Regional Geography of the United States and Canada, Fifth Edition [5 ed.] 147863961X, 9781478639619

Table of contents :
Regional Geography of the United States and Canada 5th Edition
chapter 1
chapter 2
chapter 3
chapter 4
chapter 5
chapter 6
chapter 7
chapter 8
chapter 9
chapter 10
chapter 11
chapter 12
chapter 13
chapter 14
chapter 15
chapter 16
CHAPTER 17
chapter 18
chapter 19
chapter 20

Citation preview

Regional Geography of the United States and Canada Fifth Edition

Daniel R. Montello University of California, Santo Barbaro

Michael T. Applegarth Shippensburg

University of Pennsylvania

Tom L. McKnight late of the University of California, Los Angeles

WAVEIAND

Long Grove, Illinois

For information about this book, contact: Waveland Press, Inc. 4180 IL Route 83, Suite 101 Long Grove, IL 60047-9580 (847) 634-0081 [email protected] www.waveland.com

Photo credits Cover: Golden Gate Bridge, California (top), topseller/Shutterstock; Grand Canyon, Arizona (middle), Konoplytska/Shutterstock; Little Atlin Lake, Yukon, Canada (bottom), Scalia Media/Shutterstock Chapter openers: Chapter 1: Ryan DeBerardinis/Shutterstock (Manhattan, New York City); Chapter 2: Daniel R. Montello (Painted Desert, Arizona); Chapter 3: blvdone/Shutterstock (New York City); Chapter 4: Roschetzky Photography /Shutterstock (Austin, Texas); Chapter 5: Daniel R. Montello (Hudson River, near West Point, New York); Chapter 6: jo Crebbin/Shutterstock (Sydney, Nova Scotia); Chapter 7: meunierd/Shutterstock (Gaspesie National Park, Quebec); Chapter 8: JNix/Shutterstock (Baltimore, Maryland); Chapter 9: digidreamgrafix/Shutterstock (Blue Ridge-Great Smoky Mountains); Chapter 10: fl Jphoto/Shutterstock (Nashville, Tennessee); Chapter 11: fl Jphoto/Shutterstock (Crescent City Connection Bridge, Mississippi River, New Orleans, Louisiana); Chapter 12: Daniel R. Montello (south central Wisconsin); Chapter 13: Traveller70/ Shutterstock (Dodge, North Dakota); Chapter 14: Sandra Cunningharn/Shutterstock (Banff National Park, Alberta); Chapter 15: Elena_Suvorova/Shutterstock (Monument Valley, Arizona); Chapter 16: Philip Pilosian/Shutterstock (Santa Monica Mountains from Hollywood, California); Chapter 17: Daniel R. Montello (Olympic National Park, Washington); Chapter 18: Ashley Hadzopoulos/Shutterstock (Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawai'i); Chapter 19: ssawpics/Shutterstock (boreal forest, Quebec); Chapter 20: Reimar/ Shutterstock (Kaktovik, Alaska)

Copyright© 2021 by Waveland Press, Inc. JO-digit ISBN 1-4786-3961-X 13-digit ISBN 978-1-4786-3961-9

All rightsreserved.No part of this book may be reproduced,storedin a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in anyform or by any means withoutpermissionin writingfrom thepublisher. Printed in the United States of America 7 6 5 4

3 2

To the memory of Tom L. McKnight, intrepidgeographerand the author of thefirst four editionsof this text. We hope we have stayed true to his vision.

About the Authors Daniel R. Montello is Professor of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he has been on the faculty since 1992. Before that, he was Visiting Assistant Professor at North Dakota State University and Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Minnesota. Dan got his PhD in environmental psychology at Arizona State University. He is a member of the Association of American Geographers, the Psychonomic Society, and Sigma Xi Scientific Honor Society. He has published widely in the areas of spatial, environmental, and geographic perception, cognition, and behavior, including the geography and psychology of regions. Besides his annual course on the regional geography of the United States, Dan teaches courses on research methods, introductory human geography, statistical data analysis, behavioral and cognitive geography, and geographic information science. He lives in Santa Barbara, California, and wonders if his Minnesota Vikings will one day win the big one. Michael T. Applegarth is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Earth Science at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, where he has been on the faculty since 2001. Before that, he received a PhD in geography from Arizona State

University. Mike is a member of the Association of American Geographers. He has published in the areas of geomorphology, soils, and remote sensing. Along with a course on the regional geography of the United States and Canada, Mike teaches courses in remote sensing, image processing, and soils.

Tom L. McKnight (deceased) was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He started out to be a geologist but discovered geography through the tutelage of Edwin J. Foscue, and soon shifted interest to the "mother science." His training included a BA degree (geology major, geography minor) from Southern Methodist University, an MA degree (geography major, geology minor) from the University of Colorado, and a PhD degree (geography major, meteorology minor) from the University of Wisconsin. He was lucky enough to live in Australia for extended periods on twenty different occasions. Most of his professional life was based at UCLA, but he also taught temporarily at nine American, three Canadian, and three Australian universities. He served as Chair of the UCLA Geography Department from 1978 to 1983. His favorite places were Australia, Colorado, Yellowstone National Park, and Dallas. Tom passed away in 2004.

Contents List of "A Closer Look" Essays Preface xi

CHAPTER

1x

CHAPTER3

Human Geography of the US and Canada: Population and Culture 49

1

Population 49 The Peopling of the North American Subcontinent SO The Contemporary Population 62 Culture 69 Trends and Questions 72

Introduction to the Regional Geography of the United States and Canada I What Is Geography? 2 The Planetary and Continental Context of the United States and Canada 3 North America as Continent, Subcontinent, or Culture Realm 9 The Countries 12

CHAPTER4

Human Geography of the US and Canada: Economic Activities and the Urban Landscapes 77

CHAPTER2

Physical Geography of the United States and Canada Climate and Weather 20 Landforms 26 The Living Earth 39 Ecosystems 43 A Changing Physical Environment

Economic Activities 77 Urbanization and the North American City

19

82

CHAPTERS

The Concept of Geographic Regions

45

I 13

Geographic Regions: Types and Characteristics I 14 Regionalizing the United States and Canada 118

V

vi

Contents

CHAPTER6

CHAPTER9

The Atlantic Northeast

125

A Region of Scenic Charm and Economic Disadvantage 126 The Physical Setting 127 Settlement and Early Development I 35 The Present Inhabitants 136 Agriculture 140 Forest Industries 142 Fishing 144 Mining 146 Recreation 147 Urbanism and Urban Activities 148 The Outlook I SO

Appalachia and the Ozarks

CHAPTER CHAPTER

7 153

A Culturally Oriented Region l 55 French Canada as a Region 155 The Physical Environment 157 The Human Environment I 59 The Outlook 172

CHAPTERS

Megalopolis

175

Extent of the Region I 75 Character of the Region 177 The Urban Scene 178 The Rural Scene I 94 Recreation and Tourism 198 The Outlook 199

210

10

The Inland South

French Canada

205

The Regional Character 206 The Environment 207 Settlement of the Appalachian Highlands Settlement of the Ozark-Ouachita Uplands 211 Agriculture 211 Forest Industries 213 Mineral Industries 214 Cities and Industries 217 Resorts and Recreation 219 The Outlook 222

229

The Physical Environment 230 Peopling and People of the Inland South 234 The Changing Image of the Inland South 236 The Fluctuating Fortunes of Cotton 239 Agriculture in the Inland South: Productive Diversity 240 Forest Products 248 Minerals and Mining 251 Urban-Industrial Dynamism 252 The Outlook 256

CHAPTER

11

The Southeastern Coast

261

The Physical Setting 261 Primary Industries 268 Manufacturing 278 Urban Boom in the Space Age 279 Inland Waterways 283 Recreation 287 The Outlook 290

Contents

CHAPTER 12

The Midwest Region

vii

CHAPTER14

293

The Rocky Mountains

Extent of the Region 294 The Look of the Landscape 295 The Physical Setting 297 Human Occupance of the Midwest Region 300 The Incredible Opulence of Midwest Region Agriculture 304 Farm Operations 304 Minerals 312 Midwest Region Manufacturing 312 Transportation 315 The Urban System of the Midwest Region 316 The Outlook 319

CHAPTER 13

The Great Plains and Prairies

363

Origin and Characteristics of the Rocky Mountains 363 Major Geomorphic Subdivisions 365 Vertical Zonation: The Topographic Imperative 370 The Opening of the Region to Settlement The Mining Industry 375 Forestry 377 Agriculture and Stock Raising 377 Water "Development" 380 The Tourist Industry 381 Transportation 387 Settlement Nodes 389 The Outlook 390

CHAPTER15

325

The Regional Image 325 The Physical Setting 327 Sequent Occupance of the Great Plains and Prairies 333 Contemporary Population of the Great Plains and Prairies 336 Crop Farming 337 Livestock Raising 347 Mineral Industries 351 The Ebb and Flow of Urbanization in the Great Plains and Prairies 355 A Transit Land 358 Limited Tourism 358 The Outlook 360

The lntermountain

West

393

Region Assessment 393 Topographic Variety 395 An Arid, Xerophytic Environment 398 Settlement of the Region 402 Land Ownership in the Intermountain Region 404 The Contemporary Population: Varied and Rapidly Increasing 405 The Water Problem 409 Agriculture 411 Mining 416 Forestry 419 Tourism 419 Specialized Southwestern Living 421 Suburbia in the Sun: The Southwest's Rush to Urbanism 422 The Outlook 425

371

viii

Contents

CHAPTER

16

CHAPTER

The California Region

429

18

The Hawaiian Islands

The California Image: Benign Climate and Landscape Diversity 430 The Environmental Setting 431 Settlement of the Region 435 Population: Sensational Growth Slowing but a Little 438 Economic Activities Outside the Cities 439 Urbanism 446 California and the Pacific Rim 456 Tourism 456 The Outlook 458

CHAPTER

CHAPTER

17 Coast

461

The Terrain: Steep and Spectacular 463 Climate: Moist and Monotonous 469 The World's Most Magnificent Forests 469 Occupance of the Region 471 Wood Products Industries: Big Trees, Big Cut, Big Problems 473 Agriculture: Sparse and Specialized 479 The Ups and Downs of Commercial Fishing 480 Power Generation 482 Mineral Industries 482 Urbanism: Major Nodes and Scattered Pockets 482 Spectacular Scenery 488 The Vital Role of Ferries in the Region 493 The Outlook 494

518

19

The Boreal Forest

The Northwestern

503

The Physical Setting 504 Population 510 Centuries of Political Change 511 The Hawaiian Economy: Specialized, Lively, Erratic 511 Urban Primacy: A One-City Region Problems and Prospects 519 The Outlook 522

525

A Harsh Subarctic Environment 527 The Occupance 534 The Economy 535 Subarctic Urbanism: Administrative Centers and U nifunctional Towns 548 Transportation: Decreasing Remoteness and Increasing Accessibility 549 Tourism 550 Native Land Claims in the North 551 The Outlook 554

CHAPTER20

The Arctic

557

The Physical Setting 558 The People 565 The Subsistence Economy 566 The Rise of a Money Economy and Agglomerated Settlements Nunavut 570 Nodes of Settlement 573 Economic Specialization 574 Transportation 576 The Outlook 576 Appendix 583 Index 585

568

List of "ACloserLook"Essays

"Misery Days" in Canada 26 DRM, MTA, TLM

River-Basin "Development" DRM, MTA, TLM

The Rapid Rise of Legalized Gambling 80 DRM, MTA, TLM

The Irresistible Kudzu 237 DRM, MTA, TLM

Homelands in the United States 119 Richard L. Nostrand, Universityof Oklahoma

The Fire Ant-An Exotic Scourge 243 DRM, MTA, TLM

The Odd Couple: Saint-Pierre and Miquelon 129 Gary T. Whiteford, Universityof New Brunswick

Pork Palaces in North Carolina 248 John Fraser Hart, Universityof Minnesota

The Stormiest Mountain in North America DRM, MTA, TLM

Sun Belt versus Frost Belt 257 DRM, MTA, TLM

134

L'anse-aux-Meadows: North America's Earliest European Settlement 137 DRM,MTA, TLM

223

Major Wetland Problem Areas 265 DRM, MTA, TLM Florida's Spreading Cities 284 Peter 0. Muller, Universityof Miami

The Decline and Rebirth of a New Hampshire Hill Town 138 William Wallace, Universityof New Hampshire

Winter Texans 288 DRM, MTA, TLM

The Long-Lot Landscape 160 DRM, MTA, TLM

The Twin Cities 320 John Fraser Hart, Universityof Minneapolis

French Foremost 164 DRM, MTA, TLM

The Canadian Grain Elevator 341 John Everitt, Brandon University

Anticosti-The Largest Island Nobody Knows DRM,MTA, TLM

168

Feedlots along Alberta's Oldman River 349 Ian MacLachlan, Universityof Lethbridge

New York City, Globalization, and the Attacks of September 11, 2001 186 Barney Warf, FloridaState University

Potash in Saskatchewan 353 Richard M. Bone, Universityof Saskatchewan

The Pennsylvania Dutch-A DRM,MTA, TLM

Whitebark Pine and Bears, Squirrels, and Birds 373 Katherine J. Hansen, Montana State University

World Apart 200

Branson: Live Music Capital of the World 220 George Carney, OklahomaState University

Advocacy for Hunting 387 Katherine J. Hansen, Montana State University

ix

x

List of "A Closer Look" Essays

The US-Mexican Border-A Line or a Zone? 407 James R. Curtis, CaliforniaState University, Long Beach

Landscapes at the Margin: Vancouver's Asian Communities 495 Audrey Kobayashi, Queen'sUniversity

Recent Changes in California's Viticultural Landscape 440 Gary Peters, CaliforniaState University,Chico

Ski Area Development in British Columbia Alison Gill, Simon FraserUniversity

Rearranging the Waters: Complex and Controversial 449 DRM, MTA, TLM The Saga of the Salmon 483 DRM, MTA, TLM Vancouver, BC-Changing Land Use and Functions 490 J. Lewis Robinson, Universityof British Columbia

498

Renaissance of the Hawaiian Language 514 Charles W. Berry, KamehamehaSchools,O'ahu Food Security in Nunavut 571 Heather Myers, Universityof Northern British Columbia Diamonds in Permafrost 576 William C. Wonders, Universityof Alberta

Preface This textbook is the fifth and thoroughly revised edition of Regional Geographyof the UnitedStates and Canada. As the first four editions did, this edition provides a comprehensive overview of the regional geography of the northern North American continent, consisting of the two large countries of the United States and Canada. It presents a rich and broad overview of both the physical and human geography of these two countries, and in the true spirit of geography, the interactions and interrelations of the physical and human. Following long traditions of the discipline of geography, the book incorporates words, maps, drawings, photographs, and numerical data to present its information. The first four editions of this text were authored solely by Tom L. McKnight, who passed away in 2004. An aspect of McKnight's text that we (DRM and MTA) have long appreciated is its primary organization according to the spatial units (almost always contiguous) of regions.Regions are a venerable organizing device of geographers (and, most likely, everyone else) that groups Earth's surface into discrete pieces, each with various interacting physical and human components. We use regions to help us observe, describe, explain, remember, and communicate our planet's geography (see Chapter 5). The fascinating question of their ontological status aside (again, Chapter 5), regions provide a simple, convenient, and memorable-if imperfect-way to present the complex patterns of the Earth's surface, and they also provide a logical way to sequence the chapters of the text from one region to the next, spatially adjoining, region. (The Hawaiian Islands allow some discretion here.) Although we are both children of the twentieth-century promotion of systematic approaches within academic geography (and we both have our systemic specializations), we consider a re-

gional, not a thematic, organization to be the right way to understand and present regional geography: as a spatially structured and comprehensive, integrated exposition of Earth's surface. Indeed, Chapter 1 makes our case that the essential geographic insight of a (partial) concurrence between physical and human patterns on Earth is only illuminated by regional approaches, not systematic. The year of McKnight's passing, 2004, was also the publication year of the fourth edition of this text, the last edition before the current revision. Given the nearly twenty years that have elapsed, this new edition certainly called for extensive updating. We diligently updated everything from the populations of cities and regions, the continually evolving patterns of internal and external migrations, and the rise and fall of particular economic activities in the last two decades. Many of the figures, including all of the region maps and nearly all of the tables, are new. The Outlook sections at the end of every "region chapter" (Chapters 6-20) have been updated where appropriate. But our revisions have gone well beyond simply bringing information up to date. We have added and modified quite a bit, going beyond the changes of the typical next edition. None of the first four editions discussed anthropogenic climate change, but this one does, in several chapters. We have added especially extensively to Chapters 1-5, the "precursory chapters." In Chapter 1, we more thoroughly define geography and present its history as a discipline, and include expanded descriptions of the graticule and Earth's spatial layout, time zones, Earth-sun relations and seasons, the ambiguous nature of continents, and the political systems of the two countries. We expanded and moved our discussion of the history of territorial acquisitions of the US and Canada xi

xii

Preface

from Chapter 3 to Chapter 1. In Chapters 2-4, we more completely review the systematic basics of physical and human geography. Chapter 2 covers physical geography in detail within the organizing framework of earth systems; this includes, for instance, an explanation of the Coriolis effect and of the geomorphology of coastal features such as beaches and barrier islands. Chapter 3 adds more coverage of basic cultural geography to the presentation specifically of North American culture, and Chapter 4 adds some basics of economic geography and urban geography to McKnight's meticulous discussion of North American cities. Chapter S offers an expanded philosophical discussion of the concept of geographic regions. Throughout the text, we italicize key terms for the reader. Beyond all of our specific modifications, the language throughout the book is modified to some extent as a reflection of our writing (and thinking) styles. We did modify the boundaries of the organizing regions from the fourth edition a little here and there, and we changed some region names a little too, mostly to make them more straightforward and consistent across the continent. "The Appalachians and the Ozarks" is now "Appalachia and the Ozarks," "The Heartland Region" is renamed the "The Midwest Region" (not to be understood as exactly coincident with the colloquial "Midwest"), "The Intermontane West" is "The Intermountain West," and "The North Pacific Coast" is "The Northwestern Coast." More important, all of the region maps at the beginning of Chapters 6-20, the region chapters, have been redrawn, and fresh decisions have been made about the exact placements of the region boundaries. Mostly, the new boundaries are a little more precisely rendered but essentially where the previous versions were-our affection for McKnight's particular regionalizations is another thing that drew both of us to this textbook over the years. But, notably, we now group central Kentucky and Tennessee with The Inland South instead of The Midwest Region (for cultural reasons), north central and northwest Florida with The Inland South instead of The Southeastern Coast (again, cultural), and the Aleutian Islands with The Northwestern Coast instead of The Arctic (latitude and climate). We also recognize in this edition that the full extent of the Hawaiian Islands stretches for some 1,600 miles (2,500 km) far west across the Pacific Ocean-surprisingly, these are the official administrative boundaries of the state of Hawai'i,

which means all of that extensive territory (or "maritory"!) is officially part of the United States, if virtually unpopulated.

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

As we indicated above, the first five chapters of the text continue in their role from the fourth edition as precursors to the remaining fifteen region chapters. Chapter 1 introduces geography, as well as the distinction between regional and systematic approaches, and provides a general overview of the planet Earth and the layout of the US and Canada. Chapter 2 presents a broad survey of the basics of physical geography as well as the overall physical geography specifically of the US and Canada. Chapter 3 does the same for the basics of the human-geography components of population, migration, and culture, while Chapter 4 does so for those of economics and urban geography. The final precursor chapter, Chapter S, discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the region as a fundamental, useful, and intriguing concept in geography, and considers some different approaches to regionally organizing the US and Canada. The remaining chapters, 6-20, present the fifteen thematic regions used in this text to organize the bulk of the regional geography of the US and Canada. They start somewhat arbitrarily at the historical origin of the modern countries of the US and Canada, in The Atlantic Northeast region of the northeastern US and eastern Canada. We move through the remaining chapters region by region, generally moving westward, with a variable progression southward or northward, as called for. As we explained above, we exploit the logically sensible strategy of consecutive chapters presenting spatially consecutive areas of the continent, with the necessary exception of the noncontiguous Hawaiian Islands (in fact, the fourth edition has The Hawaiian Islands following The California Region, while we place it after The Northwestern Coast). Each of the region chapters begins with an introduction that lays out the spatial basics of the location, shape, and size of the region, and summarizes the most distinctive thematic quality of the region. The introductory portion of each chapter includes a detailed cartographic map of the region depicting and labeling its major natural and human features. We continue by presenting the specific physical and

Preface human geographic character of the region; these presentations cover mostly the same topical areas for each region, but for some regions, particular topics just do not call for much coverage (we don't say much about the seafood industry of the Great Plains and Prairies, or wheat farming in the Atlantic Northeast!). The physical topics covered include the region's topography and landforms; soils; climate; hydrography like rivers, lakes, and aquifers; vegetation; and wildlife. The human topics generally include the region's population; the ethnicities and settlement history of its people; economic activities, including agriculture, forestry, mining, fishing, manufacturing, and service industries; cities; and transportation. Each chapter ends with an Outlook section that briefly prognosticates about the near future of the region. Also, we retained nearly every Closer Look essay from the fourth edition; these nice essays expand on specific topics of interest and importance in a way that adds richness and context to the particular region. Some of the "guest" authors from the fourth edition generously updated their essays. In the case of the essays that McKnight had authored, we did some editing and updating, so we now credit those to the three of us. Each chapter concludes with a bibliography of books, articles, and reports that have shaped the contents of this book and provide further sources for the interested reader; we updated and expanded these, although many older references are still worthwhile and are retained. The logic of the chapter sequencing notwithstanding, we believe it can be varied to a degree. Not only did we change the position of The Hawaiian Islands from the fourth edition, but we sometimes present that region last in the course we teach-after the Arctic-in order to end the course on a balmy and pleasant note. If you are teaching a course exclusively on just US geography, you can skip at least Chapter 7 on "French Canada." If you are teaching only Canada, you would skip Chapters 8-11, 15, 16, and 18 (that still leaves thirteen nice chapters!). Excluding either Canada or the US like this requires some clarification to students; you would likely emphasize to them that the general patterns of physical and even human geography largely hold across the international boundary cutting through some of the regions, but that they can ignore specific features, as appropriate (no reason to discuss Fargo in a course on Canada, even though it falls within the Great

xiii

Plains and Prairies-except maybe as an aside about the wonderful 1996 movie). One final note: Although we write this Preface in late 2020 as our final step i.nauthoring this revised text, we originally completed the chapters in 2019. That means the text only mentions the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for the geography of the US and Canada in a couple of footnotes. We believe those implications will be considerable, but their full exegesis will have to wait for the next edition. In the meantime, we offer our condolences for the lost loved ones and the lost human contact. We look forward to a more positive 2021.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank everyone who made this book possible and made it better. Daniel W Phillips created the region maps for this book (with some software training by Natalie Wong), but more than that, he provided copious geographic wisdom and advice, playing a key role in helping us delineate region boundaries in principled ways. We thank several colleagues who provided key information about one aspect of geography or another, including (in alphabetical order) Susie Cassels, Oliver Chadwick (soils meister!), Sasha Gershunov, Violet Gray, Joe McFadden, Matthew McGranaghan, Iker Otaegui, and Stuart Sweeney. We appreciate the willingness of the Closer Look authors to have us include their nice essays, in some cases, after updating them for this edition. The McKnight family generously endorsed our revision of their father's book. Finally, we are grateful to Waveland Press for the opportunity they provided to revise this book and have it published. Special thanks at Waveland go to Don Rosso, who helped Waveland acquire rights to the fourth edition and solicited this fifth edition from us, and Dakota West, who diligently and gracefully saw the editing and proofreading process to a happy ending. Have you ever heard of a more perfect name for the editor of a text on North American geography? Daniel R. Montello Santa Barbara, California Michael T. Applegarth Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

1

Welcome to the fifth edition of Regional Geographyof the United States and Canada!In this book, we examine the regional geography of the two large countries located at the northern end of the Western Hemisphere landmasses known as the Americas. The United States and Canada are two countries with great diversity-of climate, landforms, cultures, economic activities, and much more. Great beauty and significant challenges are found there. This text examines the regional geography of the United States and Canada-the study of the human and natural structures and processes that shape and are shaped by the landscapes of the United States and Canada. In the classic fashion of regional geography, our examination of these natural and human phenomena is spatially organized-we group our analysis according to collections of Earth's surface known as regions, largely proceeding from east to west, and from north to south and back north again, as we consider

them in turn. Spatially organizing information is a handy and effective explanatory and mnemonic device (before widespread writing, orators would recall long speeches by spatially organizing their ideas). But as we discuss more below, spatial organization is also appropriate because phenomena of Earth's natural and human landscapes tend to organize themselves into spatial clusters of similar patterns. Before jumping into the regional geography of the United States and Canada, let's consider why we group these two countries together in the first place. In fact, for many years, regional geographers from around the world have traditionally grouped the two countries together. Their status as neighbors from the "New World" of the Western Hemisphere (new to Europeans and Africans, anyway) has certainly been an important reason for pairing these two countries. Also important has been the historical fact that the countries were traditionally grouped together as the

2

Chapter 1

culture realm "Anglo-America," as opposed to "Latin America" south of the Rio Grande River (we discuss these culture realms more below). Of course, one can study the geography of Earth's surface without this grouping. To be sure, a major lesson of this text is that a particular regional organization of Earth's surface is always partly arbitrary. The one that puts the United States and Canada together is certainly no exception. In thinking about the landmasses of Earth, it cannot be said that a particular "jigsaw puzzle" solution of a specific number of regions, with particular shapes and sizes of region "pieces," is right or wrong. They can be said to be better or worse in solving the problem of effectively presenting the geographic details of Earth and its people and landscapes. An approach to doing that is to maximize the grouping of similarities and the separation of differences, and doing so in a concise and memorable way. These are the reasons that we present the two countries together in this text. An imperfect organization, like any would be, but traditional in the discipline of geography.

WHAT

Is GEOGRAPHY?

