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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Environmental Studies

Western Washington University

2011

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Articles 1 - 15 of 15

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Squalicum Mountain Development Environmental Impact Assessment, Amber Smit, Andrew Donaldson, Jake Dunton, Max Crystal, Oliver Crain Apr 2011

Squalicum Mountain Development Environmental Impact Assessment, Amber Smit, Andrew Donaldson, Jake Dunton, Max Crystal, Oliver Crain

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

This project proposes 1) the construction of a road to be located in a Rural Forestry zone. This private road would require clearing and grading for roughly 10,300 linear feet of roadway. The total project impact area produced by road construction would be approximately 11.05 acres in size 2) the construction of 26 residential homes on 20-acre parcels along with the necessary water, sewer/septic, power, and road infrastructure. Due to a lack of detail on the location of these houses they could potentially impact any part of the 520 acres set aside for residential home construction.


Environmental Impact Assessment: Smith Gardens Slope Stabilization And Long Plat Applications, Wesley Dyer, Cory Fakkema, Corey Holloran, Hailey Morgan, Kaitlin Rogers, Christian Warman Apr 2011

Environmental Impact Assessment: Smith Gardens Slope Stabilization And Long Plat Applications, Wesley Dyer, Cory Fakkema, Corey Holloran, Hailey Morgan, Kaitlin Rogers, Christian Warman

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

Smith Gardens, Inc is a supplier of garden products in the northwest. Operating as a family-owned business, owned by Terry and Carolyn Smith, the company has been functioning for over 100 years. The site (1265 Marine Drive) is located just outside the Urban Growth Area of Bellingham and is over 15 acres. There are two applications for this property: (1) a proposal to subdivide the parcel and build 15 new houses, and (2) to stabilize the bluff near Bellingham Bay, which is at the south tip of the property.


Bellingham Public Development Authority Proposed Cornwall Development Environmental Impact Assessment, Ryan Fung, Elise Keim, Nadine Kohl, Michael Olney, Lauren Squires, Nicholas Sund Apr 2011

Bellingham Public Development Authority Proposed Cornwall Development Environmental Impact Assessment, Ryan Fung, Elise Keim, Nadine Kohl, Michael Olney, Lauren Squires, Nicholas Sund

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

The formerly City-owned monthly permit parking lot at the corner of Cornwall Avenue and Maple Street (1115 Cornwall Ave.) was conveyed to the Bellingham Public Development Authority (BPDA) in December 2010. The City Council deeded this property over to the BPDA at the cost of $1.5 million. Subject to further study and planning, the BPDA anticipates to leverage private ownership of the nearby 1100 Cornwall site to support the construction a 45,000-60,000 sq. ft. structure that will provide lower-level parking with surplus capacity for shared public use especially during off-hours. The structure above the parking structure provides the possibility for …


Gateway Pacific Terminal Proposal: Environmental Impact Assessment, David Burgesser, Carrera Casper, Theo Frey, Kayla Grayson, Walter Haas, Tim Kennedy, Brenden Mcclain, Casey Rogers Apr 2011

Gateway Pacific Terminal Proposal: Environmental Impact Assessment, David Burgesser, Carrera Casper, Theo Frey, Kayla Grayson, Walter Haas, Tim Kennedy, Brenden Mcclain, Casey Rogers

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

SSA Marine seeks to construct a full-service dry bulk commodity shipping terminal at Cherry Point, Washington. The proposed terminal will be the largest of its kind on the West Coast of the United States. If fully constructed, the terminal will have the capacity to annually export 54 million metric tons of bulk commodities, 48 million metric tons of which are expected to be coal (McKay). The project will involve constructing a railcar unloading station, stockyard, conveyance and shiploading systems, berths for three vessels, service buildings, and a storage and material handling facility, as well as making improvements to rail access …


Barlean's Organic Oils: Rezone & Expansion: Environmental Impact Assessment, Katarina Bunge, Nikki Dizon, Bennett Harbaugh, Allyson Hayes, Kristina Kraft, Jarrett Wheeler Apr 2011

Barlean's Organic Oils: Rezone & Expansion: Environmental Impact Assessment, Katarina Bunge, Nikki Dizon, Bennett Harbaugh, Allyson Hayes, Kristina Kraft, Jarrett Wheeler

