The Pacific Northwest

Physical Geography• Topography

– The Coast Ranges-Oregon and Washington• Reach elevations of 4,000 feet• Responsible for the rain shadow effect

– Further inland, rugged Cascades• Extend north into British Columbia• Merge with the Insular Mountains = Coast Mountains

Volcanism

Crater Lake, OR

Physical Geography

• Mt. McKinley: the region's northern extremity– 20,320 feet in elevation

• The St. Elias Mountains in Canada are the world's highest coastal mountains– Mt. Logan = 19,700 feet!

Physical Geography

• Climate– Heaviest annual precipitation on

continent!– Average precipitation >75 inches/year

• West = ~150 inches/year• Parts of Vancouver Island ~ 230 inches/year

– Winter precipitation > summer– Microclimates, but Maritime (Cfb & Cfc)

dominate

Historical Settlement

• Native Americans– Pre-European population = large– Based on a simple hunting and

gathering economy– Large concentrations along the coast

and coastal valleys– The Puyallups are one of the few

remaining tribes

Historical Settlement

• Early Europeans– Russians 1st!

• Initially during late 1700s; Mainly fur-trading posts

– 1846: US/Canadian boundary @ 49 North

• Post 1846– Alaska purchased from Russia (1867) for $7.2

million– Railroads– Asian– Latinos

Primary Sector Activities• Most crops grown for local markets• Production areas: Willamette Valley, Puget Sound

Lowlands, Yakima and Wenatchee Valley, Hill Country

Willamette River and Valley

Forestry

• British Columbia = 45% of Canada's timber

• CA, OR, WA = ~50% of US timber• First major industry, but not nationally

important until the early 1900s• “Selective cutting,” “shelterwood cutting,”

and “clear cutting”– Redwood National Park, 1960s, for

preservationists

• Japan = major market

Power and Dams• High precipitation and rugged topography

= great hydroelectric potential• Rivers in OR & WA = > 40% of the US’s

hydroelectric potential• Columbia River dam: greatest power

generating potential• Grand Coulee = largest• Cheap power attracts heavy power-using

industries to the region• No dams are permitted in Hell’s Canyon

(along Snake River gorge)

Tertiary & Quaternary Sectors• Services, tourism, and high-technology industry

buttress Primary & Secondary sectors– Microsoft– Starbucks– Boeing

• Places in the Pacific Northwest– Vancouver, BC– Seattle, WA– Portland, OR

• Alaska– Next lecture!

Vancouver, BC

Seattle, WA from Space Needle

Portland, OR and Mt. Hood

Final Thoughts…

Readings & Resource• Anderson, Kay J. 1987. “The Idea of Chinatown:

The Power of Place and Institutional Practice in the Making of a Racial Category,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 77: 580–598.– A great sense of place article based in Western

Canada’s largest city.• Ley, David. 1999. “Myths and Meanings of

Immigration and the Metropolis,” Canadian Geographer 43:2–18.– David does a brilliant job assessing and analyzing

immigration as only a geographer could.• Presentation: David Fronander, Biogeographer.

Salmon and the Pacific Northwest.

Discussion

Given its relative isolation from the rest of the country, how does the Pacific Northwest continue to thrive? Is this an exclusive behavior?

How does Oregon’s motto, Alis Volat Propiis (She Flies with Her Own Wings) reflect the region’s sense of place?

Related Books

• Ashbaugh, James G., ed. 1997. The Pacific Northwest: Geographical Perspectives. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.

• Meinig, D.W. 1968. The Great Columbian Plain: A Historical Geography, 1805–1910. Seattle: University of Washington Press.– Regional geography doesn’t get much better

than Meinig.

WebSources

• Earthquake and Geologic Hazard Information:– Oregon and Washington

http://www.pnsn.org/welcome.html– Alaska

http://www.aeic.alaska.edu/Seis/recenteqs/– Interactive Real-time Earthquakes!

http://www.lerdorf.com/php/ymap/yquakes.php

• Cascadia Times Newspaperhttp://www.times.org/aboutct.htm

• Pacific Northwest Outdoor Recreationhttp://www.nps.gov/ccso/oric.htm

• City of Vancouver, Canadahttp://vancouver.ca/