Geographyis the study of Earth as the home of humanity. It is an ancient discipline; the Greek scholar Eratosthenes coined the word "geography" in the third century BCE (Before Common Era) for his comprehensive three-volume treatise on the subject (tragically, a copy has not survived). The word "geography" literally translates from ancient Greek as "writing about Earth," but geographers not only write about Earth but capture it pictorially with maps and satellite imagery, and analyze it scientifically with mathematics, statistics, and computer simulations. A slightly more detailed way to define geography is "the study of Earth, its people, and their interaction." Many people think of geography as just a description of places or a description of where particular natural (e.g., mountains) and human (e.g., cities) features are located. Geography does in fact emphasize place and space, but it not only describes them but attempts to explain and interrelate them to each other. It addresses issues such as how places are similar and different, why places are the way they are, where particular features are located and why, and how different places interact with each other. Change over time is important to modern geography as well, with its desire to understand issues such as how

things change location over time, how places change over time, and how patterns of interaction between places change over time. That is, geographers study both static and dynamic aspects of space and place. Intellectually, geography is a fantastically diverse discipline. When you study Earth and its people and how they interrelate, you end up potentially touching on just about any subject offered in most colleges and universities, and you might find yourself thinking about ideas that are relevant to almost anything. To help us organize our understanding of this profound breadth, we commonly distinguish two broad domains of geography: physical and human geography. Physicalgeographyfocuses on the atmosphere and climate, the rivers, the oceans, the landforms, the soils, and the plants and animals that make up the natural environment (because it includes the living environment, it might more accurately be called "biophysical geography"). Human geographyfocuses on the human activity, culture, and society that make up our existence as people on this planet. We overview basic ideas in physical and human geography in Chapters 2, 3, and 4. That overview will provide a framework for understanding the patterns of physical and human phenomena and their interrelations from region to region in the United States and Canada. But remember: although we adopt the broad distinction between physical and human geography to help us make sense of the complexities of geography, we should not forget that geography is ultimately about the rich interrelations of the physical and human world-their separation is only little more than a convenient fiction. This is becoming increasingly true as human populations and technologies grow in complexity and influence.

Some History of the Discipline The early days of geographic thought as a formal intellectual practice go back more than two millennia. For instance, the Babylonian world map known as the Imago Mundi is found on a stone tablet and dated to the sixth century BCE. It is typically considered the oldest known cartographic map, although there are plausible claims for maps that are hundreds or even thousands of years older. But it is safe to assume that lay people practiced informal geographic thought much earlier than this, certainly well back into prehistory. This likely consisted of musing about the nature of their surroundings and, especially, why the natural and human features of their home area were different than those in other ar-

Introduction to the Regional Geography of the United States and Canada eas of the world they knew. This fundamental areal differentiationmay well be considered the core inspiration for geographic thought: to describe and explain how one place differs from another. From its earliest days as a formal study, and throughout its historical developments through the present day, geography has always embraced-albeit to varying degrees-three scholarly traditions: the literary, the cartographic (maps), and the mathematical. Geographers write about places and features on Earth's surface, they make graphical representations of the surface or portions thereof, and they express properties of Earth and its features in numerical form that they can then manipulate through the logical methods of mathematics and computation. Whatever scholarly tradition a particular geographer embraces, he or she is likely to follow one of two approaches to organizing the vast array of geographic phenomena. The older approach-and the approach that the present book pursues-is regional geography.The regional geographer describes and explains specific places or landscapes, grouped into spatial units called regions(more on this below). The regional geographer attempts a comprehensive and integrative understanding of regions-their natural and human landscapes and their interactions. Perhaps most nongeographers think of geography in this way. In contrast, an approach that emerged during the nineteenth century is systematic geography. The systematic geographer describes and explains specific themes (systems) that apply across regions. For instance, a systematic physical geographer might focus on studying river systems, and a systematic human geographer might study economic changes in cities as they grow older.

3

rotation of Earth defines an axis with poles at both ends (which we label as north and south) and a circular equator around the middle. Earth is sometimes called "the water planet" because its surface is about 71 percent water in liquid or frozen form, thus only 29 percent dry land. Earth is bumpy because of the mountains and valleys of the surface, of course, but it is known as an oblate spheroid because it is not perfectly spherical. It is a little flattened because the diameter across the equator is greater than the diameter from pole to pole (the planet's rotation causes the equatorial "bulge"). Thus, Earth's diameter at the equator is about 27 miles (43 km) longer than it is from pole to pole; the equatorial and polar circumferences similarly differ. In fact, when you get very precise, Earth's shape is even a little more irregular than a perfectly flattened spheroid. Its shape and surface bumpiness aside, however, it may be more remarkable how smooth and round Earth actually is. Consider the surface features that deviate most extremely from sea level. Mount Everest protrudes above it and the Mariana Trench sinks below it, but they are merely a bit over 5 miles above sea level and 6 miles below it. Do the math-those extremes are less than a tenth of one percent of Earth's diameter. Likewise, the 27-mile difference of Earth's diameter from widest to narrowest is less than half of one percent of Earth's diameter. Truly, Earth is a round and smooth ball of a home.

THE PLANETARY AND CONTINENTALCONTEXT OF THE UNITED STATESAND CANADA The United States and Canada are two countries on planet Earth. Our planet is the third from the sun in our solar system, one of many trillions of collections of celestial bodies revolving around stars in the Milky Way galaxy. And the Milky Way is just one of trillions of galaxies in our universe. However, as geographers, our focus is generally on planet Earth, the "home of humanity." Earth is a bumpy oblate spheroid that is a little less than 8,000 miles (13,000 km) in diameter and almost 25,000 miles (40,000 km) in circumference (Fig. 1-1). The

FIGURE 1-1

Our planet Earth (robert_s/Shutterstock).

4

Chapter I

Latitude-Longitude Graticule A globeis a three-dimensional model of Earth. It is manufactured to be a sphere, but the imprecision of its manufacturing means that just about any globe will actually be less round than the planet it models. 1 There is a grid laid over the globe which is known as the graticule(Fig. 1-2). The graticule is the spherical two-dimensional coordinate system which allows us to specify the location of places on the surface of Earth to any degree of resolution we need. It consists of two numbers (Earth's surface being spherically two-dimensional). The numbers express location on the sphere from the perspective of a hypothetical observer at the center of Earth, so they are expressed as degrees of angular position. Location of a place north or south of the equator is latitude,ranging from 0° at the equator to 90° north at the North Pole or 90° south at the South Pole. A line of constant latitude around Earth is called a parallelof latitude (but since the equator is the only parallel that is technically a straight line on Earth's spherical surface, parallels are only parallel in the normal sense of flat geometry when they are depicted on certain map projections). Specifying location east or west is a bit trickier. There is no obvious baseline for measuring east-west the way the equator serves to establish a baseline for north-south. Because of the global influence of Britain during the nineteenth century, many countries agreed to establish a 0° baseline to run north-south through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, now within the city of Greater London. The location of a place east or west of this line is longitude.As you move

east around the globe from Greenwich, places are assigned a longitude expressed in degrees east; as you move west from Greenwich, places are assigned a longitude expressed in degrees west. Longitude ranges from 0° at the Greenwich line to 180° east in the middle of the Pacific Ocean or 180° west . . . also in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, on the same line where 180° east is located. That is, when you get around to the side of the globe opposite from Greenwich, you are at the same longitude whether you traveled there going east or west. Lines of longitude running northsouth around Earth are meridians;the 0° line through Greenwich is aptly called the prime meridian.2 Given the latitude-longitude graticule (commonly shortened to /at-long),we can give the address of any place on Earth's surface by providing its latitude and longitude numbers, including whether the first is north or south, and the second is east or west. As stated above, latitude and longitude are expressed in angular degrees. If one wants to express them at finer resolution, they can include minutes (60 to a degree) or seconds (60 to a minute) or even fractions of seconds (just as degrees of location refer to angle and not to temperature, minutes and seconds of location refer to angle and not to time). To give you some sense of the meanings of these addresses, the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC, is at 38° 53' 24" N / 77° O' 32" W; Parliament Hill in Ottawa ON, is at 45° 25' 25" N / 75° 42' 3" W; City Hall i~ Los Angeles, CA, is 34° 3' 13" N / 118° 14' 34" W. Nowadays, lat-long is often expressed in decimal fractions of degrees rather than minutes or seconds.

Time Zones

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1-2 The latitude-longitude graticule (modified from Sanderson Design/Shutterstock). FIGURE

As the world rotates on its axis, of course, part of the planet is in daytime light and part is in nighttime darkness. That is, at a given moment, places at different longitudes around Earth are effectively at different times of the day or night, when that is defined by the position of the sun in the sky. For over a century, countries around the world have accommodated this by following a system of 24 time zones instigated by the same international discussions that led to establishment of the prime meridian. According to this system, local times vary according to longitude. Time on local clocks is set one hour ahead or behind of GreenwichMean Time (GMT) for each time zone one moves east or west of the prime meridian, respectively (Fig. 1-3). Going twelve time zones (12 hours) either east or west, one comes to a line that

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6

Chapter I

corresponds at midnight in Greenwich either to noon of the previous Greenwich day or noon of the next Greenwich day. That is, when you cross the InternationalDate Line, you instantly jump ahead one day (24 hours) if you are traveling west (toward Asia) and back one day if you are traveling east (toward the Americas). Thus, if you cross the line traveling west when it is midnight at the end of December 31 in Greenwich, you will instantly go from noon on December 31 to noon on January I. If you are traveling east when you cross, you would go from noon on January I back to noon on December 31. You would miss the New Year's celebration in the former situation, but get two chances to celebrate it in the latter! Another point is worth emphasizing here: people often confuse the International Date Line with the 180° longitude meridian. In a rigidly logical world, that would probably be true-they would be coincident. But while the two lines do correspond in several places, the Date Line is an irregular line that zigzags east or west of the 180° meridian in several places. As a case in point, the Aleutian Islands of far western Alaska cross to the east of the 180° meridian, but they do not cross to the east of the International Date Line, which zigzags to the west at that location on the globe. In general, time-zone boundaries are very irregular and do not follow straight meridian lines at many places on the globe, particularly as those time-zone boundaries cross land. The United States and Canada are very large countries in terms of area. Russia is by far the largest country in the world, at some 6.6 million m2 (17.1 million km 2). But Canada is the second largest country at about 3.9 million m2 (IO. I million km2), and the United States is either the third or fourth largest at about 3. 7-3.8 million m2 (9.6-9.8 million km 2). Whether it is third or fourth-either before or after China-depends on exactly how you include territories and measure around water bodies. But either way, the second, third, and fourth largest countries are very nearly the same size as each other. Befitting their great sizes, the United States and Canada span so many degrees of longitude that they each encompass several time zones. Canada includes six, from Newfoundland Time in the far east, to Atlantic Time, Eastern Time, Central Time, Rocky Mountain Time, and Pacific Time in the far west. Only the province of Newfoundland follows its eponymous time zone, setting its clocks one half hour later than Atlantic Time. The conterminousUnited States ("the lower 48") includes four of these time zones, from

Eastern to Pacific Time. In addition, Alaskan Time (including most of the state of Alaska) is an hour west of Pacific Time, and Hawaiian-Aleutian Time (including the state of Hawai'i and much of the Aleutian Islands) is two hours west. Finally, figuring out what time it is when you are at places on Earth at different longitudes is not just a matter of time zones. Many countries or portions thereof observe Daylight Saving Time for much of the year (a portion that includes summer). Setting the clock ahead one hour from Standard Time during Daylight Saving is intended to make better use of daylight hours in various ways, such as providing light for outdoor activities and using energy more efficiently (it is not clear that it does). The exact dates when Standard Time becomes Daylight Saving Time, and vice versa, are not the same everywhere, and the exact dates are often changed anyway. And if that didn't make relating times in different parts of the world confusing enough, not even all places within a single country or state/province necessarily observe Daylight Saving in the same way. In the United States, for example, neither Hawai'i nor most of Arizona observe it. In Canada, all provinces observe Daylight Saving except Saskatchewan; however, this province observes Central Standard Time all year round even though it is located in the longitude range of Mountain Time zone, which effectively means it observes Daylight Saving year-round. Sheesh!

Seasons and Day Length The spatial relation of Earth to its sun is critically important to many core aspects of geography. It is also central to explaining what it is like to live at different locations on Earth's surface-particularly to live at different latitudes north or south of the equator. The key to understanding this critical relation is the orientation of Earth to the sun as Earth carries out its orbit around the sun (Fig. 1-4). The orbit can be thought of as defining a flat disc with the sun at the center and Earth going around the edge (the disc is elliptical rather than perfectly circular, but perhaps surprisingly to some of you, that is unimportant here). The disc is called the ecliptic.Earth is tilted with respect to this ecliptic-the angle of Earth's northsouth axis happens to be about 23.5° (23.4° to the nearest tenth of a degree) away from being a perfect right angle to the ecliptic. Throughout Earth's yearlong orbit, its tilt stays fixed, which means the tilt's orientation to the sun varies as Earth finds itself on

Introduction to the Regional Geography of the United States and Canada

The Earth-sun ecliptic and the seasons (Designua/Shutterstock). FIGURE1-4

different sides of the sun. The varying orientation of the tilt generates the seasons on Earth and determines the length of daylight hours at different latitudes and different times of the year. Pretty important! The Northern Hemisphere tilts toward the sun during the northern summer, away from the sun during the northern winter, and to one side or the other during fall and spring-at which time neither the Northern nor Southern Hemispheres are tilted toward the sun. During northern summer, the Northern Hemisphere's tilt toward the sun means it gets a longer portion of daylight during a 24-hour period. Since the sun rises higher in the sky during one of these summer days (ok, it appearsto rise higher to us on the ground), its energy hits Earth's surface more directly, with greater energy per surface area in a given time period. This energy is called insolationintercepted solar radiation. Thus, summer days are longer and warmer. On the other hand, during the northern winter, the tilt away from the sun means the Northern Hemisphere gets a shorter portion of daylight during a 24-hour period. Since the sun does not rise as high in the sky during one of these winter days, the sun's rays hit Earth's surface at an oblique angle, with less energy per surface area in a given time period. Winter days are thus shorter and cooler. We can appreciate that varying insolation and day length throughout the year is thus the fundamental cause of seasonality on Earth. Of course, all of this is reversed for the Southern Hemisphere, so it is winter there when it is summer in the north, etc.

7

In fact, the seasonal variation in insolation and day length is more extreme the further you get from the equator. Much of this variation is captured by recognizing two special sets oflatitude lines that help us understand quite a bit about seasons, climate, and day lengths at different latitudes (Fig. 1-5). The location of these special latitude lines stems directly from Earth's 23.5° tilt to the ecliptic. Consider the day of the year when the Northern Hemisphere tilts most directly toward the sun (and the Southern tilts most directly away). That is the northern summer solstice, and it is on June 21, give or take a day. On that date, the sun will be in the northern sky for the longest time period of any day of the year, and it will appear to reach the highest point in the sky that it gets all year long to a ground observer (at what is called solar noon, typically within an hour or two of 12 noon by local clock time wherever you are). Given Earth's tilt, the sun's rays on that date and time are at a right angle to Earth with the sun directly overhead in the sky at one precise latitude: 23.5° north. The line encircling this latitude is the Tropicof Cancer. In contrast, half a year earlier or later, the Northem Hemisphere tilts directly away from the sun. That is the northern winter solstice,and it is on December 21, give or take a day. On that date, the sun will be in the northern sky for the shortest time of any day of the year, and it will appear to reach lower in the sky than it gets at solar noon on any other day of the year. In fact, on that date the sun is so low in the sky that as you go north you reach a precise latitude where the sun never actually breaks the horizon on just that date-the sun does not rise at all for one day! Again, given Earth's tilt, that latitude is 23.5° south of the north pole, which is 66.5° north (90°-23.5°). The line encircling this latitude is the Arctic Circle. Of course, these patterns are reversed for the Southern Hemisphere. The northern summer solstice is the southern winter solstice, and the northern winter solstice is the southern summer solstice. In the Southern Hemisphere, the furthest south that the sun is ever directly overhead in the sky is a line called the Tropicof Capricorn,at 23.5° south of the equator. And the line where the sun does not rise one day during the southern winter is called the Antarctic Circle, at 66.5° south of the equator. What about the two dates that fall exactly halfway between the two solstice days? On March 20 or so, the Northern Hemisphere experiences the vernal (spring) equinox. On September 22 or so, it experi-

8

Chapter 1

FIGURE 1-5

The tropics, the polar circles, and the seasons (Jittihammachai/Shutterstock).

ences the autumnal (fall) equinox. On these days, Earth tilts to one side or the olher ralher than cowards or away from the sun. Of course, Lheseare reversed in the Southern Hemisphere, so that northern spring is southern fall, and northern fall is southern spring. An amazing fact about the equinoxes, however, is that day and night on either of these equinoxes are both twelve hours long ... everywhere on Earth! Awesome. You probably learned something about the two sets of lines, the tropic and polar latitudes, in grade school or middle school. But perhaps no one explained why they are actually so importan1 to understanding what it is like to live at difTerencplaces on Earth. A teacher might have called them "imaginary" lines, but they mark very real and concrele phenomena for us living on Earth. Let's start with the areas north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle, the polar zones. All places in these zones have at least one day in summer where the sun never sets for 24 hours; except for places on the polar lines, in fact, these places have more than one such day. This is how places in these zones earn their nickname of "Land of the Midnight Sun. "3 But they also have at least one day in winter where the sun does not rise (again, except on the polar lines, there is more than one such day). At this time of year,

places in the pola.r zone could just as well be called "Land of the Noontime Darkness." Moving toward the equator, next are the two wide bands of Earth's surface between the polar and tropic circles, where most of the terri1ory of Canada and the Uni1ed Staces actually sits. These are the northern and southern temperatezo11es.The sun rises higher in 1he sky during a um mer day in the 1empera1e zone Lhan it does in the polar zone, although it never fully reaches directly overhead, e,ren a1 solar noon on the urnmer solstice. Likewise, while the sun fails 10 rise high in the sky during a winier day in the temperate zone, it always does manage at leasl 10 peek above the horizon for a little while, even on the day of the winier solstice. Finally, there is the wide band of Earth's surface in the middle of the planet, between the tropic lines, south of the Tropic of Cancer and north of the Tropic of Capricorn. This is the tropiczo11e.All places in thi zone have the sun directly o erhead on at least one day of the year; in fact, except righcon the lropic lines, the sun is directly overhead two days of the year. Bui the sun is high in the sky all year round in the tropic zone-even on the hortesc day of the year at these places, the sun ri es fairly high in the ky. Seasonality as we normally think of it in the tempera1e and polar zones does not really exist in the tropics. The longest

Introduction to the Regional Geography of the United States and Canada and shortest days do not fall on the summer or winter solstice of the rest of the planet, and in fact, most of the tropics experiences two longest and two shortest days each year, and they are not even on successive days. Seasonality in the tropics is often revealed in patterns of variable precipitation (mostly rain and not snow!), but temperature does not vary much and not according to the temperate and polar patterns of the hottest part of the year, leading six months later to the coldest, and six months after that, back to the hottest. NORTH AMERICAAS CONTINENT, SUBCONTINENT, OR CULTUREREALM

Continents are (mostly) spatially contiguous collections of landmasses larger than countries but smaller than hemispheres. There is a long and convoluted history to the identification of how many continents there are and what landmasses each includes, and it is still debated today. The important lesson is probably that continental groupings are much more conventional and arbitrary than you may have thought. Continents include spatially contiguous landmasses often thought to correspond to distinct pieces of earth-surface crust. 4 This correspondence is very dubious, however, and continents have vari-

Continents FIGURE

1-6

Subcontinents

9

ously been linked to climate, culture, race, ethnicity, and political status. If forced to vote on a single continental organization, many geographers would accept a division of terrestrial Earth into seven continents (alphabetically): Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. But many other geographers would combine Asia and Europe into Eurasia, Australia-New Zealand-Pacific Islands into Oceania, and/or North and South America into the Americas. Still other geographers would largely reject the utility of arbitrarily grouping such large and disparate landmasses and human groups together into continents in the first place. We recognize that simplification facilitates understanding and memory, but the identification of continents may be more misleading than helpful. That said, we can see that Canada and the United States of America occupy the northern third of the planet's Western Hemisphere landmasses. The Western Hemisphere can be grossly subdivided in various ways (Fig. 1-6): • Two continents: North America and South America. Three subcontinents: North America, Middle America, and South America. Two culture realms: Anglo-America and Latin America.

Culture Realms

Major subdivisions of the Western Hemisphere (a) continents (bl subcontinents (c) culture realms.

10

Chapter l

The continent of North America is most often defined to include Canada and the United States, as well as Greenland, Central America (including Mexico), and the islands of the Caribbean. Central America and the Caribbean islands together constitute the subcontinent of Middle America. In this book we will sometimes refer to the United States and Canada jointly as the North American subcontinent. When doing this, we mean to include Hawai'i even though the Polynesian Islands are normally considered part of Oceania or not part of any continent. We also intend to omit Greenland, which is politically and culturally tied to Denmark.

The Lat-Long Extent of the United States and Canada Let's consider the spatial relation of the United States and Canada to the rest of Earth's surface. The entire planet extends I 80° of latitude from pole to pole (90° north to 90° south). The United States extends in latitude from 71° N at Point Barrow, Alaska, to 19° Nat the southern edge of the Big Island ofHawai'i. That covers about 52° of latitude, which is almost a third of the full north-south range of the planet. Likewise, Canada extends in latitude from 83° N at Cape Columbia, Nunavut, to 42° N within Lake Erie, on the Ontario-Ohio border. That covers about 41° of latitude. With respect to longitude, the planet extends for 360° from the prime meridian around the globe and back to the prime meridian. Canada extends in longitude from 53° Wat Cape Spear, Newfoundland, to 141° W at the southern end of the Yukon-Alaska border. That covers about 88° of longitude, almost a quarter of the full east-west range of the planet. Longitude in the United States is a little less straightforward, considering that the Aleutian Islands to the west of Alaska actually cross the meridian of 180°, on the opposite side of the globe from the prime meridian. The United States extends in longitude from 67° W at the eastern edge of Maine to 172° E on Attu Island, Alaska. That covers about 121° of longitude, a full third of the east-west range of the planet. But when someone asks what point is furthest east or west in the United States, the two values we just gave are only the longitudinal extremes of travel direction. In terms of numerical value of longitude, the easternmost point would be just west of the 180° meridian (within the Aleutian Islands), where 180° W turns into 180° E. That is, the easternmost longitude in the

United States is 179° 59' 59.99" E (that is, the point approaching 180° as a limit). Likewise, the westernmost point in terms of numerical longitude value would be just east of this meridian, at a longitude of 179° 59' 59.99" W See, not straightforward!

The United States and Canada as Culture Realm Geographers often prefer to organize the permanently inhabited Earth (sorry, Antarctica) into highlevel units called culturerealms.These are collections of contiguous landmasses inhabited by groups that share identifiable cultural similarities such as language or religious practices, at least at a very generalized level. In the past, as we mentioned above, Canada and the United States were commonly referred to jointly as the culture realm of Anglo-America, a major reason they are grouped together in many regional geography courses and books like this one. The founding inhabitants of these two countries were predominantly of English ancestry, and most of the economic and political institutions of both countries derived from this heritage. However, the term "Anglo-America" has become distinctly anachronistic, due to the substantial and growing components of both population and culture that are non-Anglo in these countries, including components of native and African American peoples and cultures (much the same can be said about "Latin America"). Furthermore, given the increased global interconnectivity of cultures and economies we see in the world of the twenty-first century, the utility of the culture realm as a descriptive or explanatory construct is increasingly questionable generally. A View from Outer Space The great bulk of the North American subcontinent is in the middle latitudes. Most of Canada is in the northern temperate zone (and the northern portion at that), but northern Canada is in the Arctic. The United States is almost entirely in the temperate zone, except that northern Alaska is in the Arctic and Hawai'i is in the tropics. In fact, the United States is the only country on Earth that extends from the polar to the temperate to the tropical zones. If we were to view the entire subcontinent from an orbiting space station on a clear day, certain gross features would appear prominently. The major landmasses surrounding it (their names would not appear in our view from the space station, of course) are Mexico and the Caribbean islands to the south, Greenland to the northeast, and Russia (Siberia) to

Introduction to the Regional Geography of the United States and Canada the northwest. The subcontinent is surrounded by water, of course. To the east is the Atlantic Ocean; to the west is the Pacific Ocean; north is the Arctic Ocean. Standing out conspicuously in our view would be the irregular continental outline. Some extensive coastal reaches are relatively smooth, but, by and large, the margin of the subcontinent is irregular and embayed, and there are numerous prominent offshore islands (Fig. 1-7).5 The most notable indentation in the subcontinental outline is probably Hudson Bay, which protrudes southward for several hundred miles from Canada's north coast. Despite its vastness, however, Hudson Bay has relatively little influence on the geography of North America. Its surface is fro-

FIGURE1-7

The irregular nature of the eastern coastline of North America is evident in southeastern Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island. Cape Cod is composed of a complex of glacial moraines and sandy, current-built bars, spits, and hooks. From east to west the conspicuous islands are Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. Cape Cod is actually separated from the mainland by the smooth curve of Cape Cod Canal, which extends from Cape Cod Bayto Buzzards Bay.Lighter tones distinguish the Boston urbanized area in the upper left of the photo and a portion of metropolitan Providence at the head of Narragansett Bay (Landsat image) (NASA).

