average basal area, basal-area density, transect-segment density, intertree distance, lateral distance, frequency, diameter breast-high, diameter breast-high size-class distribution, and immature-tree density. Variations among populations of Ulmus crassifolia Nutt were noted and analyzed in terms of soil particle size and existing community conditions.

Analysis of larval fish collected at four stations in a 330-ha cooling reservoir indicated Dorosoma spp. were most numerous at all stations, followed by Lepomis spp. and Percina Macrolepida. Largest numbers and greatest diversity of larval fish were found at the station least affected by thermal effluent; the mid-lake station provided the smallest numbers and least diversity. The two warmwater stations were intermediate, with similar numbers and diversity. Diversity and abundance of zooplankton between stations were similar to those of fish. The most abundant zooplankter (Bosmina) was generally selected against by Dorosoma, Lepomis and Micropterus spp. larvae except when the larvae were quite small ((10mm). Cyclopoid copepods were most often selected by all larvae.

An environmental evaluation concerning land designated for park and recreation development was conducted in Flower Mound, Texas. Results were compared with the findings of a public opinion survey of the citizenry of Flower Mound. The first section is an introduction to land use and recreation planning. Section two presents a review of pertinent literature concerning environmental evaluation and recreation and recreation planning. Third is a brief description of Flower Mound, Texas, and existing park properties. The fourth section discusses both the environmental evaluation and the survey research techniques employed. Results of the environmental evaluation are examined in section five. The public opinion survey results are discussed in the sixth section. Flower Mound is fortunate to have a number of sites suitable for recreational development. If recreational development is to be successful and satisfactory to the users, decisions will need to be made in an organized fashion. Park and recreation planning should be incorporated within a general land use planning framework.

The Trinity River passes through the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex receiving point and non-point source contaminant loadings. Lepomis spp. were collected at twelve sampling locations in the Trinity River in August 1987 and September 1988 and analyzed for organochlorine pesticides and heavy metals. Results from the study were compared to existing U.S. FDA action and tolerance levels, LC50s, and historical data. Various longitudinal trends and some concentration patterns were observed. Continual study of pesticide and metal body burdens in fish allow testing for trends, and thereby, lead to a better understanding of the distribution of contaminants in the Trinity River.

Nutrients are of critical concern in water quality assessment. The development of empirical models to estimate mean nutrient concentrations, based on satellite derived land use, could aid water resource managers. Models using land use acreages outperformed those using percentages, and discrete urban land uses were superior to lumped urban. Regressions of the combinations of two, three and four of the eight possible land use variables were investigated. Sensitivity analyses, with one stream deleted each series, identified robust combinations of variables at each level. Although uncertainty exists regarding the final regression coefficients, five of the six actual measured nitrate and total phosphorus mean concentrations were within the 95 percent confidence limits.

This project demonstrates the construction of a land planning geographic information system (GIS) for Tarrant County, and explores how the technology could be used to select sites for a county wide open space preservation plan. As Texas' Tarrant County continues to undergo rapid change due to growth and expansion, the need for proactive, resourceful community planning is greater than ever. One crucial issue facing the region is how to preserve open areas that serve the county's citizens' ecological, recreational, cultural and economic needs. In order to assess how much open space is needed and which sites should be considered for special attention, large amounts of varied spatial information must be analyzed. The answer to effectively dealing with such data sets is a geographic information system (GIS) that stores all pertinent data digitally and allows for its manipulation through use of a computer software package. This project demonstrates the construction of a land planning GIS for Tarrant County, and explores how the technology could be used to select sites for a county wide open space preservation plan.

Twenty-nine (Group One, June 8,1995) grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and five (Group Two, April 18, 1996) grass carp were radio-tagged to monitor movement patterns and habitat preferences on North Lake, a 335 hectare multi-use reservoir located in Irving, Texas. Overall fish mean Average Daily Movement (ADM) rates were 49.2 meters/day (during Half One, 6/8/95-11/30/95) and 5.3 meters/day (during Half Two, 12/14/95-6/6/96). Aquatic macrophtye distribution data were obtained. Radio-tagged grass carp were located in Hydrilla verticillata infested areas increasingly throughout the study, however, percent frequency of Hydrilla along 15 transects did not decrease. Radio-transmitters were equipped with temperature-sensors (10-35 Celsius range). Results indicated that radio-tagged grass carp showed no avoidance of areas of North Lake with elevated water temperatures. Radio-tagged grass carp dispersed quickly from stocking point, then moved into littoral areas infested with Hydrilla. After an initial movement period, most fish remained in a localized area.

The objectives of this project were to measure changes in frequency of occurrence of submerged macrophytes over the first two growing seasons following stocking with triploid grass carp at two fish per acre and to measure differences in macrophyte biomass between areas excluded from herbivory and adjacent control sites after 16 months following establishment of exclosures. The project also seeks to measure concentrations of fluridone following the herbicide treatment, and to compare two methods of aquatic vegetation sampling.

This study focuses on the development of water resources in the Trinity River basin for navigation, flood control, water supply, recreation, and allied purposes. Special emphasis is given to the development of the upper Trinity River basin through the influence of community leaders in Dallas and Fort Worth. A desire harbored for generations by upper basin residents for creating a navigable waterway on the Trinity River coalesced in the twentieth century into a well organized movement for all facets of water resources development. Sources include correspondence, speeches, and promotional materials of civic leaders, politicians, and other citizens, as well as works by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

This study focused on the effectiveness of integrating traditional plant community analyses with landscape ecological analyses based on remotely sensed data. A temporal analysis of plant community diversity was conducted for major plant communities of the Ray Roberts Lake area using transect monitoring data collected between 1987 and 1997. Landscape analyses were performed with FRAGSTATS*ARC using classified SPOT satellite imagery for 1987 and 1997. Although the methodology developed in this work was exploratory, it was found that characterizing the dynamics of major plant communities in the study area produced a more effective and insightful analysis of Ray Roberts Lake area landscape dynamics.