January 5 2015
Geography 302
January 5, 2015
Introduction to Course
Name, office location, telephone number, e-mail, website (see syllabus)
Required text: Atlas of the Pacific Northwest, paperback, inexpensive.
No appropriate traditional textbook, therefore I must rely on a number of handouts, and some supplementary reading. A reference list will be distributed, which provides leads to source material on lecture topics.
Mechanics: Two exams- a midterm, and a final
Exam style: bluebook, essay style or short answer essay.
Grades - mean grade approximates the undergraduate mean GPA, which is about 3.4.
Optional 2 credit paper:
You can register for Geog 499, Independent Study, SLN 14846, for 2 credits if you wish to do a research paper. It would be graded separately from the class. Topics would be arranged by agreement with the instructor. You need to use my code # when registering in MYUW - 35871.
Office Hours: Scheduled for MWF 9:30-10:20AM, but it is evident that this is inconvenient for most students. Therefore, I suggest making appointments after or before class.
Classes conducted in a lecture/discussion format; please feel free to pop up with questions, criticisms, etc.
Many "experts" in this class--from Walla Walla or Medford--and a wide range of student backgrounds. Some people are geography majors, some take this course just to help satisfy their curiosity about the region, some want more knowledge about the region.
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What is this course about? What is a regional geography of the Pacific Northwest? What is the Pacific Northwest?
Geography as the study of man in his environment. But at what point(s) in time? Today? Yesterday? 100 years ago? Tomorrow?
Today's geography as represented by the settlement system we have--houses, jobs, transportation network, infrastructure, and land devoted to and classified for various purposes--is literally the product of an historical process: the cumulative expression of individual decisions by governments, businesses, households--influenced by the environment. Thus, to understand this contemporary geographical pattern it is necessary to reach into the past, to become familiar with reasons why particular activities are located where they are, and how and why the land of the region came to be developed the way that it has been. But, it is also evident that today's geography will be different tomorrow, leading us to an interest in creating future geographies that people in the region want.
Thus, this course adopts an historical-geographic perspective, but also looks to the future, especially as there are many public policy problems confronting the development of the region. And we need to examine some of these as we consider individual activities.
What is the region? Surely Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. What of western Montana and some of western Wyoming? How about British Columbia and Alaska? Or some of northern California? Or northern Nevada and Utah? Physical geographic approaches might lead one to extend beyond the three states for some things--example the Columbia River drainage basin--but the data are reported in other cases limit one to considering things at the state level. The most common definition is Wn, Oregon, & Idaho, but we will also consider some aspects of the surrounding regions when it is appropriate to our subject matter. For example, today we cannot understand the situation of the Northwest forest products industry without an appreciation of the B.C. industry.
The logic of the tentative lecture schedule: First, a feel for the natural environment--that drew white settlers to this region. Second, a brief historical overview, which will indicate the importance of the environment as a basis for initial settlement in this region. Then, a brief overview of current population trends, as a signal of current development forces. Next a more detailed discussion of the two land uses that dominate the use of the landscape in the Northwest: forest products & agriculture/food products processing, followed by discussions of other key activities. However, it is important to view this set of activities as a "system," with relationships among components, such as power, irrigation, navigation, recreation, and flood control in the case of the water resource management framework which we have developed. Another view of the region is in terms of its settlement system. The urban system that now exists in this region.
Half of the land in the Pacific Northwest is managed by federal government agencies. The policies of these agencies have significant impact on the region, and we must familiarize ourselves with these federal lands, their management, and issues relating to their management.
Finally, all three Northwest states are engaged in debates about the future development of the region--growth management writ large. We will familiarize ourselves with these efforts, and these issues, at the end of the quarter.
Collectively, this treatment should provide you with a way of looking at the region which is comprehensive, and which you can use as a framework for continuing to view the region in the future.
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A look at the Natural Environment, through pictures.
Organized around the major physical divisions of the region: PacificBorderProvince, Cascade Mountains, ColumbiaIntermontaneProvince, Basin and RangeProvince, and Rocky Mountains.
The atlas contains a relative wealth of information on the physical environment of the Northwest. Please read the relevant sections. We want to consider simultaneously: (1) physical form, (2) climate, esp. timing of precipitation & amount; (3) vegetative cover. Other factors not covered: animals, fish, birds, etc.
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