11

zen for many months, and even the open water of summer supports only one sea route of importance. It has minimal climatic effects on the surrounding lands. Much more significant geographically are two extensive oceanic areas whose margins impinge less abruptly on the continent; both the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast and the Gulf of Alaska to the northwest constitute gross irregularities in the continental configuration that have major climatic influences and considerable economic importance. Other coastal embayments that would be conspicuous in our spacestation view include the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Bay of Fundy, and Chesapeake Bay on the east coast, and Puget Sound, Cook Inlet, Bristol Bay, Norton Sound, and Kotzebue Sound on the west. More than 70,000 islands are another feature that commands attention in the gross outline of the subcontinent. Easily the most prominent island group is the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, an expansive series of large islands to the north of the Canadian mainland that constitutes more than 14 percent of the total area of Canada. The largest islands of the archipelago are Baffin and Victoria, and nine of the ten largest islands of the subcontinent are in this group. Four other sizable islands are clustered around the Gulf of St. Lawrence: Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province, the island of Newfoundland is part of the province of the same name, Cape Breton Island is part of Nova Scotia, and Anticosti Island is part of Quebec. The islands off the east coast of the United States are small and sparsely populated, with the very significant exceptions of the three islands that contain four of the five boroughs of New York City, namely Manhattan, Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens (the latter two making up part of Long Island; see Chapter 8). These three islands together hold a population in excess of IO million people. The other coastal islands of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico are nearly all long, narrow, low-lying sand ridges. Although there are a great many such islands, most are so close to shore and so narrow that they are indistinguishable from the high-altitude viewpoint of our space station. The pattern of islands off the Pacific Coast is quite uneven. Only a few islands are found off the southern portion of the coast, and of these, only the Channel Islands of California encompass much acreage. The coast of British Columbia and southern Alaska, on the other hand, is extensively bordered by islands, many of which are large. Most notable is

12

Chapter l

Vancouver Island, which constitutes the extreme southwestern corner of Canada. Other major islands on this coast include Haida Gwaii (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands) of British Columbia, the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska, Kodiak Island of southern Alaska, and the far-flung Aleutian group. Finally, from our space station one would see several large bodies of water that are internal to the continental landmass. The largest are the very aptly named Great Lakes, bordering Canada and the United States. They include the five major Great Lakes (in order of surface area): Superior (31,700 m /82, JOO km Huron (23,000 m /59,600 km Michigan (22,000 m /57,000 km Erie (9,900 m 25,600 km and Ontario (7,300 m /18,900 km Actually larger than Erie and Ontario are Great Bear Lake (12,000 m2 /31,J00 km2) and Great Slave Lake (10,000 m /25,900 km both in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Lake Winnipeg (9,500 m 24,600 km in Manitoba, Canada, also exceeds Lake Ontario in surface area. 2

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THE COUNTRIES

We organize the geography presented in most of this book according to regions, several of which cross country borders. But it is informative to look briefly at the countries as political and administrative entities, noting a few general facts to help inform our regional analysis.

The United States of America The United States is a federal democraticrepublic with a division of power between federal and state governments. Both federal and state governments have a threefold administrative structure: executive, legislative, and judicial branches. It is democratic insofar as political power stems from the equal will of citizens (in theory). But it is a representativedemocracy because democratic rule is carried out by elected representatives, not directly by the citizens. Finally, the United States has an elected head of state (a president) who is not a monarch or dictator, but has particular powers and limits on those powers specified in a constitutional document. The country is made up of fifty states, which vary greatly in size and population, and a single federal district: the District of Columbia (Washington, DC), which is the national capital. The District is a

territory on the northeastern side of the Potomac River ceded to the nation about 200 years ago by the state of Maryland. 6 A technical reference to the "United States of America" as a country includes just the fifty states and DC. The US Board on Geographic Names has approved the following nomenclature for referring to different subsets of states: 7 • United States: The fifty states and DC. This is technically what is meant by the "United States of America" as a country. Continental United States: The forty-nine states (including Alaska) and DC, located on the continent of North America. Conterminous (Coterminous, Contiguous) United States: The forty-eight states and DC that are spatially interconnected, consisting of neighboring parts of the country. Thus, both the continental and conterminous United States exclude the state of Hawai 'i. The conterminous United States is equivalent to what was the entire country for most of the twentieth century before 1959, when Alaska and Hawai'i were made states. It is commonly referred to as "the lower 48," a strange term given that it excludes the state of Hawai'i, which is at the lowest latitude to be found in the United States! States are subdivided into local governmental units called counties,with a few exceptions, most of which are considered county-equivalents. 8 In Louisiana the units are called parishes. In Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia there are cities that are essentially counties in themselves or independent of any county organization; they thus constitute, along with counties, primary subdivisions of these states. Alaska is subdivided into boroughs and census areas. Altogether, there are over 3,100 counties and county equivalents in the United States, varying greatly in size and population. 9 Delaware has the fewest, with three, whereas Texas has the most, with 254. There are also many other administrative regions internal to counties, including cities, voting districts, school districts, water districts, and so on. In addition to the fifty states and DC, the United States governs a number of islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, as well as Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Midway, and Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean. These territories have various specific political relations to the United States, though none get

Introduction to the Regional Geography of the United States and Canada political representation (some do get to vote in party primaries, however, or send nonvoting representatives to Congress).

Canada The governmental organization of Canada is a confederation with parliamentarydemocracythat combines the federal form of the United States with the cabinet system of Great Britain. The cabinet system partially unites the executive and legislative branches of government. The prime minister and all, or nearly all, of the cabinet are members of the House of Commons. The reigning monarch of Great Britain (now the United Kingdom) is also the head of state of Canada; at this time, that is Queen Elizabeth II. This position carries formal, symbolic, and ceremonial duties only-with no executive authority-duties that are usually exercised by the monarch's representative, the governor general of Canada. The prime minister is the active head of the government. Members of the House of Commons are elected by the people of Canada. Members of the Senate, on the other hand, are appointed by the prime minister and can serve until the age of seventy-five. Within the Parliament, the House of Commons is the dominant legislative body, with many more powers than the Senate. This differs from the United States, where the two houses of Congress have approximately equal power, although they do have authority over somewhat different issues. The Canadian confederation contains ten provinces and three territories. The difference between the two is that provinces get their power and authority from the Constitution Act of 1867 (more below), while territories get power delegated by the Parliament. Changing provincial powers requires amending the constitution; changing territorial power can be performed by the Parliament or federal government without constitutional amendment. The easternmost provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island are often referred to as the Atlantic Provinces;the latter three also are collectively called the Maritime Provinces.Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, the three provinces of the western interior, are known as the PrairieProvinces(although the spectacular Canadian Rockies are partly found in Alberta). The other three provinces-Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia-are not normally considered members of groups. Most of northern Canada

13

is encompassed within the territories of Yukon, 10 the Northwest Territories, and the recently created (established April I, 1999) Nunavut. The various provinces and territories have different systems for administering local government; each is usually subdivided into counties or districts, which may be further fragmented into minor civil divisions. The federal capital of Ottawa does not occupy a special territory but is within the province of Ontario, adjacent to its border with Quebec. The creation of a federal district (analogous to the District of Columbia) was first officially proposed in 1915 and has been discussed with varying degrees of seriousness ever since, but no formal action has occurred. Nevertheless, a planning district, called the National Capital Region, has been designated. It comprises some 900 m2 (2,300 km2) and is divided about equally between Ontario and Quebec. Indeed, in some quarters, the capital is now referred to as "OttawaGatineau," since Gatineau is Ottawa's principal suburb on the Quebec side of the boundary and contains the offices of numerous government agencies.

How the US and Canada Grew to Their Present Sizes: The Historical Geography of US and Canadian Territorial Acquisition Figure 1-8 shows a somewhat simplified history of territorial acquisition of what would eventually become the countries of the United States and Canada as we know them today. 11 The United States declared itself a separate country in 1776; we recognize this event on the 4th of July, although history tells us this exact date is more conventional than strictly accurate as the first day of self-declared independence. The United States officially became independent from Great Britain-and recognized by the rest of the world as such-with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. It then expanded westward, enlarging its borders several times. The original thirteen states grew into fifty states. The general pattern was territorial expansion, carving of the newly acquired land into "organized" territories, modification of their borders, and eventual statehood. Procedures by which Congress would create new states were established by the Northwest Ordinanceof 1789. It described a process whereby the United States would expand by adding new states, rather than by enlarging existing states. It decreed that new states could be created from existing territories once a population of 60,000 residents had been achieved.

14

Chapter

l

D

250 O

500 Miles

250 500 Kilometers

, 10%

FIGURE 3-14 Population change rates in the provinces and territories of Canada, 2011-2016 (data from Statistics Canada).

in 1959, with their modest populations, had only a small effect on the mean population center). In addition, the US population has moved southward since the 1920s, to the warmer climates of what is often called the Sun Belt (southern states of Virginia to California and Hawai'i). This southwestern population shift continued throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-fust, and is still with us today, albeit at somewhat declining rates. 14 Still, Delaware is the only state that is neither southern nor western that has grown in population more rapidly than the national average in the last decade (Fig. 3-16). Within Canada, a similar westward shift in population has occurred over almost its entire history. Again, this has occurred partly because of the addition of western territory over time (Fig. 1-8). There have been relatively modest southward and northward fluctuations in the center of Canadian popula-

tion since the mid-nineteenth century, but since the population has always lived quite close to the border of the conterminous US (and still does), these have resulted more from the shape of the Canadian-US border as it dips south from Montreal to Toronto and then north again to Manitoba, heading due west to the Pacific Ocean from there. At this time, the centroid of Canadian population is not even in Canadait's in the Upper Peninsula of northern Michigan! Other than the regional shifts in population, two other trends in internal migration critically important to understanding the geography of North America have been the flow of people from rural to urban areas since the 1870s (in some ways paralleling the movement of foreign immigrants primarily to cities) and the redistribution of urban populations from central cities to suburbs. These trends are discussed more in the next chapter.

4 -

Mean Center of Population Countyof Centerof Population State01StateEquivalent Countyor CountyEquivaleri

FIGURE 3-15 The westward and southward migration of the population centroid of the United States. The centroid or mean center is the spatial center of the human population of a region or country. It is calculated by assigning X and Y coordinates (like lat and long) to each person's home location and then calculating the arithmetic mean (average) of each set of coordinates (US Census Bureau).

ND 12.7"

co 12.n.

FIGURE 3-16 The 10 fastest-growing states, as shown by percent of population growth, 2010to 2017 (data from US Census).

Human Geography of the US and Canada Latin Other Asian (Other) 1% lo/o 6% South Asian 6%

Ten states with largest net gains and losses of migrants, domestic and international, 1985- 1990 and 2010-2015.

TABLE 3-2

Largest net gains State

Largest net losses

Migrants (thousands)

State

Migrants (thousands)

1985-1990 Florida Georgia North Carolina Virginia Washington Arizona California Nevada Tennessee South Carolina

1,072 303 281 228 216 216 174 173 131 109

New York Illinois Texas Louisiana New Jersey Ohio Michigan Oklahoma Massachusetts Iowa

-821 -342 -331 -251 -194 -141 -133 -128 -97 -94

2010-2015 Florida Texas California North Carolina Washington Arizona Colorado Georgia South Carolina Oregon

1,320 1,145 350 310 282 279 262 222 218 164

Illinois New York Michigan Ohio New Jersey New Mexico Connecticut Kansas Mississippi Wisconsin

67

Native/ Aboriginal 5% Black 3%

r-------~

3-17 Racial components of Canadian population ancestry, 2016 (data from Statistics Canada). FIGURE

-313 -172 -48 -44

Two or more Races

2.8%

-44

-42 -41 -32 -31 -17

Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander 6.1%

Source: US Bureau of the Census.

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.3%

Racial/Ethnic Components Most of the people in both countries are of northern European background, but there are many significant minorities, and the rapid development of a pluralistic society in both Canada and the United States is striking (Figs. 3-17 and 3-18). The largest ethnic groups in Canada as of 2016 (according to self-identification) is English (18.3 percent), Scottish (13.9 percent), French (13.6 percent), and Irish (13.4 percent). However, the largest self-identified group are "Canadian" at 32.3 percent. A person of any ethnic heritage can identify as Canadian, but the majority of these people are primarily of British or French heritage. Substantial majorities of Canadian residents (over 2 percent) are German, Chinese, Italian, First Nation, (East) Indian, Ukrainian, Dutch, Polish, or Filipino.

FIGURE 3-18 Racial components of US population ancestry, 2019. The total slightly exceeds 100% because people identifying as "two or more races" are double counted (data from US Census).

Most Canadians of French descent live in Quebec and in adjacent portions of New Brunswick (Fig. 319). In recognition of the long-standing historical significance of the Franco-Canadians, Canada is officially a bicultural nation. Both British and French ethnicities are on a declining trend, however. By the mid-2010s, only about one-third of all Canadians were of distinctly British origin and less than one-sixth

68

"' C

Chapter 3 FIGURE 3-19 Changing Canadian ethnicity. Multiple responses were permitted beginning in 1981 (data from Statistics Canada).

60

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1911

1921

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were of distinctly French origin. Of course, Canadian ethnic diversity varies considerably by region. Its considerable ethnic and racial diversity aside, Figure 3-18 shows that people who self-identify as White constitute the majority of residents of the United States as of 2019. 15 Figure 3-20 shows that the largest ethnic groups in the United States (again, according to selfidentification) are German (14.7 percent), Black/ African American (12.3 percent), Mexican (10.9 percent), Irish (10.6 percent), and English (7.8 percent). About 7 percent of US residents identify as "American." Substantial majorities of US residents (over 2 percent) are Italian, Polish, or French. Most of these proportions are shrinking, as the relative number of US residents of Latino/Hispanic or Asian heritages increases, as reviewed above. As we explore the country region by region in this text, we will again see that ethnic diversity in the US varies considerably by region.

1951

1961

1971

1981

1991

2001

Scotch-Irish 1.0% Asian Indian 1.0% Chinese 1. Swedish 1 Dutch 1.4 Norwegian 1. 0 Puerto Rican 1.6°

Russian West Indian 0 _9o/o (non-Hispanic) 0.9% Filipino 0.9%

Scottish 1.7% French 2.6% Polish 3.0%

FIGURE 3-20 Ethnic components of US population ancestry, 2015 (data from US Census).

Human Geography of the US and Canada CULTURE

Culture refers to socially shared and transmitted patterns of beliefs, behaviors, and material artifacts within groups of people. Cultural groups come in many different sizes and are created in many different ways. They can be based on age, sexuality, occupation, favorite hobbies, music preference, sports team, political partisanship, or a common interest in Star Trek. Our main focus in this book is on ethnic and regional cultures, shared among members of ethnic groups or people who live in the same part of the world. The major components of such culture include phenomena such as language, religion, economic practices, food, clothing, music, architecture, mating systems, and political systems. Cultural practices (culturaltraits)obviously change over time, including changing location over time. The invention of a new trait-such as a new idea about the meaning of life, a new way to treat a disease, or a new way to make a chocolate cake so the center is "molten"-is called cu/tum/ innovation.The spread of new traits from one place to another is called cu/tum/ diffasion. Diffusion occurs via two major processes. When a cultural group migrates, it brings its cultural practices with it, so they appear where they did not exist before. This is relocationdiffasion-the location where a trait occurs changes but the same people practice it. In contrast, when people who do not know about the cultural practice learn about it by coming into contact with those who do know about it, we call it expansiondiffasion. The contact may be direct or indirect, including everything from in-person interaction to mass media such as the internet. In this case, there is both a change in the location where a trait occurs and an increase (expansion) in the number of people practicing it. The cultural geography of North America is diverse, complex, and imperfectly understood. The map of culture areas in Figure 3-21 offers one prominent cultural geographer's view from several decades ago, at a very generalized level. We will touch on aspects of ethnic and regional culture in every chapter of this book. Here, we overview some basic aspects of the spatial distribution of two of its central components-language and religion.

Language Linguists and linguistic geographers estimate there are around 5,000 languages worldwide. It is very difficult to say exactly how many different Ian-

69

guages there are in the world, however, because it is fundamentally difficult to decide if two ways of speaking constitute two separate languages or just two dialects. Linguists normally consider two ways of speaking that are mutually unintelligible (the speakers cannot understand each other) as two separate languages. Two ways of speaking that are mutually intelligible but differ in vocabulary, pronunciation, rhythm, or grammar are dialects. Dialects vary according to geographic region and ethnicity, so they are of considerable interest to regional geographers (they can also vary as a function of social class, age, and other subgroupings). The English language as spoken in New England is a different dialect than it is in the Deep South. 16 American and Canadian English are different dialects from "English" English and from each other. At the same time that languages can be broken down into specific dialects, they can be aggregated into higher-order units, such as language groups, branches, and, especially, families. English is a language of the most widely spoken languagefamily in the world: Inda-European. Almost all European languages are Inda-European, and so are several languages spoken in places like South Asia. Because of the colonial expansion of European cultures starting 500 years ago and their continued cultural diffusion via mass media like cinema, Inda-European languages are spoken widely across the globe, by well over half the world's people. Given its widespread diffusion in these ways, the English language specifically is widely spoken. It is the most commonly spoken language in the world, a little more popular than Mandarin Chinese, which is spoken by so many people primarily because there are so many people who are ethnically Mandarin. Here it helps to recognize the distinction between primary and secondary languages. Primary languageis a person's first or native language, typically the one they learned at home from their parents (sometimes called one's "mother tongue"). Any additional language a person learns is a secondarylanguage (even if it is the third or fourth language they know). People who speak a secondary language well are known as bilingual. English is so widely spoken in the world because it is so common as both primary and secondary language; Mandarin is mostly a very common primary language, by comparison. For such a large area and large number of people, the United States is not very linguistically complex. Well over 90 percent of its population is fluent in Eng-

70

Chapter 3

FIGURE

3-21

Zelinsky's view of the principal

culture areas of the United States.

1 New England; 1-a Nuclear New England; 1-b Northern New England; 2 The Midland; 2-a Pennsylvanian Region; 2-b New York Region, or New England Extended; 3 The South; 3-a Early British Colonial South; 3-b Lowland, or Deep South; 3-b-1 French Louisiana; 3-c Upland South; 3-c-1 The Bluegrass; 3-c-2 The Ozarks; 4 The Middle West; 4-a Upper Middle West; 4-b Lower Middle West; 4-c Cutover Area; 5 The West; 5-a Upper Rio Grande Valley; S-b Willamette Valley; 5-c Mormon Region; 5-d Central California; 5-e Colorado Piedmont; 5-f Southern California; 5-g Puget Sound; 5-h Inland Empire; 5-i Central Arizona. Regions of uncertain status of affiliation are: A Texas; B Peninsular Florida; C Oklahoma. (After Zelinsky [1973]. Reprinted by permission).

lish, and while there are numerous dialects of English, with only a few exceptions, they are readily mutually intelligible. At the federal level, there is no "official language" of the United States by law, but just over 30 states have legislation that assigns English the status of official. All but two grant that status only to English, but Hawai'i also recognizes native Hawaiian as official, and Alaska recognizes around twenty native languages as official, in addition to English. The great rates of foreign immigration in the last half century, however, have resulted in a large population that is bilingual, sometimes learning both English and a second language so early and so well that they are about equally fluent in both (challenging the standard distinction between primary and secondary). In some cases with recent immigrants or those living in homogenous ethnic enclaves, resi-

dents of the US are effectively monolingual in a language other than English. Examples include Spanish Harlem and other parts of New York City where Puerto Ricans and Dominicans have settled, in several big-city Chinatowns, in areas of Italian and Polish settlements, in the Cuban settlements of Florida, and in Southeast Asian communities in large western cities. The speaking of primary languages other than English has become increasingly common with the great numbers of foreign immigrants in the last few decades (Table 3-3). Spanish is the most common such language, but Chinese and some other Asian languages are becoming more common. In southern Louisiana, French has long been important, although normally in a creolized form (i.e., as a syncreticblend with English).

Human Geography of the US and Canada 3-3 Language spoken at home by foreignborn Americans, 2015.

TABLE

Total, age 5+ English only Spanish Chinese Hindi Filipino/Tagalog Vietnamese French Korean Other Non-English

Thousands

Percent

43,200 6,900 19,000 2,600 2,200 1,700 1,300 1,300 900 7,300

100 16 44

6 5

4 3 3 2 17

Source: US Bureau of the Census, American Community Survey.

This prominence of English in the US definitely represents cultural homogenization, as compared to the situation in the North American subcontinent when Columbus arrived. Native American linguistic diversity was stunning at that time, with something like 300 different languages from at least thirty different language families being spoken (linguistic diversity in the rest of the Americas was similarly great then). Around half of these are extinct, no longer spoken, and most of the remaining are moribundspoken only by elders and not taught to children. Most of the remaining twenty or so native languages are spoken by less than 1,000 people. Only a handful are flourishing, including especially Navajo in Arizona and New Mexico, but also Yupik in central Alaska, Apache in Arizona and New Mexico, Cree and Ojibwe in the northern US and across southern Canada, Cherokee in Oklahoma and North Carolina, and Dakota Sioux in North and South Dakota and neighboring states. Inuktitut, the principal Inuit tongue, is spoken by 30,000 people and is not considered to be moribund; in fact, it is an official language in the Northwest Territories and-no surprise-in Nunavut (Chapter 20). The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that is spoken by less than one percent of the population ofHawai'i, although extensive efforts since 1950 have increased the number of speakers, as well as changed the spelling and pronunciation of many place names (more in Chapter 18). The linguistic pattern in Canada is more heterogeneous insofar as French joins English as a dominant primary language (the Official Languages Act of 1969 made both official according to federal law), and many people prefer another language. Census

71

statistics show that English is the mother tongue for less than 60 percent of the population, although over 85 percent can speak English. French is the mother tongue for just over 20 percent, and another IO percent can speak French. The relationship between English and French languages is considered by many to be a central aspect of being Canadian, but nearly 20 percent of Canadian residents speak a language other than English or French as their mother tongue. Today, Chinese (particularly Mandarin and Cantonese), Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog (Filipino), Arabic, German, and Italian are the most widely used of these other languages.

Religion Religious affiliation is somewhat more varied than language (Fig. 3-22). About 80 percent of US residents claim to be religious, the great majority identifying a specific religion to which they belong. About 20 percent are nonreligious; some are explicitly atheistic or agnostic, but many claim simply to be secular or not in any religion. These numbers are similar to the world as a whole, but the number of people identifying as nonreligious in the US is definitely rising, perhaps twice as high now as just a couple decades ago. However, an increasing number of people who deny being religious claim to be "spiritual." Approximately one-half of the population profess some branch of Protestantism, with Baptists as the largest denomination but "[Protestant] and nondenominational" being second in popularity among Protestant groups. The southeastern states, the Midwest, and much of the West are predominantly Protestant. Roman Catholics constitute about one-third of the total population, with particular concentrations in the Southwest, southern Louisiana, parts of New England, and many larger cities of the northeast. About 2 percent of the population is Jewish, and they are distinctly concentrated in the large cities; half the nation's Jews live in New York City, with other major concentrations in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston. Other non-Christian religious affiliations include about I percent each Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist. All other non-Christians total about I percent, including Shinto, Confucianist, Wiccan, pagan, and so on. In Canada, a slightly smaller percentage of people claim to be religious, maybe around 75 percent. This too represents a declining percentage of people claiming to be religious. Some 40 percent of the Cana-

72

Chapter 3

tter-Day ints utheran Methodist Areaswith no predominant denomination

FIGURE 3-22 Religious affiliation in the United States as of 2010, as indicated by church membership. In each case, only the leading denomination is shown.

dian people profess Roman Catholicism; Quebec and New Brunswick are Catholic strongholds. About 30 percent of the remainder of the population are Protestant or other Christians that are not Roman Catholic (Eastern Orthodox, for example). The two dominant Protestant denominations are United Church of Canada and Anglican. Muslims make up over 3 percent of the population, and Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jews are each about 1 percent. Other religions, including Native forms of spirituality (typically adhering to animism), make up a bit less than 1 percent.

TRENDS AND QUESTIONS

The population of North America will undoubtedly continue to grow, but the predicted rate of growth is trending downwards. As of 2017, both the US and Canada have relatively fewer residents between the ages of O and 20 than between 20 and 40. Fertility has been declining in both countries for

some time. The totalfertility rate is the number of live births each woman has in her lifetime, on average. A value just over 2.0 is considered the replacementrate, as it is the fertility rate required to keep the population size stable over time, so births keep pace with deaths. 17 Canada's fertility around 1960 was about 3.9, but it started dropping then, reaching just over 1.5 by the late 1980s, where it is today. The US fertility rate also started dropping around 1960, at which time it was about 3.6. It dropped as low as 1.7 by the mid-1970s, but from the late 1980s until about 2008, it moved distinctly upward, to slightly over 2.0 (the Great Recession). Since then, it has again dropped down to 1.8. Thus, both North American countries have fertility rates below replacement. Related to these trends is the ongoing "graying" of the North American subcontinent-the populations are getting older. The old-agedependencyratio is the ratio of old people to people of working age (it is typically expressed as a percentage by multiplying by 100). By convention, old dependents are counted as

Human Geography of the US and Canada people over 64 years of age; people in between the ages of 14 and 65 are counted as being of working age. The term "dependent" suggests some of the significance of this index. Old people are much less able or inclined to be employed as workers, and they generally have much more extensive needs for medical care. Like nearly everywhere in the world, the old-age dependency ratio has been increasing in the US and Canada for the last half-century. In 1960, this ratio was no more than 15 for the United States and 13 for Canada; by 20 I 7, it had risen to 23 and 25, respectively. Immigrants and their children make up increasing percentages of the populations of both the US and Canada. This is not only because of the dropping fertility rates among native residents, but because of continued immigration and because of the higher fertility rates of immigrants, particularly among people from Latin America. The increasing fertility rate in the US starting in the late 1980s was due primarily to the higher fertility rate of immigrant populations, although their fertility rates have declined over time in their new country from the especially high levels they displayed before immigrating. Immigration and the natural increase of immigrant populations (their children and grandchildren) are responsible for about one-half of US population growth since 1965. If immigration continues at current levels, the foreignborn percentage of the population may account for nearly two-thirds of population growth projected to the year 2050. Immigration now represents over half of total Canadian population growth. So, immigration has played a critical role in the demography of both the US and Canada, and it continues to do so. But immigration affects much more than population size, growth, and age structure. It affects the economy in many ways that are complex to summarize. Immigrants, especially from Latin America, have found work in agricultural fields, animal slaughtering and meatpacking facilities, construction, hotels, and restaurants. Many work in private residences as maids, nannies, and gardeners. Many US citizens are concerned about the loss of employment opportunities or depression in wages they believe immigrants cause, particularly those in the country without authorization. They also worry about the increased strain immigrants put on housing stocks, traffic congestion, emergency rooms, and public schools, the latter considering the challenges of providing public education for students who do not speak English well.

