For this project the RS/GIS Laboratory is working in conjunction with the Aerial Photography Field Office (APFO) in Salt Lake City and the Quinney College of Natural Resources (QCNR). The project’s primary goal is to assess the past and present conditions of stable and mature aspen stands across Utah.  Using aerial imagery from the early 1960’s to present, we have found 5 sites that have previous research and knowledge of aspen density.  The 5 sites are located within the Logan Canyon, Deseret Land and Livestock, Fish Lake, Strawberry Reservoir, and Cedar Mountain areas.  Our objective is to determine if and to what extent aspen stands have changed across time.  We examine land cover, spatial data, and temporal data, resulting in a robust change detection analysis.   Our methodology is relatively simple: we obtain aerial imagery, georeference the imagery, digitize aspen stands, and then evaluate succession and encroachment. Our aim is to identify the cause of decline, growth or redistribution of biomass in aspen stands.   The overall goal for this project is to determine whether there has been a measurable decline, growth, or shift in Aspen stands over our 5 sample sites using remote sensing and geographical information systems.