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

In the spring of 2010 Barlean's Organic Oils, LLC. applied to Whatcom County to rezone 35 acres on their 40 acre property from rural-5 (R5A) to Light Impact Industrial (LII). The purpose the rezone is to expand their processing facilities and warehousing storage capacity. Barlean's is a fish oil and flax seed oil processing plant located in Whatcom County, WA. Specifically, Barlean's Organic Oils, LLC. headquarters and processing facilities are located on the southwest 10-acres of their 40-acre square property, northeast of the Slater Road and Lake Terrell Road junction. Barlean's is adjacent to ConocoPhillips' crude oil refinery to the …


What Research Should Be Done And Why? Four Competing Visions Among Ecologists, Mark W. Neff Mar 2011

What Research Should Be Done And Why? Four Competing Visions Among Ecologists, Mark W. Neff

Environmental Studies Faculty and Staff Publications

Information we collect about our planet depends, in part, on the questions scientists ask regarding the natural world. Asking other questions might lead to different innovations and alternative understandings of policy problems and their potential solutions. With a seemingly infinite number of potential study subjects but limited resources with which to study them, why have we chosen to focus on the topics that we have? Here, I present a Q-method study that explores ecologists' thought processes as they evaluate the merits of potential research topics. The participants, ecologists attending the Ecological Society of America's 2008 Annual Meeting, nominally agreed with …


Review Of: "Escape From The Ivory Tower: A Guide To Making Your Science Matter", By Nancy Baron, Mark W. Neff Mar 2011

Review Of: "Escape From The Ivory Tower: A Guide To Making Your Science Matter", By Nancy Baron, Mark W. Neff

Environmental Studies Faculty and Staff Publications

Collectively, ecologists produce a staggering amount of information each year. Using the Web of Science Journal Citation Reports subject classification to define the field of ecology, our discipline comprises 129 ecology-specific journals that in 2009 published an astounding 14 280 articles. How much of that information is being used by policymakers? How much is potentially useful to those audiences? The message in Nancy Baron’s new book, Escape from the ivory tower: a guide to making your science matter, is that all of it could be taken up by the media, publicized, and utilized by policymakers if only we could …


Moving "Eco" Back Into Socio-Ecological Models: A Proposal To Reorient Ecological Literacy Into Human Developmental Models And School Systems, Nicholas Stanger Jan 2011

Moving "Eco" Back Into Socio-Ecological Models: A Proposal To Reorient Ecological Literacy Into Human Developmental Models And School Systems, Nicholas Stanger

Environmental Studies Faculty and Staff Publications

Socio-ecological models contribute to the understanding of how context influences human development and construction of worldviews. However, the claim that socio-ecological models represent the “true” influencers of an individual might be a misrepresentation of the complexity of whole ecological systems. This paper explores the possibility of adapting the use of the “socio-ecological model” to better represent the ecological influencers, rather than the primary focus of human and social factors. With reference to the new trends in environmental education, this paper explores the definitions of ecologically-based language, outlines the current domain of socio-ecological models, and proposes a re-orientation of socio-ecological models …


Cascadia Reconsidered: Questioning Micro-Scale Cross-Border Integration In The Fraser Lowland, Patrick H. Buckley, John Belec Jan 2011

Cascadia Reconsidered: Questioning Micro-Scale Cross-Border Integration In The Fraser Lowland, Patrick H. Buckley, John Belec

Environmental Studies Faculty and Staff Publications

Cascadia has been promoted as the premier cross-border region (CBR) along the western US-Canada border. However, most studies of this CBR have a strong normative inflection that assumes a great desire by the actors to emancipate themselves from dominance by the nation-state. Unlike as in other regions of the world such as Europe, little micro-level empirical investigation has been done of this hypothesis. This study seeks to address that issue by focusing on a proposed power plant in the heart of Cascadia which was to integrate resources and services between the border towns of Sumas, Washington and Abbotsford, British Columbia …


Boulevard Park Shoreline Improvements Project:Environmental Impact Assessment, Sara Desitter, Greg Kornelis, Travis Mabee, Caitlin Switaj, Greg Coulter Jan 2011

Boulevard Park Shoreline Improvements Project:Environmental Impact Assessment, Sara Desitter, Greg Kornelis, Travis Mabee, Caitlin Switaj, Greg Coulter

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

The purpose of the Boulevard Park Shoreline Improvements Project is to remove fill, riprap, and sod from the shoreline along Boulevard Park and replace this hardened shoreline with sloping gravel, sand beaches, and rock groins. Ultimately, this alteration of the shoreline will hinder erosion, improve habitat, improve public access to the bay, and decrease the impact of storm surges.