73

In contrast, other people believe that immigrants increase the strength of the US economy, through their consumption, production, and payment of taxes (and they often do not collect rebates of withholdings which they have coming to them). Some argue that unauthorized immigrants keep the costs of agricultural products low and do jobs "Americans will not do." In the US, a large portion of the budget is directed to enforcing immigration laws, including border control. This cost will increase considerably if a "wall" is built along the entire stretch of the southwestern border with Mexico-which was a cornerstone of the Trump administration's agenda. Besides the economy, immigration has always influenced the cultural landscapes of the US and Canada, and it will certainly continue to do so. While many residents of both countries resent the cultural changes they perceive immigrants to bring, many others value what they see as the rich and increasing cultural diversity immigrants bring. Certainly, they bring linguistic diversity, as reviewed above. They also bring religious diversity. Immigrants are much less likely to practice a Protestant Christian faith than existing inhabitants of the subcontinent, and more likely to be Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, or another religion. Less exalted aspects of culture, such as food, music, and dress, similarly become more diverse over time with the influx of new cultural groups. These cultural shifts can be observed not only in human practices but by the marks they leave on the physical landscape itself, producing new and different forms of architecture, signage, and land use. Finally, we note that the influence of immigrants on the cultures of the United States and Canada (and the converse influences of these countries on their new residents) is just one of several processes that have promoted, and continue to promote, the diffusion of culture over Earth's surface, whether by relocation or expansion. For centuries, commodity exchange (trade) and colonization have helped to accomplish this in most areas of the world, and international travel more generally became an increasingly important cultural diffuser in the twentieth century. The largest set of forces moving us toward the globalization of culture these days is mass media, including television, cinema, and the internet. Their influences during the last century have reached virtually everywhere people live, tending to increase cultural homogenization-decrease cultural diversity-by replacing more traditional folk culture with popular culture. For example, the influences have diminished differences

74

Chapter 3

among regional dialects of English spoken across North America, including a flattening of the distinct sounds of Canadian versus American English. Taken to their logical extremes, these processes would end when people all over the planet practice the same cultural traits, resulting in a hypothetical single world culture. This is not about to happen aoytirne soon, however, and there are good arguments as to why it will never happen completely. But the ongoing tendency toward cultural uniformity is an important trend to watch as we consider the future of the regional geography of the United States and Canada.

NOTES I. The website of the United States Census Bureau is www.census.gov.

2. The website of Statistics Canada, the census organization for Canada, is www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/ index-eng.cfm. 3. Foreigners seeking to escape from oppression in their home-

lands are admitted to the United States under special legislation, especially the Refugee Act of 1980, that is separate from normal immigration quotas. This procedure has particularly

benefited people from Cuba, Southeast Asia, Haiti, Central America, and Hungary. 4. www.migrationpolicy.org 5. The issue of what to call native peoples of North America is rather complex. They are native or indigenous only in the sense that their ancestors were the first humans to arrive here;

of course, they evolved with the rest of humanity in Africa and Asia, and in that sense are America's first immigrants. In the

United States, many native people prefer to be called American Indians (sometimes shortened to Amerind} or just Indians. As everyone knows, this name derives from Columbus's

error in thinking he had landed in the Indies (South and Southeast Asia) and that the people were thus Indians. The term "Native American" has gained currency in the US and is perhaps favored by younger native people. ln Canada, the term "Indian" has an official status, but the term "First Nations" is probably most common. None of the above terms are usually taken to include the Inuit or Aleutians of Canada and Alaska, nor do they include the native Polynesians of the Hawaiian Islands.

6. Estimates from reputable scholars vary greatly, and hard evidence to support any of these estimates is difficult to come by. It is important to note that populations of indigenous people in the Americas south of the Rio Grande (i.e., in Central and South America) were quite a bit larger than those north of it. 7. There is no widely used term in the United States analogous to this Canadian term for people of mixed native-colonizer heritage, and some historians observe that such interbreeding was much less common in the US than in Canada. It was certainly less common than in Central America, where inter-

breeding of native people with European colonizers was typical. At the other extreme of contact, some native people of the Americas, such as in Brazil, are still relatively isolated and uncontacted by European-descended colonizers.

8. ls it ironic that the horse had evolved in North America but gone extinct about 11,500 years before being reintroduced to the continent by the Spanish conquistadores? 9. Peak-year immigration to the United States was 286,000 from Italy in 1907; 340,000 from Austria-Hungary in 1907; and 291,000 from Russia in 1913. IO. Thus, not exactly a reversal of the Great Migration, as migration was mostly to southern cities, not rural areas.

11. Some 4,300 Chinese had immigrated to Canada in I 9 I9, a larger total than from any other country except the United Kingdom and the United States. The Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 resulted in such restriction that an average of only one Chinese immigrant per year entered Canada during the next two decades. See Agnew, W. H. (1967). "The Canadian mosaic." In C. C. Lingard (Ed.), Canada one /11111dred: l867/967(pp. 82-99). Ottawa, ON: Queen's Printer. 12. African Americans would be the second largest group, but they come from a good portion of an entire continent, not just a single country.

13. North Dakota was actually losing population up until shortly after 2000, at which time the incredible oil boom of the Williston Basin caused a population explosion. See Chapter 13. 14. As we discuss further in Chapter 16 on the California Region, perhaps the most important reason for the slowing southwestern trend has been net domestic (internal) out-migration from

California since I 990. 15. The US Census in recent decades has treated "Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish" heritage as separate from race, requiring respondents separately to identify their race; in fact, the great

majority of those identifying as Hispanic/Latino/Spanish also identify as "White" on census forms. In this book, we present Hispanic/Latino and White as two distinct racial groups. 16. Although there is typically a "standard" way to speak a given language, that is nothing but an accident of power relations at a given time in history. Everyone's way of speaking, no matter how important or well educated they are, is really just another

dialect. No one can completely accurately say they speak "without an accent."

17. If each pair of female-male mates has 2 children who survive to the end of their (the children's) reproductive adulthoods, then 2.0 would be the replacement rate. Because not all births survive that long, the number is a little higher, especially in less developed parts of the world, where it might exceed 3.0.

BIBLIOGRAl'HY

Anderson, Kay, Mona Domosh, Steve Pile, and Nigel Thrift (Eds.). (2003). Handbookof culturalgeography. London; Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Arnold, Kathleen R. (Ed.). (2015). Contemporary immigration in America:A state-by-state encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, an imprint of ABC-CLIO. Atwood, Craig D., Frank S. Mead, and Samuel S. Hill (Eds.). (20I0). Handbookof denominationsin the United States(13th ed.). Nashville,TN: Abingdon Press. Beaujot, Roderic P., and Donald W. Kerr. (2016). Population changein Canada(3rd ed.). Don Mills, ON: Oxford UniversityPress.

Human Geography of the US and Canada Bennett, Claudette E., et al. (1993). We the . .. American Blacks. Washington, DC: Bureau of the Census. Bjelland, Mark D., Daniel R. Montello, and Arthur Getis. (2019). Human geography: Landscapes of human activities (13th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. Cairns, Alan C. (2018). Citizens plus: Abonginal peoples and the Canadian state. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press. Carney, George 0. ( 1998). Baseball, bams, and bluegrass: A geography of Americanfolklife. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Carney, George 0. (Ed.). (I 995). Fastfood, stock cars, & rockn-roll: Place and space in American pop culture. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Cassidy, Frederic G., Joan Houston Hall, and Luanne Von Schneidemesser. (1985-2013). Dictionary of American regional English (six volumes). Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Crawford, James. (1995). Endangered Native American languages: What is to be done, and why? The Bilingual Research Journal, 19, I, 17-38. Del Pinal, Jorge, and Audrey Singer. (I 997). Generations of diversity: Latinos in the United States. Population Bulletin, 52, no. 3. Dickason, Olive Patricia, and David McNab. (2009). Canada's First Nations: A history offounding peoplesfrom earliest times(4th ed.). Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press. Driver, Harold E. (1961). Indians of North America. Chi-

cago: University of Chlcago Press. Freeman, Gary P., and James Jupp (Eds.). (1992). Nations of immigrants: Australia, the United States and international migration. Melbourne, Australia: Oxford Uni-

versity Press Australia. French, Kenneth. (2017). Geography of American rap: Rap diffusion and rap centers. GeoJoumal, 82, 259-272. Frey, William H. (2018). Diversity explosion: How new racial demographics are remaking America. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. Frey, William H., and Kao-Lee Uaw. (1998). Immigrant concentration and domestic migrant dispersal: Is movement to nonmetropolitan areas 'white flight'? Professional Geographer, 50, 215-232. Hagan, William T. (2013). American Indians (4th ed.). Chlcago: University of Chlcago Press. Halvorson, Peter L., and William M. Newman. (1994). Atlas of reltgious change in America, 1952-1990. Atlanta, GA: Glenmary Research Center. Hansen, Marcus Lee. (1964). The immigrant in American history. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers. Jasso, Guillermina, and Mark R. Rosenzweig. (1990). The new chosen people: Immigrants in the United States. New York: Russel Sage Foundation. Johansen, Bruce E. (2006). The nativepeoplesof North America: A history. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Jones, Maldwyn Allen. (1992). American immigration. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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Jones, Robert P., and Daniel Cox. (2017). America's changing religious identity: Findings from the 2016 American Values Atlas. Washlngton, DC: Public Religion Re-

search Institute (PRRI). Jordan-Bychkov, Terry G., Mona Domosh, Roderick P. Neumann, and Patricia L. Price. (2006). The human mosaic: A thematic introduction to cultural geography (I 0th ed.). New York: WH. Freeman. Kehoe, Alice Beck. (2016). North American Indians: A comprehensive account (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice-Hall. Kraut, Alan M., and David A. Gerber. (2010). American immigration and ethnicity: A reader New York: Palgrave MacMillan. Labov, William, Sharon Ash, and Charles Boberg. (2006). The atlas of North American English: Phonetics, phonology, and sound change. Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Louder, Dean R., and Eric Waddell (Eds.). (1993). French America: Mobility, identity, and minority experience across the continent. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State Uni-

versity Press. Martin, Philip, and Elizabeth Midgley. (I 999). Immigration to the United States. Population Bulletin, 54, no. 2. Massey, Douglas S. (Ed.). (2008). New faces in new places: The changing geography of American imnugration. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Mcllwraith, Thomas F, and Edward K. Muller (Eds.). (200 I). North America: The historical geography of a changing continent (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman &Littlefield. McKee, Jesse 0. (Ed.). (2000). Ethnicity in contemporary America: A geographical appraisal (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Meinig, Donald W ( 1998). The shaping of America: A geographical perspective of 500 years of history. Vol. 3, transcontinental America, 1850-1915. New Haven, CT: Yale

University Press. Murdock, Steve H., Michael Edward Cline, Mary Zey, Deborah Perez, and Pierre Wilner Jeanty. (2015). Population change in the United States: Socioeconomic challenges and opportunities in the twentyjirst century.

Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Nash, Gary B. (2000). Red, White, and Black: The peoples of early North America (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Newbold, K. Bruce. (2017). Population geography: Tools and issues (3rd ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Noble, Allen G. (Ed.). (1992). To build a new land: Ethnic landscapes in North America. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Nostrand, Richard L. (2018). The making of America's culture regions. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. O'Hare, William P., Kelvin M. Pollard, Taynia L. Mann, and Mary M. Kent. (1991). African Americans in the 1990s. Population Bulletin, 46, no. I.

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Paisano, Edna L., et al. (1993). We the American ... Asians. Washington, DC: Bureau of the Census. Paisano, Edna L., et al. (1993). We the . .. first Americans. Washington, DC: Bureau of the Census. Pandit, Kavita, and Suzanne Davies Withers (Eds.). (1999). Migration and restructuring in the United States. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Passel, Jeffrey S., and D'Vera Cohn. (2016). Overall number

Shumway, J. Matthew, and Richard H. Jackson. (1995). Native American population patterns. Geographical Review, 85, 185-20 I. Snipp, C. Matthew. (I 989). American Indians: Thefirst of this land. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Tanner, Helen H. (Ed.). (1995). The settling of North Amer-

of US. unauthorized immigrants holds steady since 2009.

Taylor, J. Garth. (1981). Trying to preserve our Aboriginal cultures. Canadian Geographic, I 00, 52-58. Tennant, Paul. (I 990). Aboriginal people and politics. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press. Todd, Roy, Martin Thornton, and D. M. Collins. (2001).

Pew Research Center. Plane, David A. (1999). Migration drift. ProfessionalGeographer, 51, 1-1 I. Richardson, Boyce. (1994). People of Terra Nulliuis: Betrayal and rebirth in Aboriginal Canada. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. Ross, Thomas E., and Tyre! G. Moore (Eds.). (1987). A cultural geography of North American Indians. Bou.Ider, CO: Westview Press. Roy-Sole, Monique. (1995). Keeping the Metis faith alive. Canadian Geographic, 115, 36-49. Sauer, Carl 0. (I 976). European backgrounds. Histon·cal Geography Newsletter, 6, 35-58. Shelley, Fred M., J. Clark Archer, and Fiona M. Davidson. (1996). Political geography of the United States. New York: Guilford Press.

ica: The atlas of the great migrations into North America from the Ice Age to the present. New York: Macmillan.

Aboriginal people and other Canadians: Shaping new relationships. Ottawa, ON: University of Ottawa Press.

US Dept. of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration. (1993). We the American . .. Hispanics. Washington, DC: Bureau of the Census. Waldman, Carl. (2009). Atlas of the North American Indian (3rd ed.). New York: Checkmark Books. Zelinsky, Wilbur. ( 1992). The cultural geography of the United States (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

4

As we began to explore in Chapter 3, the human geographies of the United States and Canada are varied and fascinating. That includes the activities carried out by the residents of these two countries, activities that express complex interactions with the physical and social landscape and thereby leave the marks of human influence on them. In this chapter, we review two more key components of these activities-economic activities and the urban landscape-and describe the effects they have had and continue to have on the landscapes of the North American subcontinent.

or traded. Another way to put it is that economic activities are activities people carry out to acquire resources necessary to survive and even prosper on planet Earth. Commodities clearly include a wide array of goods and services, such as food, clothing, land, housing, legal advice, medical care, entertainment, and childcare. But they also include fortune telling, carbon credits, political support, water rights, surrogate mothering, and cash itself. Just about anything can be commodified, as long as someone finds value in it. We can identify three types of economic systems, although there are few, if any, pure examples of each type. The oldest type of system is a subsistenceeconomy, carried out for the survival of one's family and immediate social group, typically without currency or great wealth accumulation. A family that grows vegetables to feed itself is a good example. Commercial/ market economiesare characterized by the activi-

ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

Economic activities are those involving the production, distribution, and consumption of commodities. Commodities are goods and services that have value, which in turn means they can be bought, sold, 77

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ties of buying and selling, and the existence of price and production systems that are free to vary according to profit motivation and interrelationships among supply, demand, and price. Growing wheat to sell to flour companies is a good example. Finally, when governmental or administrative structures exert influence or control over the variables of the economic market, we have planned economies.An example of this is when the government sets the minimum price to be paid for a gallon of milk. Although the economies of both the United States and Canada are commonly referred to as market economies, all three types of economic systems in fact occur in both countries, and as geographers, we are interested in all three because they reflect human-environment relations and are spatially distributed across the landscape in relevant ways.

Categories of Economic Activity: Sectors Another way to understand economic activities, which mostly cuts across the three types just described, is in terms of categories or sectors of economic activity, defined by their complexity and relationship to natural resources. As one goes from primary to quaternary (1-4), one steps back progressively further from the simple and direct value of natural resources. The Primary Sector

The first sector is primary activity, which is direct harvesting and extraction from the earth. Agriculture is the most significant primary activity for most of Earth's people, but mining, forestry, and hunting and fishing are other examples, all of which are of critical importance in particular regions. Agricultural activity can be characterized as being relatively intensive or extensive. Per areal unit of land, intensiveagriculture requires a great deal of labor, water, and fertile soil (fertile in part because of expensive investments of fertilizer). It produces products that typically require a great deal of labor to harvest and are expensive to transport. But its products are more valuable-they can support more people per area if directly consumed and sell for more per unit produced. Because of their greater value, intensive products generally require smaller amounts of land to carry out viably. The most intensive agricultural products are fruits and vegetables (including flowers), with fresh dairying a bit less intensive. In contrast, extensiveagriculture requires Jess labor and water per area, and gets by on Jess fertile soil. It produces products that can be har-

vested and processed with less labor, and transported more cheaply. Extensive products are less valuable, able to support fewer people per acre, and sell for less per unit. Because of their lesser value, and the fact that they can be practiced on agricultural land of lower quality (less fertility, less precipitation), extensive products generally require larger amounts of land to carry out viably. The most extensive agricultural products are grain and range livestock. Note that growing grain like wheat to be consumed directly by people is quite extensive, but that growing grain to be fed to livestock is part of a less extensive form of agricultural land use. Of course, spatial patterns of primary activities are tightly tied to spatial patterns of physical geography. Forestry requires trees, and the size and nature of the trees (e.g., hardwood or softwood) largely determines what kind of forestry is practiced. Commercial fishing is more or less out of the question if there are no large bodies of water nearby, and there will be no copper mining unless there are copper deposits. The type of agriculture that an area can support depends on the nature of the soil, insolation, and precipitation in a region. But it is important to note that the spatial patterns of human settlement also influence agricultural practices. Fresh milk, for instance, is very expensive to transport (it is heavy and bulky, and requires sterile and refrigerated transport). As a result, some dairy farming is to be found near virtually every large city. By the same token, fruits and vegetables are grown on many small farms in and near large cities, often transported to local public markets (a form of agriculture known as truckfarming). The Secondary Sector

Secondary activity involves adding value to primary products by modifying or combining them. Examples include manufacturing, processing, construction, and power production. The location of secondary activities such as manufacturing also depend on characteristics of the physical environment, but much less so than do primary activities. The locations of materials (raw or processed) must be considered, but so too must the locations of markets be considered. The costs of transporting materials and finished products will differentially influence decisions about where to locate factories, depending on the transport costs of the materials and products. These costs, in turn, vary as a function of the weight, perishability, and other properties of the materials and products.

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In addition, however, decisions about where to locate secondary activities depend on the locations of sources oflabor (cheap or skilled), sources of technological innovation, and ancillary servicessuch as law, insurance, and sanitation. Companies often have linkages to other companies, as do automobile manufacturers who interact with glass and tire manufacturers. And companies often locate near other companies to take advantage of the spatial clustering of infrastructure and industrial services; such an agglomerationeconomy helps explain the emergence of "industrial parks" and specialized industrial regions like Silicon Valley in the south San Francisco Bay area or Silicon Alley in Manhattan. At the same time, too much economic agglomeration can lead to congestion and inflated costs (like housing for workers) that tends to promote locational dispersal. For example, the high costs of making movies in Hollywood, California, continues to send film production to other parts of the US and elsewhere. The spatial patterns of laws and regulations also influence industrial location decisions, including tax rates, wage laws, and environmental regulations. Much manufacturing in the US has moved to parts of the country such as the Inland South where the costs of doing business are less because of lower taxation or less constraining wage laws. Finally, economic treaties between different countries influence the costs and revenues of manufacturing in ways that increasingly influence the global spatial patterns of these activities. As we mentioned in Chapter I, the United States and Canada implemented a Free Trade Agreement in 1989; NAFTA in 1997 was a newer version that included Mexico. The latter agreement is currently undergoing negotiations to "modernize" it. These treaties alter such locational influences on costs and revenues as regulations and tariffs. Just as we discussed the globalization of culture in the previous chapter, we also see profound globalization of economic activities in the world, particularly secondary activities. To a large degree during the last few decades, this has meant that a great deal of secondary economic activity that once took place in the US or Canada no longer does.

eluding retail sales, wholesale distribution, clerical work, restaurants, maintenance, real estate, medicine, banking, law, insurance, entertainment, and recreation and tourism. Clearly, a majority of people in the US and Canada work in the tertiary sector. Tourism, for example, is one of the world's leading industries, with direct and indirect yearly revenues reaching the equivalent of several trillion dollars. 1 The central importance of tourism as an industry holds in both the US and Canada. It brings in billions of dollars of revenue per year to each country and is among the largest employers. Most tourists in each country are residents of that country, who live in one part of the country but visit another for recreation, entertainment, and relaxation. But each country also attracts millions of foreign tourists each year. During the early twenty-first century (after some recovery from the terrorist attacks of2001), the United States maintained its position as second only to France in attracting foreign tourists; it leads the world in revenues generated by foreign tourism. The largest numbers of foreign tourists to the United States come from neighboring Mexico and Canada, while the US provides Canada with its greatest number of foreign tourists. Both countries draw tourists, whether foreign or domestic, to natural sites such as parks, wilderness areas, and outdoor recreation. Historic sites, amusement parks, and sporting events also draw visitors. Many tourists visit large cities, with their attractions of history and architecture, shopping, dining, hotels, museums, and cultural diversity. In the US, New York City is the largest urban draw for tourists, followed by Los Angeles, Orlando, Las Vegas, and Chicago. In Canada, tourists are attracted to Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Ottawa.

The Tertiary Sector The third category is tertiary activity, which are personal and professional services provided to individuals, institutions, and companies working in all of the sectors. This is a large and diverse category, in-

Trends in Employment In more developed countries (development is discussed below) like the US and Canada, most people work in the tertiary sector and have increasingly done so since the nineteenth century. The percentage

The Quaternary Sector A subset of tertiary services are quaternary services, which are administrative and information services. Those include activities of research, education, and government. Quaternary activities increasingly deal with data/information generation and processing. Quinary services are sometimes identified as a fifth sector of the economy. This subset of the tertiary sector includes management and executive decision-making in business, government, education, and so on.

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A CLOSER LOOK

The Rapid Rise of Legalized Gambling

Gambling is an activity that is as old as civilization itself. But as a legal contribution to the entertainment/tourist segment of the tertiary economy of North America,2 it is relatively recent for the most part; it has grown very rapidly and continues to do so. As of this writing, all but two US states have forms of legal gambling, and every Canadian province and territory allows one form or another. In the United States, legalized gambling in the form of lotteries was widespread in the eighteenth century, usually authorized by local governments to finance the construction of roads, colleges, or churches. Until recently, however, most forms of gambling have been illegal in the US. Gambling has had the reputation of a "pariah" industry that was perceived as being associated with organized crime and as breeding corruption; its dangers as a form of addictive and destructive behavior is even now widely recognized. Certain forms of gambling, such as charity bingo games and parimutuel betting on horse and dog races, have been legal in some states for many years, but only very recently has big-time gambling become widely legalized. The state of Nevada legalized casino "gaming" (the preferred term in the industry) and various other forms of gambling in 1933, and for nearly half a century had the US market all to itself. In 1976, voters in New Jersey approved casino gambling specifically for the rundown resort town of Atlantic City, and by 1984, gambling revenues in Atlantic City had surpassed those of Las Vegas. Only one state-South Dakota-opened a casino in the decade that followed, and a dozen states rejected them on moral or religious grounds. The only other legal option for casino gambling was on cruise ships sitting in international waters (using the soon-to-be archaic definition of a 3-mile maritime border). In a flurry of activity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, several other states legalized casino gambling. In two states, casinos were permitted only in a very limited number of old mining towns trying to cater to tourism (Deadwood in South Dakota and Blackhawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek in Colorado). Starting with Iowa in 1989, a number of states, mostly in the Midwest, permitted casinos on riverboats; many never leave the dock. A fascinating and important part of the story of legal gambling in North America is the American Indian gaming industry. Many tribes gambled as a social activity preEuropeans; it is certainly not the case that Europeans taught Indians to gamble. The federal government of the United States made all gambling illegal on reservations, but Indian nations ran bingo games for profit during the 1960s and 70s. Federal attempts to shut them down were met with a court ruling that it was inappropriate for the government to regulate Indian gambling if a state allowed any forms of it (such as charity bingo). In 1988, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act by the US Congress made legal a wide range of gambling activities on reservations, and set out the framework for their regulation, including the creation of the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC). This framework distinguishes different classes of gambling and their attendant regulation. What followed were a series of state decisions, by legislature or public referendum, that legalized full casino gambling operations by recognized tribal groups on reservations (e.g., a California referendum in 2000). Indian casinos proliferated rapidly, taking in tens of billions of dollars of revenue. There are now nearly 500 Indian casinos in the US, operated by over 200 tribes in twenty-eight states (over 1/3 of federally recognized tribes). These casinos have created many jobs (not just for Indian people), although

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unemployment is still high on most reservations. They have generated billions in federal tax dollars, and where the tribes have compacts with states or counties, they contribute to their coffers as well. Another form of legalized gambling that has been mushrooming rapidly is the state-run lottery. New Hampshire organized the first modern-day state lottery in 1964, and now some forty-four states and the District of Columbia are in the business. Americans spend an estimated $70 billion annually on lottery tickets, more than everything Americans spend on sports tickets, books, video games, movie tickets, and recorded music-combined. Sports wagering is another venerable gambling activity that has grown in recent years, because of changing public attitudes and because ofthe internet as a revolutionary gambling tool (as it is revolutionary in many contexts). With the internet, bettors have easily been able to wager on sporting events with bookmakers outside their jurisdiction, often outside the country, thereby skirting gambling laws. Very recently (as of 2018), a tide of changes foretells the imminent widespread legality of sports wagering in the US.The Supreme Court has ruled that the existing federal ban on sports betting violates states' rights. Over a dozen states have already legalized sports betting, and several more appear on the verge of doing so. Professional sports leagues are changing their position on the issue as well, and are sure to request a portion of gambling revenues as compensation for providing the activity on which so many people are willing to risk their money in order to predict sporting outcomes. In Canada as well, legal gambling is permitted everywhere, although it is regulated by each province and territory (Ontario and Alberta lead the pack). Gambling is widely sanctioned for charitable purposes, and First Nations people have special rights to operate gambling establishments analogous to the rights of Native American people of the US.Much of the expansion of legal gambling in Canada started in 1969, with a modification to the Criminal Code that allowed provinces and territories to raise money for civically beneficial causes through lotteries. The 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, for instance, obtained much funding in this way. Now, provincial governments earn revenues through a wide variety of forms of legal gambling, including casinos. In 1989, Canada'sfirst commercial casino opened in Winnipeg, followed in 1993 by Montreal; there are now more than 100 casinos in Canada. Many charitable organizations have come to depend on gambling revenues for their annual budgets. But even with the expansion of legal gambling, illegal gambling operations continue in Canada (as they do in the US).The existence of illegal operations seems to have had little effect on the market for legal gambling, and vice versa. Whether legal or not, gambling is now largely tolerated by public opinion in North America, which widely considers it to be an acceptable leisure activity. As the legitimization of gambling continues to spread, it seems clear that North Americans will have ever-increasing opportunities to risk their money in legal fashion. While many people enjoy modest-stakes gambling, and a few even make money from it, there will continue to be others who make poor decisions that cause financial ruin and disrupt personal and family lives. At the same time, it is clear that the intensification of competition among gambling operations will diminish the profits for most gambling enterprises.

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of the workforce employed in the secondary sector increased up to the mid-twentieth century, as industrial manufacturing became more and more prominent, but then it began a decline that continues to this day. At the same time, employment in the primary sector has been decreasing since the nineteenth century. When the US was founded as a country in the eighteenth century, for example, a large majority of its people worked as farmers, hunters, miners, loggers, and so on. Today, no more than I percent of North Americans of working age are employed in the primary sector in North America,3 while nearly 90 percent are employed in tertiary services (including quaternary and quinary services). These ongoing shifts in employment result from several factors. Mechanization has reduced the need for human workers, especially in the primary and secondary sectors, but increasingly in some areas of tertiary employment. This trend will certainly continue to increase, perhaps precipitously before too many years pass (self-driving vehicles, for instance). As we described above, economic globalization has seen the outsourcing of jobs and production from the North American subcontinent to places like Mexico, China, and South and Southeast Asia, especially in the secondary sector but increasingly in the quaternary sector. The latter half of the twentieth century saw rising wealth and greater access to higher education across much of society in the US and Canada. That weakened people's acceptance of the tradition of working in the primary and secondary sectors, and provided more disposable income and a greater demand for tourism and other "luxury" services. Finally, the public sector of the economy has grown in North America and most other parts of the world, including government at all levels (from municipal to state/provincial to federal to international). This has been the fastest growing area of the economy since 1950 in terms of the employment it has created. In many parts of the world, it is the largest employer.

Economic Development As we noted above, the US and Canada are considered to be among the most developed countries in the world. Other developed countries are found in most of Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and a few countries in Asia including Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Israel. Economic developmentrefers to the material condition of a region's (including a country's) inhabitants and the extent to which the re-

gion's resources have been brought into full productive use. It is characteristic of regions with a large amount of capital or wealth, high production and high consumption, modernization and urbanization, and particular social, cultural, and political conditions. It is often summarized in terms of an index like GNI (gross national income) but is more comprehensively captured in terms of a variety of measures, such the availability of consumer goods, energy consumption, life expectancy, education, and medical care.4 In simplified terms, more developed countries are "rich" and less developed countries are "poor." Of course, average levels of development belie the fact that development is uneven within countries, even within the regions we identify in this text. Megalopolis has high levels of development, while Appalachia and the Ozarks has low levels. But within each of these regions there are greatly varying levels of wealth among communities, families, and individuals.

URBANIZATION AND THE NORTH AMERICANCITY

People in developed countries like Canada and the US live mostly in cities, not in rural or wilderness areas. Some 80 percent of residents of both countries live in urbanized areas, which includes large, medium, and small cities, and their attendant suburbs. The keynote of North American geography for many decades has involved the proliferation and spread of urban areas. An almost invariable growth of individual cities has occurred, along with a continuing increase in the number of cities.5 During the second decade of the twenty-first century, there are fifty-three metropolitan areas in the United States and six in Canada with populations exceeding 1 million (Fig. 4-1), and another one hundred thirty-six and eleven with populations in excess of250,000. The vast majority of large North American cities have a sameness in appearance, morphology, and function that is almost bewildering to a visitor from another continent where cities have grown up more individualistically over a much longer period of development. Even though the two nations have been politically separate for more than two and a half centuries, cities on the two sides of the international border tend to be remarkably alike. In both countries, it is the urban areas that absorb most of the continuing high rate of population and economic growth; in both countries, the automobile has assumed a domi-

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There is a recognizable contrast in the livability of the urban environment in the two countries, especially in the inner cities. The inner areas of Canadian cities often have attractive residential districts, a prominent pedestrian presence, and a vital mixture of shopping, commercial, and other activities, frequently along thriving corridors that have well utilized transit services. Moreover, the Canadian urban fabric is less fragmented by freeways and parking lots; indeed, US cities have four times the amount of urban expressways per capita as do Canadian FIGURE4-1 Metropolitan areas in the United States and Canada that cities. Canadian government enhave a population exceeding 1 million, estimated as of 2016-17. tities at all levels have managed to reduce the flight of middleclass families to the suburbs nant role in shaping city form and patterning urban through various intervention measures. One result is life; and in both countries, similarity in the standard that Canadian central city governments often enjoy of living and personal motivation and aspiration is healthy municipal tax bases, which is in contrast reflected in urban function and morphology. Canawith most US cities. dian cities are spread in a long east-west band that Hence, the concept of a specifically North Amerhas a very narrow north-south breadth near the ican city is an imperfect one; there are recognizable southern border, and each tends to be more like US variations on both sides of the international border. cities of similar longitude than like Canadian cities The commonalities, however, are much more notable significantly farther east or west. Thus, Calgary is than the differences. This chapter considers North more like Denver than like Toronto, and Winnipeg American cities in general, commenting on the maresembles Minneapolis more than it does Vancouver. jor characteristics of their urban geography. Each reThere are, however, some differences between gional chapter in the rest of the book has a section cities on opposite sides of the border. These differdevoted to the leading cities of the region, to atypical ences reflect variation in political and settlement hisaspects of urbanism in the region, or to a particular tory, ethnic mix, and urban institutional patterns of urban theme that is pertinent to the region. the two countries, among other things. For example, Canadian cities are denser and more compact, have Historical Development of less variation between their central-city and suburNorth American Cities ban populations, have less neighborhood homogenePrior to 1830 ity of income, make greater use of public transit, exIn early colonial days, small towns sprang up perience much less violent personal crime (although along the Atlantic Seaboard, mostly in what are now property crimes are about equal in both countries), New England and the Middle Atlantic states in the have a notably different ethnic composition (espeUnited States, and in the Maritime Provinces and cially in central cities), have had less central-city deLower St. Lawrence Valley in Canada (Fig. 4-2). cline, and have much less local government fragmenThis development was natural, because these areas tation (which makes the urban area less cumbersome were nearest England and France, whence came imto govern and finance). These are not major strucmigrants, capital goods, and many consumer goods. tural differences, but taken together, they are signifiAccordingly, merchandising establishments were cant in many cities.

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Chapter 4 served a small hinterland and was primarily oriented toward the sea and Europe.

1830-1870 Penetration of the interior and the use of inland waterways (Ohio River, lower Great Lakes, Erie Canal) began to produce a few inland urban centers: Richmond, Lancaster, Pittsburgh, Albany, and, a bit later, St. Louis, Cincinnati, 1830-31 Louisville, Buffalo, and Rochester. o ...... ,00,000 0 ...... 100,000 But the Atlantic ports retained O ...... 50,000 their regional primacy, and the o " .... 20,000 250 500 • ...... 10,000 Louisiana Purchase added anMilff • ...... 4,000 other primary port, New Orleans. Montreal had grown to dominate a large share of the trade of FIGURE4-2 The largest cities in the United States and Canada in 1830the interior of the continent and 1831. The minimum-size city shown has a population of 4,000 (after Figchallenged New York, Philadelure 3-1 from Yeates [1990]; reprinted by permission of Addison-Wesley phia, and New Orleans (Fig. 4-3). Educational Publishers). The partitioning of British North America into Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quemore advantageously located in port cities from bec), and the choice of York (later to be named which goods could be more readily distributed to inToronto) as capital of Upper Canada, added a signifterior settlements. Here, too, were the favored locaicant dimension to the urban scene in the north. For tions for assembling raw materials for export and for Toronto, the "law of initial advantage operated fully, performing what little processing was necessary for and by 1830, all rivals to regional control had been shipment abroad. A number of small ports existed, subdued" (Kerr, 1968, p. 540).6 but Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Still, rural dominance was clear-cut until the Montreal soon began to exert dominance (although 1840s, when railways began to develop, the factory for several decades, Quebec City grew almost as rapsystem became established, and the industrial funcidly as Montreal). tion of cities began to grow. The mechanization of Urban growth was less impressive in the colonial spinning and weaving had set the pace in the previSouth, where life centered around the plantation, ous two decades, but other types of manufacturing rather than the town. The local isolation and ecowere oriented mostly toward households and worknomic self-sufficiency of the plantation were inimical shops, often in rural locations, until the 1840s. to the development of towns. Thus, nearly all southThe large port cities grew in size with the buildern settlements were located on navigable streams, ing of canals, roads, and railways to the interior. A and each planter owned a wharf accessible to the series of regional rail networks developed, with the small shipping of that day. Both Charleston and Salarger networks converging at important inland wavannah were founded early and developed various terway connections. Each important coastal port beurban functions, but after a short time neither rivaled gan to organize its own railway and push it inland. the North Atlantic cities in urban development. Of the major American ports, Boston alone was At the time of the first census of the United forced to content itself with connecting lines; its BosStates in 1790, not a city in North America had as ton and Albany Railway never got beyond the Hudmany as 50,000 inhabitants, and only Baltimore, son River. There was little railway development at Boston, Charleston, New York, Philadelphia, and this time in Maritime Canada. The Grand Trunk Montreal exceeded 10,000. No city yet showed any Railway, built after 1850 from Chicago through Toindication of urban dominance; each Atlantic port ronto and Montreal, reached the Atlantic in the

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85

United States at Portland, Maine. Consequently, Canada's Atlantic port cities grew very slowly. The mid-century period was a transition time for city development. Before then, industrialization was quite subordinate, except in the five great Atlantic port cities that dominated trade relationships between the North American agricultural economy and Europe. The mercantile syndrome continued to pervade most other cities for some years, but industrial development and urban growth became much more closely linked. Labor supply was enhanced by the attraction of farm youths to cities and by accelerating immigration; FIGURE4-3 The largest cities in the United States and Canada in 1870after 1840, foreign immigrants be1871. The minimum-size city shown has a population of 20,000 (after gan to concentrate on the edge of Figure 3-2 from Yeates [1990]; reprinted by permission of Addison-Westhe expanding downtowns in ley Educational Publishers). many urban areas, presaging the large-scale development of ethnic ghettos in decades to come. by 1870 they were being challenged by the swiftly New York City rose to undisputed continental growing Great Lakes cities of Detroit, Milwaukee, primacy at this time, partly because the opening of Cleveland, and especially Chicago. There was also the Erie Canal cemented its western trade advancontinued fast growth in New England and the Midtages, but also because it was able to control much of dle Atlantic states, especially near New York. Brookthe external trade of the South. "Indeed, it was lyn was the third largest city in the nation (and not largely because the merchants of New York and their yet a borough of New York City), and Newark and itinerant factors controlled the cotton trade that urJersey City were both sizable. In the South, only banization in the South was extremely slow" (Ward, New Orleans had continued major growth and num1971, p. 29).7 Thus, Charleston and New Orleans bered nearly 200,000 people, whereas the only westwere unable to wrest control of the cotton trade from ern city that had developed to more than 25,000 was New York. Growing from roughly equal in size with San Francisco, with a population of 150,000. Philadelphia and Boston at the turn of the century, Thus, the development of a more-than-regional New York had a population that exceeded half a miltransportation system, combining regional rail netlion by 1850; this population was more than twice works with inland waterways, revolutionized urban that of any other city on the continent. development in this period. Industrial growth was an Inland regions of urbanization were limited important stimulant in the larger cities, but major inmostly to the Ohio Valley (Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, dustrial development came later. and Louisville) and upstate New York (Albany, Troy, Rochester, and Buffalo), although Toronto almost 1870-1920 kept pace with Montreal's rate of growth, with This was an era of maturing for North American nearly a 50 percent increase during the 1850s. cities, the previous period having been a formative The growth rate of Canadian cities declined one. National transportation systems were comsharply during the 1860s, apparently owing to largepleted. National accessibility was extended to the scale emigration to the United States. Urban populaSouth, the Southwest, and the Far West (Fig. 4-4). tions were booming in the Midwest. Water transport The remaining agricultural lands of the West, from helped Cincinnati and St. Louis to grow rapidly, but Texas to British Columbia, were opened. A variety of

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Chapter 4 ----f----

''

mont. This was a tumultuous period in North American urban development, but at its conclusion, our basic urban system was firmly established.

1920-1970 By 1920, half the population of North America was urban, and the proportion continued to increase. There was substantial and continued growth in the older ur1920-21 ban areas of the United States and .. 5,000,000 Canada, but the most flamboyant · · 2,000,000 .. 1,000,000 developments were in new cities 250 500 far removed from the traditional 500.000 O··· MilH 0 ..... . 100,000 urban centers. The most spectacular growth occurred on the West Coast, from San Diego to VancouFIGURE 4-4 The largest cities in the United States and Canada in 1920ver, and similar trends took form 1921.The minimum-size city shown has a population of 100,000 (after in Florida, Texas, the desert SouthFigure 3-3 from Yeates(1990]; reprinted by permission of Addison-Weswest, and on the prairie edge of the ley Educational Publishers). Rockies (Colorado and Alberta). By the beginning of the 1960s, approximately 25 percent of the world's population lived in cities of 20,000 or major mineral deposits were developed. But the prinmore inhabitants; the comparable figure for North cipal stimulus to urban growth was industrial develAmerica was 55 percent, the highest proportion of opment (secondary economic activity). The economy any populous part of the globe at that time. Thus, the of the two countries changed from a commercialconcentration of urban population on this subcontimercantilist base to an industrial-capitalist one. nent is not only of recent vintage and sizable magniThe coastal cities became increasingly importude, but has also occurred at a remarkably rapid rate tant, but much of the growth was concentrated in the (Fig. 4-5). industrial belt of the northeastern United States and This was a period in which the automobile southern Ontario and Quebec. The geographical dishaped newer cities and reshaped older ones, and the vision of labor, a basis for present-day regionalism, remarkable development of air travel reinforced many was beginning to be apparent by the end of the Civil interrelationships of the existing urban system besides War period. There followed a quarter century of acadding some new dimensions. Typical characteristics celerated westward movement, rapid population inincluded continued agglomeration, (sub)urban sprawl, crease, heavy immigration, and burgeoning urban freeway construction, central-city decay, the start of growth. Cities found their functions multiplying, but urban renewal, massive air pollution, suburban high the growth of manufacturing was usually at the core. rises, concerted desegregation efforts, planned indusThe big cities became bigger, but there were also trial districts, and the building of extensive neighbordevelopments among smaller centers. Toronto, only hood and regional shopping centers. half the size of Montreal at the beginning of the pe-

riod, began to capture trade territory to the north and west, and, by the turn of the century, had approached parity in size. Winnipeg began to grow in the Prairies, and Los Angeles experienced the early stages of its spectacular population increase. There were boom times in Florida urban areas, in Appalachian coal towns, and in cities of the Carolina Pied-

1970 to Present Significant changes in urban trends appear to have ushered in a new period of development in recent years. It began as a time of counter-urbanization; the 1970s experienced a reversal of the metropolitan growth syndrome, something that had never happened before. For the first time, nonmetropolitan

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87

for most of the rebound. Natural increase contributed much more to the rural population gains in the 1990s. Sun Belt cities experienced the fastest growth in the 1990s, but even the declining urban areas of the Northeast had resumed a sluggish growth pattern by mid-decade. Almost everywhere, the central cities decreased in population; it was primarily the suburbs that were growing. These trends have largely continued during the first two decades of the twenty-first century, although somewhat less rapidly than in the 1990s. A series of damaging financial events, including a "dot com" bust early on and FIGURE 4-5 The largest metropolitan areas in the United States and a housing bubble collapse leading Canada in 1970- 1971.The minimum-size metropolitan area shown has a to a major recession toward the population of 500,000 (after Figure 3-4 from Yeates[1990]; reprinted by end of the 2000s, combined with permission of Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers). the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, have led to a highly volapopulation grew at a faster rate than metropolitan tile period of population shifts, housing construction, and so on. Metropolitan areas grew more slowlypopulation: 15 percent versus 10 percent between 1970 and 1980. So, for the first time, there was a deespecially in cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas that saw such fast growth in the I 990s-and most of their cline in metropolitan dominance, albeit a very small decline: 75 percent of the US population resided in growth continued to be in suburban areas. Since metropolitan areas in 1980, compared with 76 per2010, there is evidence that city centers have actually cent in 1970. This counter-urbanization trend was been growing faster than their suburbs, a reversal of muted in Canada. During the 1970s, the metropolithe long-standing pattern. But it is too early to know tan population of Canada increased only from 55 to how persistent this pattern of growth will prove to 56 percent. be. In the balance of this chapter, we flesh out these Beginning about 1980, the metropolitan populamore recent urban patterns, including analyzing the structure and functions of North American cities in tion resumed its expansion. The rate of metropolitan more detail. population growth once again exceeded that of nonmetropolitan population. During the 1980s, only 45 The Structure and Function of percent of nonmetropolitan counties gained populaNorth American Cities tion. Rural America grew by only 1.3 million (2.7 percent). Only one-fourth of nonmetropolitan counA city can be defined as an aggregated settleties experienced net in-migration. ment of relatively high population size and density The 1990s was a decade of rural rebound. Nearly that is internally structured and serves multiple functhree-fourths of all nonmetropolitan counties gained tions for its own people and surrounding areas. The population (but not evenly distributed everywhere). internal structure simply means that different parts of The gain represented 3.6 million people, a 7.1 perthe city appear different and are specialized for differcent increase. The nonmetropolitan population still ent uses (retail, residential, etc.). The functions of citincreased at a slower pace than did the metropolitan ies change somewhat over historical time, but include population (9.1 percent), but the gap was much narmanufacturing, retail, wholesale, other personal and rower than during the 1980s. Migration accounted professional services, entertainment, government,

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military, transportation, and communication. Below we discuss how as cities and the activities that go on there have changed in the last half century, along with the technologies of transportation and communication, it has become harder to define what a city is and, especially, where its spatial extent lies. Cities as Administrative Regions versus Cities as Thematic and Functional Regions There are several approaches to identifying cities and their spatial extent. Probably the most straightforward is to define them as administrative regions (see Chapter 5). As administrative regions, cities are legally identified incorporated regions with precise boundaries. This common understanding of a city, however, is not what geographers usually concern themselves with when thinking about urbanized landscapes. Often, geographers (as well as lay people) think about cities as regions where populations are agglomerated and where certain types of land use are common, such as retail, government, and so on. The US Census Bureau defines urban areas as "densely developed territory and adjacent densely settled census blocks, with a population of at least 2,500." 8 All areas outside these urban areas are defined as rural.This definition identifies cities in terms of urban form-in terms of contiguous physical density and appearance; this is city defined as an area that looks urban (or at least "townish") as you walk or drive through it. But the Census Bureau offers another definition of cities, in functional terms, as Core-BasedStatistical Areas (CBSA).9 These are "a county or counties with at least one large population nucleus, plus adjacent communities that have a high degree of social and economic integration with it." This definition identifies cities in terms of commuting flows-as the region from which a city's regular visitors (workers, shoppers, etc.) come. The urban agglomerations that are part of the CESA but outside the administrative boundaries of its core city are its suburbs. As the Census Bureau definition suggests, CBSAs are always at least one county; thus, they usually contain not only urban areas but rural areas, as in the first Census Bureau definition. When the large population nucleus is at least 50,000 people-and together with its surrounding communities, at least 100,000 people-the CESA is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA or metropolitan area, informally), a concept we will typically apply in this book when we refer to cities. 10 Two or more adjacent CBSAs that have a

substantial amount of interaction (i.e., people who live in one CESA often travel to the other) can be considered a single urban unit known as a Combined StatisticalArea ( CSA). A large CSA of two or more MSAs is sometimes referred to less formally as a conurbation.11 The entire region of Megalopolis (Chapter 8) is essentially the conurbation that runs south from north of Boston to south of DC. The California Region (Chapter 16) includes two large conurbations, the San Francisco Bay area and the Greater Los Angeles Basin area. When we point out that the North America population is more than three-fourths urbanized, we mean that most of its residents live in metropolitan areas. During the last few decades, a large majority of the population growth of both the US and Canada took place in metropolitan areas. There are nearly 400 metropolitan areas in the United States, ranging in population size from about 20 million in New Yorknorthern New Jersey-Long Island to about 55,000 in Carson City, NV. Canada has over thirty metropolitan areas, with a size range from over 6 million in Toronto to about 125,000 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The most rapidly growing US metropolitan areas in the last half-decade are southern Sun Belt cities in Florida, Texas, and the Carolinas, and western cities in Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, and Arizona. In Canada, the fastest growth in the last few years has been in the Prairie cities of Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, and Regina, although Canada's largest metro area of Toronto has also seen rapid growth recently. In the US, population size rankings of cities as administrative entities differ considerably from rankings of their metropolitan areas (Tables 4-1 and 4-2), primarily because of wide differences among the cities as to their annexation of territory. For example, Houston's city limits enclose an area of 627 square miles (1,600 km 2), whereas Boston's incorporated area is only 90 square miles (230 km2). In contrast, Canadian cities as administrative entities are similar to their rankings as metropolitan areas (Tables 4-3 and 4-4), largely because cities cannot annex territory in the same way as in the US, and because suburban development is not as extensive in Canada. A final note about population ranks of cities: Scholars have long observed that the sizes of cities within a region (such as a province or country) tend to follow a mathematical regularity called the "ranksize rule." This regularity finds that the population of a city within a region typically follows a particular relationship wherein its population size relative to

Human

TABLE 4-1

The 25 largest

US cities, 2018.

Rank

City, State

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

New York, NY Los Angeles, CA Chicago, IL Houston, TX Phoenix, AZ Philadelphia, PA San Antonio, TX San Diego, CA Dallas, TX San Jose, CA Austin, TX Jacksonville, FL Fort Worth, TX Columbus, OH San Francisco, CA Charlotte, NC Indianapolis, IN Seattle, WA Denver.CO Washington, DC Boston, MA El Paso, TX Detroit,MI Nashville, TN Portland, OR

TABLE4-3

Population 8,399,000 3,990,000 2,706,000 2,326,000 1,660,000 1,584,000 l,S32,000 1,426,000 1,345,000 1,030,000 964,000 904,000 895,000 893,000 883,000 872,000 867,000 745,000 716,000 702,000 695,000 683,000 673,000 669,000 653,000

Source:United StatesCensusBureau.

Geography

of the

The 25 largest

US

and Canada

USmetropolitan

Rank

Principal City, State•

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

New York, NY (NJ-PA) Los Angeles, CA Chicago, IL (IN-WI) Dallas, TX Houston, TX Washington, DC (VA-MD-WV) Miami, FL Philadelphia, PA (NJ-DE-MD) Atlanta, GA Boston, MA (NH) Phoenix, AZ San Francisco, CA Riverside, CA Detroit,MI Seattle, WA Minneapolis, MN (WI) San Diego, CA Tampa, FL Denver.CO St. Louis, MO (IL) Baltimore, MD Orlando, FL Charlotte, NC (SC) San Antonio, TX Portland, OR (WA)

89

areas, 2018.

Area Population 19,979,000 13,291,000 9,499,000 7,540,000 6,997,000 6,250,000 6,199,000 6,096,000 5,950,000 4,875,000 4,858,000 4,729,000 4,622,000 4,326,000 3,939,000 3,629,000 3,343,000 3,143,000 2,932,000 2,805,000 2,803,000 2,573,000 2,569,000 2,518,000 2,479,000

a Metropolitan areascrossover bordersinto the neighboringstates

shown in parentheses. Source:United StatesCensusBureau.

TABLE4-2

The 10 largest Canadian

Rank

City, State

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Toronto, ON Montreal, QC Vancouver, BC Calgary, AB Edmonton, AB Ottawa,ON Winnipeg, MB Quebec City, QC Hamilton, ON Kitchener, ON

Source:StatisticsCanada.

cities, 2017.

Population S,430,000 3,520,000 2,265,000 1,238,000 1,063,000 990,000 712,000 705,000 694,000 470,000

TABLE 4-4

The 10 largest Canadian

metropolitan

areas, 2016.

Rank

Principal City, Province•

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Toronto,ON Montreal, QC Vancouver, BC Calgary, AB Ottawa, ON (QC) Edmonton, AB Quebec City, QC Winnipeg, MB Hamilton, ON Kitchener, ON

Area Population 5,928,000 4,099,000 2,463,000 1,393,000 1,063,000 1,321,000 800,000 778,000 748,000 S24,000

a Metropolitan areascrossover bordersinto the neighboring prov-

incesshownin parentheses. Source:StatisticsCanada.

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the largest city in the region is roughly I divided by its population rank. Thus, the second largest city in the region is about half the population of the largest city, the third largest city is about one-third the population of the largest city, and so on (a related regularity describes the relative numbers of cities of different population ranks within a region). For example, Los Angeles is the second largest US city, and its population of 4 million is about half of New York City's 8.6 million; Chicago's 2. 7 million is about a third of New York's. However, one occasionally finds regions where the largest city is exceptionally large relative to its other cities. These are called primate cities.As a rule of thumb, we may identify a primate city as one that is considerably larger than twice the size of the second largest city in the region. As we will see in subsequent chapters, Anchorage is a primate city in Alaska, and Honolulu is one in Hawai'i.