Samish Rezone: Environmental Impact Assessment, Philip Grant Bowman, Ryan Nicolas Joyner, Kelsey Erin Lorberau, Alexander Joseph Riedo Jan 2011

Samish Rezone: Environmental Impact Assessment, Philip Grant Bowman, Ryan Nicolas Joyner, Kelsey Erin Lorberau, Alexander Joseph Riedo

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

The proposed action would rezone 113 acres between I5 and Samish Way from single family to multi-family in order to densely cluster newly constructed homes. This action would create approximately 245 homes, and urbanize the area.


Downsizing For The Future: Whatcom County Adult Correction Facility And Sheriff's Headquarters Environmental Impact Assessment, Chris Fredley, Eric Johnson, Matt Milne, Lauren Vanderlugt Jan 2011

Downsizing For The Future: Whatcom County Adult Correction Facility And Sheriff's Headquarters Environmental Impact Assessment, Chris Fredley, Eric Johnson, Matt Milne, Lauren Vanderlugt

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

The purpose of this environmental impact assessment (EIA) is to determine the effects of constructing and operating the proposed Adult Corrections Facilities and Sheriffs Headquarters in Whatcom County, Washington. This EIA addresses the positive and negative impacts associated with the proposed action, alternative action and no action alternative.


Extension Of Lake Whatcom Phosphorus Ban: Environmental Impact Assessment, Jeffery P. Edwards, Clarrissa M. M. Ernst, Patrick L. Hopper, Kerri B. Love, Nicole D. F. Parish Jan 2011

Extension Of Lake Whatcom Phosphorus Ban: Environmental Impact Assessment, Jeffery P. Edwards, Clarrissa M. M. Ernst, Patrick L. Hopper, Kerri B. Love, Nicole D. F. Parish

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

Lake Whatcom is the main source of drinking water for over 96,000 people in Whatcom County including 82,000 residents of the City of Bellingham. Unfortunately, Lake Whatcom is currently listed under the Washington State Department of Ecology's 303D list as an impaired water body due to lack of dissolved oxygen. The main cause of low oxygen levels in the lake is excess phosphorus. Phosphorus is a nutrient necessary for all plant life. However, when too much of it enters aquatic systems, it can cause an imbalance in the aquatic ecosystem. In the past, phosphorus that was used in fertilizers and …


You Can Have Your Boat, And Launch It Too: An Environmental Impact Assessment Of The Proposed Boat Launch At Former Riverside Golf Course In Ferndale, Washington, Steve Anderson, Paul Argites, Christina Hersum, Tracy Pennell, Justin Sant Jan 2011

You Can Have Your Boat, And Launch It Too: An Environmental Impact Assessment Of The Proposed Boat Launch At Former Riverside Golf Course In Ferndale, Washington, Steve Anderson, Paul Argites, Christina Hersum, Tracy Pennell, Justin Sant

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

The boat ramp and parking lot facility consists of the larger part of the Riverplace Civic Center redevelopment project in Ferndale, Washington. Construction of a ramp and a parking lot would serve recreational purposes for residents utilizing the Nooksack River. The proposed facility would also accommodate a moderate volume of recreationists on a daily basis during peak activity months. Located adjacent to Interstate-5, this facility aims to increase recreation activities, and to provide an alternative launch site onto the Nooksack River to the almost out of commissioned boat launch upriver. The alternative actions address flaws with the initial proposal and …


Environmental Impact Assessment Of The Ruth Creek Hydroelectric Project, Andrea Campbell, Darcie Williams, Paul W. (Paul William) Whelan, Daniel Skillman, Trevor Gearhart Jan 2011

Environmental Impact Assessment Of The Ruth Creek Hydroelectric Project, Andrea Campbell, Darcie Williams, Paul W. (Paul William) Whelan, Daniel Skillman, Trevor Gearhart

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

The ensuing document presents the potential environmental impacts from a proposal submitted by the Free Flow Power Corporation of Massachusetts to the Federal Energy and Regulatory Commission for the development of a small-scale hydroelectric project on Ruth Creek, WA. Upon evaluating the existing conditions and likely effects of the proposed actions, we present an alternative solution of comparable cost and power generation, an enhancement of the earth-fill dam already in place on Cle Elum Reservoir, near of Roslyn, WA. Located in Whatcom County within Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, the Ruth Creek tributary meanders from alpine settings at its glacial headwaters …