Urban Morphology: Changing Patterns

CommercialLand Use Most modern cities are primarily commercial centers. Their attraction as a place for people to live is largely predicated on the concentration of commercial or business activities. For North American cities as a group, more than half of all jobs are in commercial fields: wholesale trade, retail trade, finance, insurance, real estate, and various kinds of services (tertiary economic activities). Although the proportion of a city's land area devoted to these activities is small-generally less than 4 percent of the total area-the structures in which the activities take place are often conspicuous and involve tbe tallest and most obtrusive buildings in the urban area. The centralbusinessdistrict(CBD) is the commercial heart of the city. It normally occupies an area near but slightly removed from the original town site (Fig. 4-6). It usually has a geographically central position in relation to the urban area as a whole; in some cases, however, it may be situated well off center, particularly where prominent physical features, such as a coastline, mountain front, or river, are involved. The CBD is normally characterized by the greatest intensity of urban activity: highest daytime population density, most crowded sidewalks, most used surface streets, focus of mass-transit routes, principal concentration of taxis, and greatest concentration of high-rise buildings. It also contains the

Viewed from the air, a typical North American city appears as a sprawling mass of structures of varying size, shape, and construction, crisscrossed by a checkerboard street pattern that here and there assumes irregularities. The general impression is one of stereotyped monotony. The pattern of form and structure is so repetitive that one can anticipate a characteristic location of specialized districts and associations of activities within them. The stylized arrangement and predictable interrelations make it possible to formulate broad generalizations about North American urban anatomy that are particularly valid if confined to cities of similar size, function, and regional setting. We next examine in detail the patterns of land use in cities, which varies with every city. There are, however, such basic similarities that general patterns can be described and, to some extent, explained. The resulting generalizations are broadly valid for most cities whether they are older and slower growing cities with rigid zoning restrictions, such as Buffalo, or newer, burgeoning citFIGURE 4-6 The towering skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan in New ies with only limited land-use zonYorkCity (Source: 15O200/Shutterstock). ing regulations, such as Tucson.

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91

most valuable land in the city and is the principal losota's Twin Cities (Fig. 4-8). These are enclosed cation of office space, restaurants, theaters, hotels, walkways that connect downtown buildings at the government offices, financial institutions, corporasecond-floor level and constitute the largest network tion headquarters, and auto parking facilities. of elevated indoor sidewalks and concourses in the By the 1960s most North American CBDs were world. In the five-plus decades since their inception, the skyway networks have expanded to encompass experiencing a decline in mass retailing and personal services, due to the almost overwhelming economic eighty blocks of downtown Minneapolis and more challenge of spark.ling new outlying shopping centhan forty blocks of downtown St. Paul. Their sucters. In some CBDs, this challenge was met by concess, which is not unvarnished, 12 has led to similar certed efforts at downtown retail revival. Downtown programs on a more modest scale in several other merchants began to develop extensive, often climatecities (e.g., Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Cincincontrolled shopping malls within the CBD. Signifinati, and Houston). cant initial efforts included San Francisco's GhiDespite the varied fortunes of the retail-service rardelli Square and Chicago's Brickyard. Frequently, function, most CBDs persist prominently as the core another dimension was added by locating many of of the city. Although some offices were lured to the the facilities underground-multiple underground suburbs, the 1970s were a boom period for downlevels beneath large buildings or street-level plazas, town office building construction; ever-larger and with direct connections both to major buildings on more complex skyscrapers sprouted in the downthe surface and to subsurface rapid transit facilities, if town skyline. Some buildings experienced considerany existed. They provided an almost fully self-conable difficulty in finding sufficient tenants, but the tained environment for urbanites that was a long construction trend carried through the 1980s. overdue and an eminently logical adjustment to winIn the 1990s, however, things began to change. ter in northern cities. Montreal's pioneering example Corporate downsizing reduced the downtown work in Place Ville Marie (opened in 1962) stimulated force in cities all across the subcontinent. Banks and similar developments in many other cities, even in other familiar downtown institutions were merging or such mild-winter locations as Los Angeles. going out of business, and so were the big law and acMontreal continues to set the pace for undercounting firms. The gleaming office towers are beginground urban activities (Fig. 4-7). By now, there exning to show vacancies. It appears that the economic ists a 20-mile (32-krn) network of tunnels and foundation of the CBD will probably be provided by shopping malls that connects over 1,600 stores and government-local, state, and federal-offices. services, including bars, restaurants, theaters, hotels, office buildings, residential high rises, and rail, bus, and subway stations. Ranging from two to four floors deep, it is so massive it is known as "The Underground City" ("La Ville Souterraine"). A somewhat different style of subsurface development has been produced in Seattle and Atlanta, where antiquated sections of the central city have literally been buried by subsequent construction. Portions of these historic districts have been unearthed and refurbished as underground touring, entertainment, and shopping centers, primarily aimed at tourist business. In the other direction, vertical FIGURE4-7 A Metro train in an underground station in Montreal expansion has been pioneered by de(Source: Chris Howey/Shutterstock). velopment of "skyways" in Minne-

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A modern expression of these commercial string developments is associated with outlying freeway locations. "The suburban freeway corridor now houses a complete mix of the business establishments regularly frequented by the geographically mobile middle- and upper-class residents of the modern metropolis" (Baerwald, 1978, p. 308). 13 These freeway ribbons permit relative ease of redevelopment, due to their linear form and low density; thus incremental redevelopment is easier than in CBDs. They, of course, depend wholly on the automobile for customer access. FIGURE 4-8 Elevated skyways crisscross the central business district The most remarkable change in of Minneapolis (Source: Sam Wagner/Shutterstock). commercial land use in North American cities since World War II is the emergence of planned suburban Marginal to the CBD is the so-called transition shopping centers. Continually increasing amounts of zone. This is a discontinuous area of irregular shape a city's retail and service business began to be carried and unpredictable size that has an almost continuout in these outlying centers, which were geared to ally changing land-use pattern. Its commercial the automobile era, with much more acreage deprominence is often more oriented to wholesaling voted to parking spaces than to shopping areas. The than to retailing, and industrial activities, in the earliest planned shopping centers were Market broad sense, are usually notable. Still, much of the Square in suburban Chicago (1916) and Country land in a typical transition zone is occupied by resiClub Plaza in suburban Kansas City (1923); the latdences; this is a characteristic location for slum and ter is often credited with being the first shopping cenghetto development. In general, the transition zone ter designed specifically for shoppers coming by car. is seedy and dilapidated, although some sections Planned shopping centers in the United States grew may be uncharacteristically bright and even prosperfrom about 100 in 1950 to a total of nearly 50,000 by ous owing to public or private urban renewal and the second decade of the twenty-first century. slum clearance projects. Grandiose high-rise office Shopping centers include those which are wholly enclosed, called shopping malls in North America. buildings or apartment houses sometimes tower above the general obsolescence. Some of these are stunningly large, in terms of retail Another significant proportion of a city's comspace, number of stores, and parking space. At this mercial land use is found along string streets, which point, the largest shopping mall in North America is are usually major thoroughfares of considerable the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta length, lined on both sides by varied businesses. The (Fig. 4-9); for several years it was the largest in the development may be patchy and discontinuous, but world but has been superseded by many larger malls in larger cities the extent of string-street commercial in China and elsewhere in Asia. The largest in the zones may be measured in consecutive miles. CharUS is the Mall of America in suburban Minneapolis. acteristically, the businesses along a string street are Both North American behemoths are significant dosmall and diverse; however, there may be concentramestic and international tourist attractions. Other tions of specific types of enterprises, the best known notable trends in commercial (primarily retail) land of which is "automobile row," where new and used use over the last few decades include mini-malls car lots are clustered. A growing trend is the con(strip malls; Fig. 4-10), discount centers, factory-outstruction of high-rise office buildings along string let complexes, and travel centers. Almost everywhere streets, away from the CBD. in the subcontinent, you can shop 'ti! you drop!

Human Geography of the US and Canada

93

But the pace of new shopping center construcResidential Land Use tion has slowed considerably since the late 1990s. As By far the most extensive use of land in North the new century dawned, the problem of underused American cities is for residences, which occupy 30 to 40 percent of an average city's area. Single-family and vacant shopping centers (retail space without stores) was recognized. It has continued to worsen dwellings (normally separate, but sometimes atalmost continuously since then. In 2007, no new malls were built in the US for the first time in several decades. To a degree, this decline has been caused by overbuilding in the first place-to the "over-retailing" of space. But clearly one of the most important causes is the advent and expanding popularity of online shopping. As a result, vacant shopping centers are being converted to apartments, "leisure centers," or other uses. Online shopping reached 10 percent of retail sales by 2018, about double where it was just five years before. It is forecast to continue growing at this rapid pace. The emptying and abandonment of "brickand-mortar" retail space is of great interest to geographers and a huge FIGURE4-9 A view across the gigantic sunlit atrium of the West challenge to communities, whether Edmonton Mall (Source: Victoria Ditkovsky/Shutterstock). suburban or central city.

FIGURE4-10 Mini-malls(strip malls) have proliferated in most American cities and suburbs, particularly in the western US.This scene is in Hollywood (LosAngeles metro area) on La Brea Avenue (Walter Cicchetti/Shutterstock).

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tached to one another as row houses) are not always numerically in the majority, but they occupy more than three-fourths of the area devoted to housing. Residences are scarce within the CBD, given the high value of its acreage, although some housing units-including luxury apartments-are often found on the upper floors of buildings. The greatest residential density in any city, known as the modal ring, normally occurs in and near the transition zone, where grand old homes of the past (frequently converted to rooming houses) are mixed with vast expanses of low-quality residences and occasional redevelopment pockets of high-rise apartments. The transition zone functions more traditionally as a tenement section that may include a large proportion of the city's slums and ghettos. The inhabitants of such areas are normally blue-collar workers with relatively low incomes, and a large proportion is likely to consist of ethnic minorities, including African Americans. During the 1950s-70s, the African American ghetto became one of the two most rapidly expanding spatial configurations in large cities of the United States (the suburb is the other). Ghettos have been a prominent part of the North American metropolitan scene since the late nineteenth century, but the rapid expansion, consolidation, and conspicuous social isolation of the African American ghetto after World War II produced what amounted to a new urban subculture. In most cities of the United States and in the few Canadian cities where African Americans reside in any numbers, there is very strong de facto segregation 14 between areas of White and Black households; this holds true in central cities, as well as in suburbs, in the North or the South, and in cities large or small. But it was in central-city locations that African Americans found easiest access to housing, and it is here that ghetto formation was pronounced. Other residents more recently have moved into ghettos in and around the transition zone of North American cities. Most notable are Hispanic ghettos (often referred to as "barrios"). They are prominent in many cities of the Southwest where Mexicans are most common, in New York and other cities of the Northeast where Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are concentrated, and in Miami and other cities of southern Florida that contain large Cuban minorities. In countries like the US and Canada, the twentieth century saw a great tide of movement out of the city center and surrounding dense urban residential areas-suburban ism. The pace of this outward movement picked up in the nineteenth century, as new

forms of transportation such as streetcars and light rail made it possible for more people to live just outside the urban core while traveling there on a near daily basis to work, shop, and entertain themselves. 15 But suburbanism in North America accelerated greatly after World War II. There are several reasons for this boom; one of the most important was that the automobile and highway system, supported and promoted by a string of government and industry actions, gave people unprecedented ability to live further and further away from their place of work near the city core. As the US has become more and more urbanized in the last century, it has actually become more and more suburbanized. By now, most urban residents of North America, which we have noted is more than three-quarters of the population, are actually suburban residents. In 1900, the US was less than 10 percent suburban, but by the end of the century it approached 50 percent (Fig. 4-11). Suburbs were "bedroom communities" for much of the twentieth century, a term that implies that people traveled to the urban core on a regular basis but went home each evening to sleep. During the last decade of the century, suburbs began to transform into "galactic cities," what Joel Garreau (1992) dubbed edge cities. Malls, shopping centers, and business parks began to sprout outside the urban core, structured around highway networks (such as near onand off-ramps). Employment, shopping, and entertainment could be found in the suburbs, removing the motivation to travel into the core. Numerous nodes of high-density commercial and industrial development-high-rise office buildings, sprawling industrial parks, and immense shopping centersscattered throughout suburbia are now typical. Suburban CBDs formed, producing "polynucleated" cities organized around freeway networks, part of what has been called urban realms. The usual movement of people, moreover, is from one suburb to another, rather than commuting to the central city; a certain amount of reverse commuting has become established, as central-city blue-collar workers increasingly must go to the suburbs to find work. North American metropolitan areas "have undergone a remarkably swift spatial reorganization from tightly focused single-cores to decentralized multinodal [systems)" (Muller, 1974, p. 36). The transportational convenience of suburban freeway and beltway locations encouraged successive waves of retailing, wholesaling, manufacturing, and service-oriented ac-

Human Geography of the US and Canada tivities to abandon the CBD and shift to the suburbs. Suburbs no longer functioned merely as bedroom communities but as "integrated complexes of tall office structures, industrial parks, regional shopping malls, and residential subdivisions" (Wood, 1988, p. 325). The process involved a reclustering of office, manufacturing, retail, and service activities into more or less distinct suburban nucleations. The postwar suburb came to have a special place in the folk history of North America; it was the place that connoted status, security, comfort, and convenience-the calm of country living with the amenities of the city within easy reach. Lawn care, barbecue grills, and multicar garages became the "American Dream" for a segment of the population. But several problems have accompanied the suburbanization trend. One has been the continued decline and decay of traditional central cities. Areas in and near the CBD were left to an "urban underclass" of poor people, ethnic minorities and immigrants, and the elderly. The lack of a tax base in central cities left them without needed financial support. At the same time, mass transit in many large cities (especially newer cities in the West) has lacked support, and highways and streets have become increasingly congested with automobiles, increasing pollution and dependence on petroleum. Suburban development, with its single-family detached houses, grassy yards, and multicar garages, has led to sprawl, checkerboard and "leapfrog" development (Fig. 4-12), and the loss of farmJands and wilderness areas. These pressures continue today. Considering the peripheral impulse reflected in suburban migration, we see that there is a general centrifugal gradation in population density throughout the residential areas from the modal ring in the transition zone to the outer suburbs. Multifamily housing is more common near the city center, and the lowest population densities are in the outer areas, where relative remoteness reduces the price of land, and subdivision ordinances require greater spacing between houses. There are, however, numerous variations from this pattern. The unremitting monotony of detached single-family dwellings has been significantly leavened by garden apartment complexes, cluster housing, and contemporary townhouse variations of the old row-house form. Such variety produces not only higher population densities but also diversity of residents. The old stereotypes of "suburban sameness" are a bit less valid today than they

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4-11 Percent of US population living in metropolitan areas and their central cities (black bars) and suburbs (light gray bars): 1900 through 201 0 (data from US Census Bureau). FIGURE

were a few decades ago, when an entire school of social criticism was nurtured on attacking the aesthetics of suburbs. There have been other trends recently in urbanization. Since the 1960s and 70s, a small segment of younger, more educated, and mostly White adults without children have been lured back into the city center, which has been seen increasingly as a "hip" place to live, with appealing urban culture like arts, restaurants, and energetic street life. In many cities, these new residents buy deteriorating houses and other buildings (such as empty warehouses) with historical or architectural significance cheaply and renovate them. In other cases, high-rise upscale apartments are constructed for these new residents. The positive benefits of this gentrificationare evident, at least for a segment of the population, but the way it displaces poor and lower-middle-class residents and changes the ethnic composition and culture of neighborhoods is just as evident. Gentrification is an ongoing process and area of active concern and debate in many cities even now. But it has never approached the magnitude of suburbanization as an urban process, and it is still a much weaker trend. Another interesting trend is that some people have been leaving urban areas altogether, whether central or suburban, for rural and wilderness areas. These new nonurban residential areas are known as exurbia.Exurbanism is possible largely because of the

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Some suburban housing developments seem to sprawl endlessly, as here in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Tom L.McKnight photo). FIGURE4-12

space-time converging technologies that support long-distance commuting and telecommuting, most importantly the internet. Exurbanism has put stress on some rural and wilderness areas, challenging the ability of municipal governments to supply infrastructure for new residences. But even less than gentrification, exurbanism has not approached ongoing suburbanization in magnitude. Many older suburbs are trapped in the same downward trajectory as were the central cities; they are evolving from garden city to crabgrass slum. The 1990 census showed that more than one-third of US suburban cities had experienced significant declines in median household income since 1980. The relentless erosion of jobs and tax resources means that many older suburbs are starting to fall into the same abyss of disinvestment into which their center cities fell years previously. All of which means that there is a continuing trend of urbanites moving centripetally outward. The inner suburbs' losses are the outer suburbs' gains. Industrial Land Use Although land devoted to industrial usage occupies only 5-10 percent of a city's area, in most cities the significance of factories as employment centers has traditionally been so great that industrial activity was critical to the local economy. Industrial areas may be widely scattered, but generalizations can be made about their location pattern. Most cities have one or more long-established and well-defined factory areas near the CBD, often containing several

large firms, as weU as many smaUer ones. These districts were usually established during the era of railway dominance and are characterized by the presence of rail lines and flat land. If there is a functional waterfront (ocean, canal, or navigable river or lake) in the city, another old industrial area is likely to be located there. Heavy industry may be congregated in such an area, typicaUy primary metals plants, oil refineries, and chemical plants. Often, these areas were originaUy swampy or marshy and were then reclaimed by drainage, landfilling, or both. Planned industrial districts are the product of more recent years. They are variously located, but usually the site was chosen with care so that ample space would be available and access to a major transport route would be ensured. Many planned industrial districts were sited along railway lines, but later the critical site factor became a prominent road or highway, as trucks are used more often than railways in transporting goods to and from factories. Perimeter highways or beltways are particularly attractive to the builders of planned industrial parks. Factories may be found in many other kinds of locations in North American cities. The principal industrial areas, however, tend to fall into one of the preceding categories. As a useful generalization, it can be stated that most cities have experienced a decentralization of industrial land use; the suburban share continues to grow, while the central-city share continues to decline. In fact, secondary activities such as manufacturing continues to decrease in developed countries as they transition into post-indus-

Human Geography of the US and Canada trial economies, with many manufacturing activities moving offshore to less developed countries. Transportation Land Use

A surprisingly large amount of land in most cities is devoted to transportation of one sort or another, including the storage of vehicles. This is the second greatest consumer of city space, exceeded only by residential land use. Indeed, in the newer North American cities it is not unusual for streets, parking areas, and automobile services to occupy half the total area of the CBD. Parking continues to be a prominent need in our society. A cardinal rule of urban development is that an American is very reluctant to walk more than a quarter mile (400 m) before getting into a car. Most modern buildings-particularly shopping centers and supermarkets-resemble islands surrounded by an ocean of asphalt. On average, local laws require four parking spaces for every 1,000 square feet (90 m 2) of office space, and many projects have more space for cars than for people. Relatively small proportions of the city area are required by other modes of transport, although airports can be very expansive, and new container-ship terminals require extensive dockside storage space. Other Types of Land Use

Many other types of activities are carried on in a city, but their locational patterns are less predictable. Parks and other green spaces are found in all cities and, in some cases, occupy a large share of the total city area. Institutions of various kinds tend to be widespread, but scattered-for example, schools, cemeteries, and museums. Government office complexes are relatively insignificant in most cities but may be particularly prominent in a national (Washington and Ottawa) or state (such as Albany or Sacramento) capital, or in a city that is a significant regional headquarters for federal activity (such as Denver or San Francisco). Vacant land is another category that occupies varying amounts of space; even the most crowded cities have a certain amount of land that is not being used at present for any purpose. Increasingly, as consumers bypass traditional brickand-mortar retail and shop via e-commerce, empty storefronts litter many commercial districts in cities. General Appearance

Most North American cities are visually similar, a generalization that is a logical outgrowth of the morphological similarity that is chronicled on the following pages. Within the CBD, tall buildings

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dominate the scene. Elsewhere in the urban area, and even in the transition zone, the most conspicuous visual element consists of trees, generally rising above low-level residential and commercial rooftops. The visual dominance of trees is interrupted wherever there are extensive special-use areas, such as airports or planned industrial districts, but, in general, their pervasiveness can be seen in cities throughout North America, even in desert cities. Building ordinances and zoning restrictions, which tend to be similar from city to city, are another reason for the visual similarity of cities in the United States and Canada. Many examples could be cited, but perhaps the most prominent is the requirement that residences be set back from the street; thus, in most parts of most cities, front yards are required even though their functional role is largely a thing of the past. A more detailed look at cities shows their many differences in appearance. Every city has a certain visual uniqueness on the basis of street pattern, architecture, air pollution, degree of dirtiness, and a host of other elements. But often such distinctiveness is a function of site (sloped land versus flat land or coastal versus inland, for example), regional location (as in the widespread adoption of "Spanish" architecture in the Southwest), or relative age.

The Pattern of Transportation There are two different but overlapping facets to transportation in cities: internal movement within the city and external movement to or from the city. For either facet the dominant fact of life is the pervasiveness of the automobile. Of all the money spent in the United States for freight transportation, nearly four-fifths is for motor trucking, and more than 90 percent of the total outlay for passenger movement goes to automobiles and buses. Although facilitating the movement of goods and people, the massive increase in rubber-tired transport threatens to overwhelm the system of streets and highways. The wastes of congestion become progressively worse despite every effort to facilitate traffic flow. Internal Transport

Movement within North American c1l1es depends primarily on the traffic flow of streets and highways. A large and increasing share of total city area must be devoted to routeways and storage lots for cars and trucks. Nearly every North American city has a rectangular grid as the basic pattern for its street

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network-at least in the older portions of the urban area, including the CBD. The pattern has nearly always been modified by subsequent departures from the original layout; in many cases, there is a series of separate grids, adjusted to topography or to surveying changes, which are joined in variable fashions. The streets were usually established in the pre-automobile era and are normally too narrow to facilitate traffic flow; thus, they engender massive downtown congestion and tax the ingenuity of traffic specialists to devise techniques to unclog the streets. Away from the city center there is usually a greater diversity in the street pattern, particularly in newer subdivisions.

Superimposed on the pattern of surface streets in all large North American cities, as well as many small ones, is a network (or the beginning of a network) of freeways or expressways (Fig. 4-13). These high-speed, multilaned, controlled-access traffic ways are laid in direct lines across the metropolis from one complicated interchange to another (Fig. 414), connecting with the surface street system at sporadic intervals by means of access ramps. Modem freeways carry a large share of travel in most cities, permitting rapid movement (except at rush hours) at about one-third the accident risk of surface streets (per mile). An enormous number of vehicles are moved on these controlled-access roadways. The highest volume of average daily traffic in the United States (about 370,000 vehicles per day in its busiest stretch) is carried by Interstate 405 in southern California, running roughly north-south through Los Angeles (including past the international airport, LAX). Interestingly enough, Highway 401 ("The King's Highway") in Ontario, Canada, is even busier, carrying about 500,000 vehicles per day on the stretch that runs through Toronto. It is widely considered the busiest in the world! Characteristically the freeway network of a city radiates outward from the CBD. Even though functional connection to a freeway is restricted, its route is often an axis along which urban development takes place at higher densities than in the interFIGURE4-13 Freeways usually cut directly across all vening wedges, with the most intensive developother forms of land use without regard to the previous ment likely to occur near access ramps and transportation route pattern. This is a typical freeway scar freeway interchanges. across north Dallas (Tom L.McKnight photo).

FIGURE4-14 Freeway interchanges are complex and expansive. This is the interchange of the Santa Monica and Harbor Freeways in Los Angeles (Tom L. McKnight photo).

Human Geography of the US and Canada Almost every large city has one or more beltways-often but not always a freeway-that roughly circle the city at a radius of several miles from the CBD. One of the most famous examples of this phenomenon is Boston's Circumferential Highway (Route 128; see Chapter 8), but the pattern is now common, from Miami's Palmetto Expressway to Seattle's Renton Freeway. Such perimeter thoroughfares often serve as magnets that attract factories and other businesses to locate alongside them. This very attractiveness inhibits the intended functioning of the beltway concept. These routes are intended to move traffic around urban centers, but they frequently become so overloaded with local traffic that they generate a need for new circumferential routes still farther out to carry the through traffic. Despite new freeways and freeway lanes, however, congestion continues to choke the cities of the continent. It is often suggested that the only hope for urban survival is mass transit with emphasis on rapid transit. Unfortunately, the panacea effect seems to be overestimated. Mass transit is more developed in northeastern cities in North America and patronage is higher there (especially New York City), but mass transit use in the subcontinent is distinctly lower than in Europe and has recently declined in most cities, even as the urban population continues growing almost everywhere. About 300 US cities provide urban transit service. The largest concentration, by far, is in New York City (Fig. 4-15). The next largest concentrations are strikingly different in their mix: Los Angeles's is nearly all bus service, whereas that of Chicago is approximately divided among commuter railroads, rapid rail transit,

and buses. The next largest concentrations of trips are in Washington, the San Francisco Bay area, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Miami, and Atlanta. The transit story in Canada is somewhat different. The 1970s and 1980s were a time of enormous transit expansion in Canada, with steady growth in both services and patronage. New light rail systems were developed in Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver, and the subway systems of Toronto and Montreal were expanded significantly (Fig. 4-16). Service quality was generally high and per capita transit use was about three times as great as in comparable US cities. In the 1990s, however, Canadian transit began to experience some of the same problems that have plagued US systems for a long time. A combination of urban sprawl, high unemployment, and cutbacks in government subsidies led to a 13 percent decrease in transit ridership between I 990 and I 996. Enthusiasm for rapid transit in the United States is variable and controversial. San Francisco's BART system (Bay Area Rapid Transit system), opened in 1972, was the first of the modern, high-tech rail systems. Since then, more than a dozen other major cities have opened new rapid transit systems (most conspicuously in Washington, DC, and Atlanta), even in Los Angeles. Some are doing better than others, but all require large government subsidy. North American urbanites are generally still wedded to their automobiles, and their willingness to shift to transit facilities is limited. Moreover, the relatively low population densities in most cities means low volumes of traffic, which works against the feasibility of substantial investments in rapid-transit facilities.

New York-Newark Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim Chicago

4,358 682 632

Washington, DC San Francisco-Oakland Boston Philadelphia FIGURE4-15

Number of passenger trips by public transit in US cities, 2014 (data from Pew Research Center).

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Seattle Miami Atlanta

Millions of Trips

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sition zone near the CBD, but in some cases the latter have been shifted to more distant sites. Most cities have a single passenger terminal ("Union Station"). An important specialized feature of railway transport is the classification yard where freight trains are assembled and disassembled; yards ofthis kind are usually located on the very outskirts of the urban area. There are more airports in North America than in the rest of the world combined-nearly 20,000 public and private airports. There is little in the way of a predictable location pattern, except that an airport is FIGURE 4-16 A light rail train travels between the traffic lanes of a usually located several miles (in highway in Calgary (Jeff Whyte/Shutterstock). some cases, dozens of miles) from the CBD, where an extensive area of flat and relatively cheap land is available. Normally, a major freeway or other roadway External Transport The movement of people and goods into and out thoroughfare (and sometimes a rapid-transit line) is designed to give the airport a direct connection with of cities is accomplished in a great variety of ways, the CBD. The long predicted development of intraalthough auto and truck transportation dominate. city helicopter travel in the larger metropolitan areas Cities are hubs in the cross-country highway netis as yet relatively insignificant. works of the United States and Canada, with routes Water transportation may be important to the converging to join the internal street system of the economy of many ocean, river, and Great Lakes hubs. Despite the construction of bypasses and beltports, but the amount of space used for port facilities ways, there is much mixing of a city's internal and is usually small compared with the total area of the external roadway traffic, with each contributing to city. Piers, docks, and warehouses are normally the congestion for the other. Even the building of the unmost conspicuous permanent features along a port's precedented ($70 billion in construction over a 21waterfront, although the recent rapid change to conyear period) Interstate Highway System in the tainerization of cargo has led to enormous aggregaUnited States did little to improve traffic within cittions of container vans in open spaces adjacent to the ies; it immensely facilitated cross-country travel but docks. Except for ferries in certain parts of the counfailed to alleviate urban congestion, which was one try, such as the Great Lakes and Puget Sound, water of its objectives. travel makes a negligible contribution to the moveIn general, railways were important factors in ment of people. the founding and growth of North American cities, but in most cases, they are relatively less significant Vertical Structure today. They contribute significantly to intercity travel in only a handful of densely populated areas of the The building of skyscrapers and other high-rise 16 country, such as the conurbations in the Northeast buildings is not peculiar to North America, but the and West Coast. Nevertheless, railroad facilities are concept achieved its first real prominence in New still quite conspicuous in most cities. Rail lines conYork City (although Chicago is often credited with verge on cities in the same fashion and sometimes in the first), and the vertical dimension of the North the same pattern as highways. For large cities, there American skyline has continued to be significant in are also railway belt lines to facilitate the shifting of any consideration of city form. In the past, the vertirail cars from one line to another. Major passenger cal structure of cities was predictable. Within the and freight terminals are usually located in the tranCBD would be an irregular concentration of tall

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Sheep are raised in many parts of the US, but particularly in the West, including the Rocky Moun-

The Rocky Mountains The most notable irrigated valley in the Rocky Mountain Region, and one of Canada's most distinctive specialty crop areas, occupies the long narrow trench of the Okanagan Valley (Fig. 14-17). Extending north for 125 miles (200 km) from the international border, the valley is only 3 to 6 miles (5 to 10 km) wide, except where it broadens a bit into tributary valleys in the north. Large lakes occupy most of the valley floor, and farming is limited to adjacent terraces. Irrigation is necessary in the arid conditions (with annual rainfall of9 inches (23 cm) and temperatures up to nearly 110°F [43°C)) of the southern

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part of the valley, but general farming can be carried on under natural rainfall in the north (with precipitation of 17 inches (43 cm)). The most valuable specialty crop is a relative newcomer to British Columbia-ginseng. This is a parsnip-like root that is used as an herbal medicine (in pills and teas). First introduced in the early 1980s, it has become one of the more lucrative crops in British Columbia. Ginseng plants are grown with irrigation under protective shade tarps. It is a laborintensive crop but very valuable ("the most expensive legal crop in the world" 5). It occupies only limited

FIGURE14-16 Wherever there are valleys with relatively flat land, hay is usually grown in the summer. This scene is near Gunnison, Colorado (Tom L. McKnight photo).

FIGURE14-17

The Okanagan Valleyis western Canada's premier fruit-growing district. Shown here are Lake Osoyoos, the town of Osoyoos, and orchards (darker areas) covering most of the valley bottom lands (Tom L. McKnight photo).

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acreage but is now well established in the Fraser ValWATER "DEVELOPMENT" ley around Lillooet, the Thompson Valley near Kamloops, and the Okanagan Valley around Vernon and The Rocky Mountain Region is often described Kelowna. After explosive expansion in ginseng growas the "mother of rivers," because so many of the ing throughout the early 1990s, the amount of promajor streams of western North America have their duction in BC has retracted to the more modest headwaters on the snowy slopes of the Rockies. amounts of the mid-I 980s, given decline in its value From the Rocky Mountains, the Rio Grande and on the international market. Pecos flow to the south; the Arkansas, Platte, YelVarious field crops, feed crops, and vegetables are lowstone, Missouri, South Saskatchewan, North grown, but fruit growing is the distinctive activity in Saskatchewan, Athabasca, Peace, and Liard flow to the valley. The Osoyoos section in the south produces the east; and the Stikine, Skeena, Fraser, Columbia, the earliest fruits in Canada. Apples are the major Snake, Green, and Colorado flow to the west (Fig. crop (occupying about two-thirds of the valley's or14-18). Indeed, "the" Continental Divide tracks chard area and yielding about one-third of Canada's through much of the Rocky Mountain region and is total output), but the valley is particularly noted as the major watershed boundary of North Americaone of only two areas in the nation that has a sizeable though, in fact, it is but one of a handful of major production of soft fruits-peaches, plums, pears, cherwatershed "divides" in North America. ries, and apricots. Grapes, and high-quality wines, are In the past, most "development" of Rocky now a major land use in the southern Okanagan ValMountain rivers was deferred to downstream localey. Because of its relatively mild climate and abuntions, particularly in the Great Plains and Interdant sunshine, the Okanagan is an attractive place to mountain regions. Dam building eventually came to live. Consequently, increasing population pressure exthe high country, modified, in some cases, by wholeacerbates problems of congestion and pollution and sale water-diversion schemes. Dam building is the raises land prices in an ever-higher spiral that makes it chief tool to smooth imbalances of flow and make difficult for small farmers to continue fanning. the waters more "usable" for various purposes. The The other conspicuous farming area in the principle of transmountain diversion is that "unRocky Mountain Region is the San Luis Valley in used" water, generally from western slope streams, is southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. Although it has a short growing season because of its high elevation (above 7,000 feet [2,100 ml) and its low rainfall totals, much of the earlier ranch land has been converted to irrigated farming. An aquifer has been easily tapped by artesian wells. Most of the valley's farmers have been attracted to center-pivot technology, with the result that the San Luis Valley now has one of the greatest concentrations of center-pivot irrigation to be found anywhere in the world. Crop options are limited, because of the short growing season and harsh winters. Although hay is the most widely grown crop, potatoes constitute the principal source of farm FIGURE 14-18 Riversflow out of the RockyMountains in all directions. income. Vegetables and barley are This is the Little North Fork of the Clearwater River in central Idaho (Tom also grown in quantity. L.McKnight photo).

The Rocky Mountains taken from an area of surplus by means of an undermountain tunnel to an area of water deficit, normally on the eastern slope of the Rockies or the western edge of the Great Plains. Potential westernslope users are compensated for this loss by storage dams built there to catch and hold flood-stage flow for later release when the river is low. There are some two dozen transmountain diversions across the Front Range, draining a third of the flow from the Colorado River's high tributaries. Indeed, Denver gets half its water from the Colorado River system. The only major western-slope river in Colorado without diversion to the east is the Gunnison. Until the I 960s, there had been almost no dam building in the Canadian portion of the region, except for five small hydroelectric dams along the lower Kootenay River to supply power to the huge smelter at Trail. In 1964, however, the United States and Canada ratified the Columbia River Treaty, which provided for the construction of major dams on the upper Columbia River and its tributaries to control floods and support increased hydroelectric power generation in both countries. The dams were paid for by the United States, as an advance against power generated in the future in Canada but sold in the United States. An even more grandiose scheme was constructed on the upper reaches of the Peace River near Finlay Forks, British Columbia. The W. A. C. Bennett Dam backs up a reservoir for 70 miles (110 km) on the Peace River and another 170 miles (270 km) on two major tributaries, the Finlay and the Parsnip Rivers. Much of the power is transmitted 600 miles (960 km) to metropolitan Vancouver, the largest population concentration in western Canada. The long, narrow, structural valleys of the Columbia Mountains and the Rocky Mountain Trench are thus increasingly being filled with reservoirs.

THE TOURIST INDUSTRY

The other major role of the Rocky Mountain Region is in providing an attractive setting for outdoor recreation. The tourist industry is undoubtedly the most dynamic segment of the regional economy.

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of the region between the Great Plains and Prairies on the east and the intermountain and Pacific coastal areas on the west places it directly across lines of travel. Tourists come from great distances to Banff (more than 3 million tourists per year) or Yellowstone (200,000 visitors in a midsummer week, a number equal to more than one-third of Wyoming's resident population). Throughout the Rockies there are places of interest for visitors whose interests and activities are varied, but spectacular scenery is the principal attraction. Many of the outstanding scenic areas have been reserved as national parks, which generally function as the key attractions of the region. Let's look further at seven of the most popular tourist areas in the region, in terms of numbers of visitors. New Mexico Mountains

The southernmost portion of the Rocky Mountains in northern New Mexico consists primarily of pleasant forested slopes. Its summers are also considerably cooler than those of the Southwest deserts. It is an area with a rich historical heritage established in the Native American and Hispanic character of the cultural landscape. 6 The narrow twisting streets of Santa Fe (the principal focal point of the area) are jammed with visitors' vehicles during the summer (Fig. 14-19). The Taos area is a center for dude ranch and youth-camp activities, and the Red River has developed into a year-round tourist resort. Pikes Peak Area

Colorado Springs is a city of the Great Plains, but its site is at the eastern base of one of the most famous mountains in America, Pikes Peak (14,1 IO feet [4,233 ml). The elevation of Colorado Springs is 6,000 feet (1,828 m), giving Pikes Pike a relief of over 8,000 feet (2,440 m) above the plain. The surrounding area contains some of the most striking scenery (Garden of the Gods, Seven Falls, Cheyenne Mountain, Cave of the Winds, Rampart Range) and some of the most blatantly commercial (Manitou Springs) tourist attractions in the region. Few tourists visit the Southern Rockies without at least a brief stop in the Pikes Peak area, as overcrowding of even the unusually wide streets of Colorado Springs gives eloquent evidence. Denver's Front Range Hinterland

Summer Tourism With its high, rugged mountains, spectacular scenery, extensive forests, varied wildlife, and cool summer temperatures, the Rocky Mountain Region is a very popular summer vacationland. The location

The Front Range of the Southern Rockies rises a dozen miles (16 km) west of Denver, and the immediate vicinity provides a recreational area for residents of the city as well as visitors. Denver maintains an elaborate and extensive group of "mountain

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FIGURE 14-19 Santa Fe is the oldest (1609) European settlement in the western United States. Shown here is the oldest house in the city, a prominent tourist attraction (BLAZEPro/Shutterstock).

parks," which are actually part of the municipal park system. There are thousands of summer cabins for rent; many streams to fish; deer, elk, mountain sheep, and bear to hunt (with gun or camera); dozens of old mining towns to explore; and countless souvenir shops in which to spend money.

Rocky Mou11tainNatio11alPark Following many years of agitation by the people of Colorado for the establishment of a national park in the northern part of the state to preserve the scenic beauty of that section of the Continental Divide, a rugged area of 400 square miles (1,036 km 2) was reserved by Congress in 1915 as Rocky Mountain National Park (Fig. 14-20). It includes some of the highest and most picturesque peaks, glacial valleys, and canyons of the region, as well as extensive forested tracts. Spectacular Trail Ridge Road traverses the park, connecting the tourist towns of Grand Lake and Estes Park, and reaches an elevation of 12,185 feet (3,656 m). Automobile touring is the principal activity in the park, but hiking, climbing, and trail riding are also popular. Yellowsto11e-Gra11d Teto11-Jackson Hole In the northwestern corner of Wyoming is an extensive forested plateau of which a 3,500-squaremile (9,065 km 2) area has been designated as Yellowstone National Park. Established in 1872 by President Ulysses S. Grant as the first national park

in the world, it lacks spectacular mountains, but contains a huge high-elevation lake (7,700 feet [2,300 ml), magnificent canyons and waterfalls, and the most impressive hydrothermal displays-geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, hot-water terraces-in the world (Fig. 14-21). Yellowstone has the aforementioned geothermal activity because it is located on a geologic "hotspot." A hotspot is a place where the earth's crust moves over a fixed position in the mantle where molten rock can escape to the surface (also called mantle plumes). The wide valley of the Snake River plain to Yellowstone is the telltale path over which the hotspot has progressed over hundreds of thousands of years. A few miles to the south is Grand Teton National Park, a smaller and more recently reserved area that encompasses the rugged grandeur of the Grand Teton Mountains, a heavily glaciated fault-block mountain range that rises abruptly from the flat floor of the Snake River Valley. Jackson Hole was an early fur trapper rendezvous that is the winter home of the largest elk herd on the subcontinent. The Grand Tetons are particularly attractive to hikers and climbers; Yellowstone is a motorists' park. The ubiquitous bison and a great variety of other species of wildlife add to the interest of the area. In spite of its relatively remote location and the brevity of the tourist season, the Yellowstone-Grand Teton country annually attracts more than 7 million visitors.

The Rocky Mountains

FIGURE 14-20

National parks of the United States.

FIGURE 14-21 The unique attraction of Yellowstone Park is its unrivaled assemblage of hydrothermal features, particularly geysers. Here Old Faithful performs in its reliably spectacular fashion (James Mayo/Shutterstock).

383

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Waterton-G/acier International Peace Park Glacier National Park in Montana and Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta are contiguous cross-border "sister" parks with generally similar scenery. The mountains are typical of the Canadian Rockies, with essentially horizontal sediments uplifted and massively carved by glacial action. The area is a paradise for hikers, climbers, horseback riders, and wildlife enthusiasts, and contains one of the most spectacular automobile roads on the subconti-

nent, the Going-to-the-Sun Road that traverses Glacier Park from east to west. The Canadian Rockies The most magnificent mountains in the region are found west of Calgary and Edmonton on the Alberta-British Columbia boundary. The national park system of Canada was started in 1885, when a small area in the vicinity of the mineral hot springs at Banff was reserved as public property (Fig. 14-22). The fa-

ICELAND

D Alaska

..... }':'.

Gros Terra

Cape Breton ighlands PrinceEdwatd

Island jik

.."""""" UNITED

FIGURE 14-22

STATES

National parks and park reserves of Canada.

The Rocky Mountains mous resorts of Banff (Fig. 14-23), Lake Louise, and Jasper were developed by the two transcontinental railways, and the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National are still major operators in the area. Today, there are four national parks and six provincial parks with a contiguous area totaling nearly 11,000 square miles (28,500 km2), probably the largest expanse of frequently visited nature recreational areas in the world (Fig. 14-24). Heavily glaciated mountains, abundant and varied wildlife, spectacular waterfalls, colorful lakes, deep canyons, the largest ice field in the Rockies, and luxurious resort hotels characterize the area.

Winter Sports The region possesses superb natural attributes for skiing and snowboarding. High elevation ensures a long period of snow cover; many areas can provide skiing from Thanksgiving to mid-May. Because winter storms have lost much of their moisture by the time they reach the Rockies, the snow is often of the fine, powdery variety preferred by skiers, and there is an abundance of different degrees of slopeland to accommodate all classes of skiers. In the past, the region was relatively remote from large population centers, and few skiers came to the Rockies. To some extent, this is still true, but many regional ski areas,

FIGURE14-23

The tourist town of Banff is situated in a valley surrounded by spectacular mountains (Nick Fox/Shutterstock).

385

especially in the Southern Rockies, have experienced a rapid increase in their number of users. Nearby populations have grown, and skiers travel much greater distances to ski than they did in the past. About 20 percent of the citizens of Colorado are skiers, and some two-thirds of the users of ski areas in the state are local people (Fig. 14-25). In the other large winter sports areas of the region, about half the users are nonresidents.

Fishing and Hunting No other generally accessible region in North America provides such a variety of resources to tempt the hunter and fisherman. The fishing season normally lasts from May to September, with various species of trout as the principal quarry. Only diligent artificial stocking can maintain the resource in the more accessible lakes and streams, where over-fishing is rampant. The hunting season lasts from August to December in various parts of the region. The list of legal game is extensive, running from cottontail rabbit to grizzly bear, from pronghorn antelope to mountain goat. In an average year, more than a third of a million big-game animals and two dozen hunters are shot in this region (although hunting accidents have been steadily declining for several decades, due to extensive and mandatory education programs).

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FIGURE 14-24 There is a splendid collection of national and provincial parks in close juxtaposition along the trend of the Canadian Rockies in Alberta and British Columbia (Patricia Caldwell).

ALBERTA

BRITISH COLUMBIA

To Vancouver., ..... National park

~

Provincial park Trans.Canada Highway Other main road

Provincialboundary 25 50 MIies

FIGURE 14-25 There are many developed winter sports areas in the Rocky Mountain Region, with the greatest concentration in north-central Colorado. This is Breckenridge (Robert27/ Shutterstock).

To Montana

The Rocky Mountains

Problems The flocking of visitors to these high-country scenic areas is a mixed blessing. By its very nature, a pleasurable outdoor experience can be ruined by overcrowding of people and overdevelopment of facilities to cater to the crowds. The national parks and other prime scenic attractions of the Rockies have become centers of controversy between the advocates of wilderness preservation on one hand and developers on the other. Important, precedent-setting decisions are now being made. Should a complete summer-winter resort town site be constructed at Lake Louise? Should the roadway system of Yellowstone Park be converted to one-way traffic? Do we want national parks or national parking lots?

A CLOSERLOOK

387

TRANSPORTATION

The Rocky Mountains have always functioned as a conspicuous barrier to east-west travel. The principal early trails and later routes across the Rockies either passed around the southern end in New Mexico or crossed through the Wyoming Basin between the Southern and Middle Rockies. The first "transcontinental" railroad, the Union Pacific, used the Wyoming Basin route. It continues as the busiest east-west rail line, with as many as seventy-five freight trains per day in operation. The paralleling highway, Interstate 80, vies with Interstate 40 (which passes through New Mexico around the southern end of the Rockies) as the most heavily used east-

Advocacy for Hunting

Hunters and conservation? Although these may seem somewhat incompatible, they are actually very compatible, and substantial benefits to humans, habitat, and wildlife have resulted. There are a few important reasons and events that explain why. First, rather than the unregulated market and subsistence hunter of the past, who sometimes killed in excessive numbers, today's hunter is a highly regulated, conservationminded sportsperson. Second, today's hunter has also contributed dollars and hours to the enhancement of wildlife habitat and has helped in the maintenance of healthy and stable wildlife populations. The product has been a major successstory for hunters and wildlife. This US model for the conservation of wildlife and their habitats is unequaled in the world. Today, the geography of wildlife (both hunted and not-hunted) and their habitats is often where hunters have facilitated conservation efforts. The story of this geography necessitates a historical look. When Europeans first arrived in America, wildlife was abundant and habitats were healthy (although scholarship suggests that Native peoples may have contributed to the extinction of some megafauna). However, with increasing human demands and the presence of the unregulated market hunters, the need and desire for food, lumber, furs, and feathers increased, and wildlife populations were severely depleted. Habitat was drained, plowed, and harvested. Seeing the perils in which the wildlife were being thrust in the late 1800s and early 1900s, a small and influential group of individuals, who were both conversationalists and sport hunters (including President Theodore Roosevelt), initiated protections of habitats and wildlife species. These protections included the establishment of wildlife refuges, a prohibition on transporting illegally taken wildlife across state boundaries, and a raising of public awareness. Wildlife and their habitats rebounded, but only to be further impacted by the economic hardships and drought of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Fortunately, conservation-minded sport hunters saw the dwindling numbers of animals and the excessive habitat loss, and lobbied the government to provide protection. (continued)

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In 1937, what might be argued as one of the most important actions by the US government for the benefit of wildlife, the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (the Pittman-Robertson Act) was passed. The act created an excise tax on sporting firearms and ammunition to be used to acquire and protect lands for wildlife. Additionally, the act designated that all state hunting license dollars were to be used on wildlife and habitat conservation. The result was a permanent funding source, from hunter dollars, that today has contributed more than $3.S billion for the conservation of wildlife! This money is used by state wildlife agencies for wildlife research, land acquisition, hunter safety programs, public education, and habitat improvement. Today, over 50 million acres in the nation are managed for wildlife protection with this funding. Additional hunter-based sources of support exist for conservation and wildlife needs. A Federal Migratory Bird hunting stamp is purchased by all waterfowl hunters. That money supports the National Wildlife Refuge System, within which more than 2.5 million acres have been protected. Hunters donate hours and dollars to groups advocating for habitats and wildlife. These groups include Ducks Unlimited, an association of waterfowl hunters (since 1937) that has created or restored more than 10 million acres of critical wetlands. Another group is the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, which has enhanced or conserved 3 million acres since 1984. The list goes on: Pheasants Forever, Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, and the National Wild Turkey Federation. The hunter of today typically observes and monitors wildlife and their habitat all year long. Changes in the geography and health of habitats and wildlife are, therefore, often detected first by the hunter. Where wildlife exists at or over its carrying capacity, the habitat can be overutilized, impacting other animals and the entire ecosystem. When these observations are communicated to state wildlife agencies, hunting regulations and conservation efforts can be adjusted accordingly. The effects of these conservation efforts can be partially measured by assessing population changes. Many hunted or game species have increased in numbers in the United States. For example, in the 1900s there were less than 41,000 Rocky Mountain and Roosevelt elk, and today the number is greater than 800,000. Wild turkeys were nearly extinct in the 1980s,and today there are more than 4 million. In 1945, there were fewer than 12,000 pronghorn, while today there are close to 1 million. There are wide benefits from these efforts for all species. For example, as the land is conserved for the pheasant or for the pronghorn, it is also being conserved for deer, songbirds, eagles, rodents, and butterflies. It is a winning situation for all. The hunter has healthy habitats and wildlife to enjoy, and so does the rest of the public. The bottom line is that there are a lot of hunters contributing in substantial ways to assure that habitat and wildlife are conserved. Of course, the best part of the story is when the wildlife are doing well. Professor Katherine J. Hansen Montana State University Bozeman

The Rocky Mountains west roadway. Only the Denver and Rio Grande Railway built a line across the high-elevation Southern Rockies, and it did not become an all-weather route until the six-mile-long (10 km) Moffat Tunnel was constructed west of Denver in 1927. North of the Wyoming Basin there are six railway routes across the Rockies. Three cross the Northern Rockies in Montana and Idaho, and three are Canadian lines. The Canadian Pacific built the pioneer route westward from Calgary through Banff; its descent on the western side of the Canadian Rockies is through the famous spiral tunnels down into the Rocky Mountain Trench. This route continues westerly through the precipitous Selkirk Mountains by a long tunnel and then continues toward Vancouver along river valleys and through canyons. A second Canadian Pacific line was subsequently constructed over the more southerly Crow's Nest Pass route. The government-owned Canadian National Railway crosses the Rockies by means of the northerly, but low-level, Yellowhead Pass in Jasper National Park. Canada's most ambitious road-building program was the Trans-Canada Highway, which extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. The most expensive and difficult section of the highway to construct was that crossing the Rockies, especially in the Selkirk Mountains where the Rogers Pass segment is blocked several times a year by avalanches, despite the protection offered by lengthy concrete snowsheds (Fig. 14-26).

389

Kelowna, Penticton, and Vernon in an area that is also popular with summer vacationers. Three hundred miles (480 km) north of the Okanagan is one of the region's fastest growing urban places, Prince George, which is a notable forest-processing center as well as being the commercial hub of British Columbia's northern interior (Table 14-1). During the busy tourist season, the population of some resort towns swells to many times the normal size. Estes Park in Colorado, Jackson in Wyoming, and Banff in Alberta are prime examples.

14-1 Largest urban places of the Rocky Mountain region, 2016-2017.

TABLE

Name, State/Province

Bozeman, MT Coeur d'Alene, ID Kamloops, BC Kelowna, BC Missoula, MT Prince George, BC Santa Fe,NM

Population of Principal City

Population of Metropolitan Area

47,000 51,000 90,000 127,000 73,000 74,000 84,000

144,000 104,000 195,000 117,000 87,000 144,000

Source: United States Census Bureau; Statistics Canada.

SETTLEMENT NODES

No urban agglomeration in the Rocky Mountains has as many as 200,000 people. The relatively modest existing population nodes are chiefly associated with major lumbering, pulping, and mining-smelting activities, with agricultural valleys, or with tourist/exurban magnets. The greatest concentration of population in the entire region is in the Okanagan Valley, where a dense farming population is clustered around the three urban centers of

FIGURE 14-26 The most difficult stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway to build was that traversing the Selkirk Mountains through Rogers Pass. This monument in Rogers Passcommemorates the construction feat (Lijuan Guo/Shutterstock).

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Chapter 14 THE OUTLOOK

Permanent settlements in the region are based mostly on mining, forestry, limited agriculture, and tourism. Farming and ranching are developed almost to capacity and cannot be expected to change to any great extent. Logging activities have also probably reached their limit except in British Columbia, which has considerable capability for expansion, provided that demand is sufficient. The British Columbia lumber industry depends considerably on the home-building market in the United States, whereas its pulp and paper industry is particularly affected by varying competition from Scandinavia. Mining will undoubtedly fluctuate in different areas, fluctuation that has great historical precedent in the region. The dynamic future of the Rocky Mountains appears to be intimately associated with tourism. Natural attractions are almost limitless; recreational developments on government lands have been accelerated by the National Park Service, the Forest Service, and other federal, state, and provincial agencies. Improvements in transportation facilities and accommodations are being made haphazardly but continually. Despite the cost of gasoline, tourism continues to be a growth industry. An offshoot of tourism is the growth of "second home" developments, which are occurring with increasing frequency in recreational or scenic areas throughout the continent and can be expected to increase in the future. There are many foci of such developments in the Rockies; notable examples include the area around Taos (New Mexico), many prominent ski resorts (especially Vail, Aspen, and Steamboat Springs), Estes Park (Colorado), Jackson (Wyoming), the Flathead Lake area and the Bitterroot Valley of Montana, the Banff area of Alberta, and Golden (British Columbia). Owners of these second homes are typically well-heeled folks from the surrounding regions of the Great Plains and Prairies, the Intermountain West, and California. A major philosophical controversy with significant social, political, and economic overtones has arisen in the region: How is it possible to reconcile the pressures of rapidly expanding development while maintaining an environment that visitor and resident alike can enjoy? The problem surfaces most conspicuously in connection with open-pit mining, mineral boom towns, large-scale recreational developments, and national parks in general. The Rocky Mountains constitute a region of remarkable aesthetic appeal,

but the balance of effective use without destructive abuse seems increasingly difficult to attain.

NOTES I. Often referred to proudly by Coloradans as the "54 fourteeners" for short. 2. There are 45 peaks in the Wind Rivers that have summit elevations above 13,000 feet (4,000 m). 3. This lengthy linear valley extends southward across the international border into Washington State. It has the same name in both countries but different spellings. In Canada, the word is spelled "Okanagan," but in the United States, "Okanogan." 4. "Agreement reached on Anaconda Superfund cleanup," Montana Standard, July 29, 20 I8. 5. Saffron growers would probably beg to differ, and of course, the ongoing legalization of marijuana in parts of North America, including all of Canada, also casts doubt on this assertion. 6. Santa Fe is the oldest settlement in the US West by people of European heritage. It has a Historical Zoning Ordinance that limits new buildings in the downtown historic area to Pueblo and Territorial styles ofarchitecture.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alwin, John A. (I 983). Western Montana: A portrait of the land and its people. Helena, MT: Montana Magazine. Arno, Stephen F. (1969). Glaciers in the American West. Natural History, 78, 84-89. Ballard, Jack. (2018). Large mammals of the Rocky Mountains: Everything you need to know about the continent's biggest animals-from elk to grizzly bears and more. Guil-

ford, CT: Falcon. Cheng, Jacqueline R. (1980). Tourism: How much is too much? Lessons for Canmore from Banff. The Canadian Geographer,24, 72-80. Crowley, John M. (1975). Ranching in the mountain parks of Colorado. GeographicalReview, 65, 445-460. Crowley, John M. (1988). The Rocky Mountain region: Problems of delimitation and nomenclature. Yearbook, Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, 50, 59---08. Farley, A. L. (I 979). Atlas of British Columbia: People, environment, and resourceuse. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press. Germino, Matthew J., William A. Reiners, Benedict J. Blasko, Donald McLeod, and Chris T. Bastian. (2001). Estimating visual properties of Rocky Mountain landscapes using GIS. Landscape and Urban Planning, 53, 71-83. Griffiths, Mel, and Lynnell Rubright. ( 1983). Colorado: A geography. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Halofsky, Jessica E., and David L. Peterson (Eds.). (2018). Climate change and Rocky Mountain ecosystems. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. Holt, Faye Reineberg. (2010). Canada's Rocky Mountains: A history in photographs. Victoria, BC: Heritage.

The Rocky Mountains Katay, Fiona. (2018). Exploration and mining in the Southeast Region, British Columbia. ln Provincial overview of exploration and mining in British Columbia, 2017

(pp. 57-84). Vancouver, BC: British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, British Columbia Geological Survey, Information Circular 20 18-1. Krueger, Ralph R., and N. Garth Maguire. ( 1985). Protecting specialty cropland from urban development: The case of the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. Geoforum, 16, 287-300. Sandford, Robert W. (2017). Our vanishing glaciers: The snows of yesteryear and the future climate of the mountain West. Victoria, BC: Rocky Mountain Books.

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Smith, Jeffrey S. (1999). Anglo intrusion on the Old Sangre de Cristo land grant. Professional Geographer, 51, 170-183. Trenhaile, A. S. (1976). Cirque morphometry in the Canadian Cordillera. Annals of the Association of American Geographers,66, 451-462. Veblen, Thomas T., and Diane C. Lorenz. (1991). The Colorado Front Range: A century of ecological change. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press. Wallach, Bret.(! 981). Sheep Ranching in the dry corner of Wyoming. GeographicalReview, 171, 51-o3. Wyckoff, William, and Larry M. Dilsaver (Eds.). (1995). The mountainous West: Explorations in historical geography. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

15

The western interior of the United States, frequently referred to as the Intermountain (or Intermontane) West, encompasses the vast expanses of the semiarid and arid western United States between the Rocky Mountains and the major Pacific ranges (e.g., Sierra Nevada, Cascades) (Fig. 15-1). The three subregions of the Intermountain West identified in Figure 15-2 include the Columbia Plateau, the Colorado Plateau, and the Basin-andRange section-the largest subregion extending from southern Oregon to western Texas.

production, especially from irrigated agriculture and mining, and tertiary and quaternary industries such as tourism and government installations. Where water is available for irrigation and land is sufficiently level, intensive farming prevails as an "oasis" type of development. Sheep and beef cattle are grazed on extensive ranches, and the region possesses abundant mineral resources. The greater part of the feeding and slaughtering of livestock, refining of ores, and marketing of both generally occurs outside the region. A majority of the Interrnountain West is still publicly owned, and government (primarily federal government) expenditures for management, development, and construction constitute a major income source to local economies. The extent of federal ownership has also become an increasingly volatile sore point for some people of the region, and efforts to transfer land ownership from federal to state, local, or private control are continuing. Some of the

REGION ASSESSMENT

Apart from a few major cities (e.g., El Paso, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City), the Intermountain West is a sparsely populated, rugged, inland location. The economic drivers include primary 393

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Chapter I 5

FIGURE 15-1

The lntermountain West (map by Daniel W. Phillips).

The Intermountain West

395

it well: "All the great values of this territory have ultimately to be measured to you in acre-feet."

TOPOGRAPHIC VARIETY

Landform variety dominates the landscape of the Intermountain Region. Each of the three subregions has a distinctive geomorphic character that can be clearly recognized and described.

The Columbia Plateau

15-2 Major topographic subdivisions of the lntermountain Region {Patricia Caldwell). FIGURE

most acrimonious confrontations between conservation and development occur here. The historical movement of population in the Intermountain Region has been across it, east to west, the region generally serving only as a barrier to westward expansion and only incidentally as a goal for settlement, except in the Great Salt Lake basin. In more recent years, however, this pattern has changed as people are settling on a long-term or even permanent basis, particularly in the rapidly growing cities of the southern section. With a terrain characterized by deep gorges, abrupt cliffs, and steep mountainsides, inaccessibility caused a slow development of civilization in many areas. The last fights with Native Americans occurred just over a century ago. Some post offices were still being served by packhorses as recently as eighty years ago. The last sizable portion of the country to be provided with all-weather roads was northeastern Arizona-southeastern Utah, in the early I 960s. Climate here is extreme throughout, and most areas have a scarcity of water. Evaporation exceeds precipitation throughout the region, and there are relatively few major rivers and bodies of water. John Wesley Powell, the most notable explorer of the inland West, said

The Columbia Plateau lies between the Cascade Mountains on the west and the Rocky Mountains on the east and north, grading into the Basin and Range section to the south. Named for the resident Columbia River, the Columbia Plateau was created from basaltic lava flows that over several million years developed a nearly horizontal landscape that was intermittently interbedded with silt deposits from extensive prehistoric lakes. The region was then subsequently warped and faulted such that the present elevation varies from a few hundred feet above sea level to nearly 10,000 feet (3,000 m) (Fig. 15-3). In central Washington, steep-sided, flat-floored, streamless canyons cut the plateau into a maze known as the channeled scab/ands. These abrupt gorges were eroded by raging floodwaters released by the breaking of the huge ice dam that had formed an extensive pluvial lake (Lake Missoula) in northwestern Montana. The massive discharge of water associated with the ice dam breakage is estimated to have been ten times the combined present flow of all the world's rivers. Moreover, it is believed that the ice dam formed at least 40 times, with giant discharges after each breakage. The Palouse hill country in eastern Washington is deeply mantled with loess, the wind-blown silt deposits we first mentioned in Chapter 12. Northern Oregon has an irregular pattern of faulted and folded mountains, including the Blue and Wallowa Mountains. Southeastern Oregon and southern Idaho have variable terrain, ranging from the lava-covered flatness of the Snake River Plain in southeastern Idaho to the irregular basins and hills of the Malheur Basin in south-central Oregon to the spectacularly deep canyons of the lower Snake drainage. Most notably, spectacular Hells Canyon is a 10-mile (16-km) wide canyon carved by the Snake River along the border of northeast Oregon, southeast Washington, and western Idaho. At more than 7,900 feet (2,400 m) deep, it

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Chapter I 5

A lava landscape in southern Idaho. This is a portion of the lengthy gorge of the Snake River (Tom L.McKnight photo). FIGURE 15-3

is North America's deepest river gorge, deeper even than the Grand Canyon.

The Colorado Plateau The Colorado Plateau stretches outward from the Colorado River and its tributaries in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. The majority of the plateau consists of a series of relatively flat summit areas that are slightly warped as a result of crustal movements that were then subsequently interrupted by erosion scarps in the eastern portions and fault scarps in the western parts. In terms of physiography the area is distinguished by the following features: I. All of the subregion except the bottoms of canyons and the highest peaks has an elevation of 4,000 to 8,000 feet (1,200 to 2,400 m). Some high plateau surfaces reach 11,000 feet (3,300 m), and a few mountain ranges have still higher peaks. 2. Hundreds of remarkable canyons (Fig. 15-4) thread southeastern Utah, northern Arizona, and the Four Corners country in general. They make this subregion the most dissected and difficult to traverse part of the country. 3. Numerous arroyos, which cut some parts of the subregion into mazes of steep-sided chasms, are dry during most of the year but filled from wall to wall during the rare rains. 4. Mesas, flat-topped islands of resistant rock, rise abruptly from the surrounding land.

The basic topographic pattern can be described as mesa and scarp-flat summits bordered by nearvertical cliffs. Some summit areas, such as the Kaibab Plateau in northern Arizona and Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado, cover many square miles. Some scarps extend to great lengths; the Book Cliffs of Colorado and Utah, for example, are more than 100 miles (160 km) long. Throughout the Colorado Plateau subregion the land is brilliantly colored, particularly in the exposed sedimentary surfaces of the scarp cliffs. The Painted Desert of northern Arizona, a badlands terrain of eroded sedimentary rocks, including sandstone and shale, is famous for its various colors, but throughout the mesa-and-scarp country the landscape is marked by colorful rocks and sand.

The Basin and Range The Basin and Range is a semiarid to arid region that extends from southern Oregon to western Texas. The terrain here is dominated by isolated mountain ranges alternating with wide, flat valleys (basins) (Fig. 15-5). In general, the mountain ranges consist of normal-faulted "blocks" of rock layers that were uplifted millions of years ago; the associated basins are the corresponding blocks that were either not lifted or even dropped during the tectonic movement. At the base of the ranges there is an abrupt flattening out of the slopes. Streams reaching the base of the mountains can no longer transport the heavy load of silt, sand, pebbles, and boulders eroded from the uplands, and thus considerable deposition takes

The Intermountain West place {although the streams flow only intermittently, they are subject to violent floods, and the amount of erosion that the floods can accomplish is tremendous). The debris deposition generally occurs in a fan- or cone-shaped pattern (alluvial fan) that becomes increasingly complex and overlapping (piedmont alluvial plains) as erosion progresses. The alluvial fans eventually merge with the siltclay basin floors. Shallow lakes, mostly intermittent, may fill the lowest portion of the basins during a heavy rain event. The basins are saline, since they have no outlet-the area where such rivers are internally drained and no outlet to the sea exists is called

397

the Great Basin 1-and because the streams that feed them carry various salts. As the lake waters evaporate, the salts become more concentrated, and subsequently the complete disappearance of the water leaves an alkali flat or salt pan; examples being Red Lake and Willcox playa in Arizona. There are also several large and relatively permanent saline lakes in the Basin and Range, including Walker Lake and Pyramid Lake in Nevada, and Great Salt Lake in Utah (Fig. 15-6). Great Salt Lake is a remnant of prehistoric (Pleistocene) Lake Bonneville, a great body of freshwater that was as large as present-day Lake Huron. Remnants of Lake Bonnev-

FIGURE15-4 Canyon de Chelly(near Chinle in northeastern Arizona) is a classic example of mesa-and-scarp terrain (Tom L. McKnight photo).

FIGURE15-5 The basin-and-range subregion consists mostly of alternating mountains and valleys in parallel arrangement. This is the Snake Range in east-central Nevada. The high point shown here is Wheeler Peak, at 13,065 feet (3,982 m), the second highest point in the state (Tom L. McKnight photo).

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FIGURE15-6 Look readers: No hands! The renowned buoyancy of Great Salt Lake is its principal attraction for swimmers. Lessattractive are the salt flies that abound, and the salt itches that result. In the background the slopes of the Oquirrh Mountains are partly blotted out by the fumes from the nonferrous metal smelter at Garfield (Tom L. McKnight photo).

ille's shoreline are still found on some surrounding mountains, the highest of which lies about 1,000 feet (300 m) above Great Salt Lake. The present lake expands and contracts according to the variation in precipitation in the mountains and the rate that irrigation water is drawn off. Because the lake is shallow (having an average depth of 14 feet [4 ml), its area fluctuates remarkably; the known areal extremes are 2,400 square miles (6,200 km2) in 1873 and 1,000 m 2 (2,600 km2) in 1963. In the mid-1980s, the lake was in an expanding phase; the current area of the lake is about 1,700 m 2 (4,400 km2 ). Only a few permanent streams occupy the Basin and Range area; they can be classified as exotic (a stream flowing through an arid or hyperarid region) because the bulk of their water supply comes from adjacent regions (Fig. I 5-7), and because of various reasons, including evaporation and leakage, they end up smaller at their mouth than near their headwaters. Most notable are the Colorado River and the Rio Grande. The Colorado and its tributary, the Gila, provide a significant amount of water for irrigation and domestic use. The Salton Basin in southeastern California was partially flooded in 1906 when attempted irrigation permitted the Colorado River to flow out of control into the basin. The river was re-established in its original channel the following year, but the Salton Sea still exists as a "permanent" reminder of the incident.

AN ARID, XEROPHYTIC ENVIRONMENT

The greater part of the lntermountain West has a desert or semiarid climate. The corresponding vegetation exhibits a variety of xerophytic(adapted to dry conditions) characteristics typical of such areas.

Climate Based on the precipitation-evapotranspiration ratios, there are four moisture realms found in the Intermountain West: subhumid, semiarid, arid, and hyperarid. The subhumid portion primarily occupies limited highland areas of Washington and Oregon where corresponding winters are long and cold and summers are short and cool. Precipitation varies from being concentrated in summer to more evenly distributed, depending on factors including elevation and aspect. The semiaridclimate is typical of most of the Columbia Plateau. Precipitation ranges from 10 to 20 inches (25 to SOcm) per year and falls mostly in late autumn, winter, and spring. The arid climate, characteristic of most of the Great Basin, has periodic rainfalls that are fairly regular, although limited, and during which vegetation bursts into life and the water table is replenished. The annual precipitation at Elko, Nevada, a typical station, is nine inches (23 cm). The frostless season varies from I 00 to 180 days. The Mojave Desert exemplifies the hyperarid type of climate, with an annual precipitation of un-

The Intermountain West der five inches (12 cm). In the hyperarid climate the rainfall is episodic, coming largely in summer at irregular intervals and usually as cloudbursts. So much rain falls so quickly that little water can penetrate the soil. The days are generally hot to very hot in summer, but radiational cooling in the dry atmosphere decreases the temperature rapidly at night, except at low elevations in the southern part of the region, which has the highest summer night temperatures to be found on the continent. In winter the nights are usually quite cool, following daytime temperatures that may be relatively mild or even warm.

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FIGURE15-7 The San Juan Riverin southeastern Utah is a typical river of the region, carrying an enormous load of silt (Tom L.McKnight photo).

Vegetation In such a large area that varies so greatly in landforms, marked differences in natural vegetation occur. Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir forests are mostly confined to higher elevations where rainfall is relatively heavy (Fig. 15-8). Where precipitation is somewhat less, forest is replaced by woodland, a more open growth of lower trees, particularly pifion and juniper. In some high elevation areas (5,500 feet (1675 m] and higher) in the Intermountain, such as Wheeler Peak in eastern Nevada, bristlecone pines are found. The bristlecone are some of the oldest trees on Earth, with some trees on Wheeler Peak over 3,000 years old. Grasslands characterize the uplands of southeastern Arizona, New Mexico, and the Columbia Basin. Shortgrass prairies occupy large areas in the high plateaus of New Mexico and Arizona, as does bunchgrass in the Columbia Plateau. Desert Shrub

Xerophytic plants dominate the deserts. Sagebrush, the principal element in the vegetation complex of the northern part of the region, grows in pure stands where soils are relatively free from alkaline salts. Sagebrush is especially abundant on mountain piedmonts and alluvial fans at the mouths of canyons (Fig. 15-9). Shadscale, a low, gray, spiny plant with a shallow root system, grows on the most alkaline soils, prominently in Utah and Nevada. Grease-

wood, bright green in color and occupying the same general region as sagebrush and shadscale, grows from one to five feet (0.3 to 1.5 m) in height and is also tolerant of alkali. Creosote bush, a large plant attaining a height of 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 m), dominates the southern Great Basin; it draws moisture from deep under the ground surface. Within the last century, a number of woody plant species have expanded their range in the arid and semiarid Southwest, mostly at the expense of grassland communities. As in the southern Great Plains, mesquite has occupied the greatest area of new territory, particularly in the Rio Grande and Tularosa valleys of New Mexico, and the Colorado, Gila, Santa Cruz, and San Pedro Valleys of Arizona. There has also been considerable expansion of the acreage of native juniper and introduced tamarisk, the latter having extensively colonized islands and sandbars along most southwestern rivers, especially the Colorado and its tributaries. Various types of cactiare widespread in the more arid portions of the regions, especially Arizona. The giant saguaro, with its striking "arms" held high as if it is experiencing a stick-up, is frequently looked upon as a symbol of the desert. The Saguaro is native in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora; many smaller species of cactus are yet more numerous (Fig. 15-10).

FIGURE 15-8 On the higher mountains in the lntermountain Region are found forest and woodlands. This ponderosa pine scene is in the Sheep Range north of Las Vegas, Nevada (Tom L. McKnight photo).

FIGURE 15-9 Even the most stressful environments often contain distinctive and conspicuous plants. Rising above this sagebrush slope in the parched Mojave Desert of southeastern California are blooming Joshua trees (Tom L. McKnight photo).

FIGURE 15-1 O Many desert areas support a surprising richness of flora. Here in southern Arizona, the landscape is dominated by such conspicuous cacti as the organ pipe (left) and the giant saguaro (right) (Tom L. McKnight photo).

The Intermountain West

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Fauna In spite of considerable barrenness and scarcity of water, the Intermountain West has a surprisingly varied fauna. The region was never an important habitat for bison, but the plains-dwelling American antelope, or pronghorn, is still found in considerable numbers in every state of the region. In the mountains and rough hills other ungulates are notable, including deer, elk, desert mountain sheep, feral burros (particularly in California and Arizona), feral horses (especially in Nevada, Utah, and Oregon), and javelinas (in Arizona) (Fig. 15-11). Small mammals including jackrabbits and prairie dogs are examples of commonly found fauna, while larger, more predatory furbearing animals (e.g., cougar, coyote, bobcat, fox) are less common in many areas. The relatively few rivers and lakes provide important nesting and resting areas for migratory waterfowl.

Larger animals are generally scarce in the desert, but no part of the region is devoid of wildlife. These wild mustangs live in the high desert of rural Nevada (Dallasetta/Shutterstock). FIGURE15-11

The Intermountain Deserts The lntermountain Region contains all four major deserts found in the US: Chihuahuan, Sonoran, Mojave, and Great Basin. Although the latter three border each other, each desert has a unique geography that allows for defining boundaries between them. Chihuahuan

Located in the southeastern portion of the Intermountain Region, effectively surrounding El Paso, is the Chihuahuan Desert. The Chihuahuan Desert area is about 140,000 m 2 (363,000 krn 2), with a significant portion occupying northern areas of Mexicoincluding the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The landscape is typicaJly mountainous with the prominent plant life including Agave and four-wing saltbush. Grasslands make up a segment-estimated by some to be 20%-ofthe desert primarily in the lower elevations. Big Bend National Park in western Texas best provides an example of the Chihuahuan desert in the US. Elevations range over roughly 2,000-5,500 feet (600-1,675 m). The higher elevation areas of the northern Chihuahuan (Texas and New Mexico) can

experience hard freezes (temperatures falling below 28°F [-2°C]) and snowfall in winter. Sonoran

Of the remaining three US deserts, the Sonoran is the farthest south, generally the lowest in elevation, averaging 1,000-2,000 feet (300-600 m), and tends overall to be the hottest. The Sonoran covers about 100,000 m 2 (260,000 krn 2) in southern Arizona and southeastern California (the desert also extends into the Baja Peninsula and Mexican state of Sonora). Home to the famous Saguaro cactus, the Sonoran is arguably the most "lush" of the North American deserts. Palo Verde, Jojoba, and a wide variety of cactus call the Sonoran Desert home. Part of the reason for the greater vegetation is that the Sonoran usually receives more precipitation than the other deserts. Monsoon showers during summer provide a boost of water to the southern Arizona region in particular. The monsoon rains develop when atmospheric low pressure caused by rising air off of the hot land surface, particularly in the Yuma area of southwestern Arizona, aJlows air from the Gulf of California to move inland (the term monsoonrefers to a seasonal reversal of winds; in winter, air flow is generally re-

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versed from summer). Interestingly for such a dry area, flooding occurs frequently with monsoon showers. The heavy but brief downpours are not able to infiltrate into the hard desert soil, and thus the waters flow out across the desert and can inundate low-lying areas; the Phoenix area commonly experiences "flash floods" associated with monsoon showers. Mojave

Directly north of and bordering the Sonoran Desert is the Mojave. The Mojave Desert is bordered to the north by the Great Basin Desert, so in effect it is the "middle" desert geographically of the three. Average elevations are in the 3,000 feet (9 I 5 m) range for the lowest areas, and temperatures are mostly lower as a result. Snow falls infrequently, though the high country of the numerous mountain ranges receives more. One exception is Death Valley.Located in southeastern California, Death Valley is the lowest point not under water in North America, and the continent's driest and hottest place. Death Valley (the National Park of that name was established in the early 1990s from the former National Monument) is an extreme example of the topography generated by the Basin and Range development. The lowest point at Death Valley is -282 feet (-86 m); that is, 282 feet below sea level. Precipitation averages less than 2 inches (5 cm) per year. Temperatures during summer can reach into the 120°F (49°C) range, and equal or exceed 90°F (32°C) seven months of the year. Death Valley is now considered to hold the record for the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth at 134°F (56.7°C). In fact, in 2012 the World Meteorological Organization disqualified what was long believed to be the high-temperature world record of 136°F (58°C) held by El Azizia, Libya, established in 1922, effectively awarding Death Valley once again with the highest official temperature recorded on Earth. 2 Vegetation in the Mojave includes Yucca plants, various cacti, and the recognizable Joshua tree, named by passing Mormon pioneers who looked at the tree and thought of the prophet Joshua with his arms raised. Great Basin

The northernmost desert of North America is the Great Basin Desert. The Great Basin Desertnamed as such because it occupies much of the Great Basin area-is the farthest north, the generally highest in elevation, and the coldest desert of the four deserts in the US (Ely, Nevada, a representative location, averages 52 inches [132 cm] of snowfall per year). Covering most of northern Nevada, southern

Oregon, and western Utah, the Great Basin Desert is the largest US desert at 190,000 m2 (490,000 km2). The northern Basin and Range region is higher in elevation than the southern half; accordingly, the basins in the Great Basin Desert are frequently at 6,000 feet (1,800 m), while ranges can commonly achieve heights over 10,000 feet (3,000 m). Vegetation here ranges from shrubs and creosote bush in the lower elevations to piiion-juniper forests and ponderosa pine in the higher elevations.

SETTLEMENT OF THE REGION

The pre-European inhabitants of the Intermountain West were extraordinarily varied. Most aboriginal tribes in the northern part of the region eked out a precarious existence as seminomadic hunters, yet in the arid Southwest some of the highest stages of Native American civilization developed, mostly in the form of sedentary villages based on self-contained irrigated farming. These settled tribes of present-day New Mexico and Arizona-the Pueblos, Hopis, Zunis, and Acomas-were islands of stability in an extensive sea of nomadic hunting and raiding tribes, most notably Apaches and Utes.

Arrival of the Spanish The Spanish, the first Europeans of the region, traveled up the Rio Grande nearly five centuries ago and established several settlements throughout what is now New Mexico, brought to the area by tales of great wealth. They explored widely and ruled most of the Southwest for more than two hundred years. The major early Spanish settlements were in the Socorro-Albuquerque-Santa Fe-Taos area of the Upper Rio Grande Valley, with another important concentration at the El Paso oasis. Many years later, the Spanish occupied a part of southern Arizona called Pimeria Alta in the Santa Cruz Valley as far north as Tucson. The Spaniards left an indelible influence on both the history of the Southwest and on American civilization. Their livestock formed the basis of the later American cattle and sheep industry, and their horses gave mobility to the Native Americans, the importance of which can hardly be overestimated (we discussed the diffusion of the horse in Chapter 3). Small Spanish settlements and trading posts, such as Albuquerque, housed most of the White population of the Southwest until the middle of the nineteenth century.

The Intermountain West

Explorers and Trappers British and American explorers began to enter the West during the early nineteenth century, including Lewis and Clark (Pacific Northwest) in 1804-1805 and Smith (Great Basin) in 1826. Bonneville (1832 and 1836) traded furs and casually explored the area drained by the Bear River. Fremont, in 1845-1846, entered the Salt Lake Basin by way of the Bear River, becoming the first White man to examine it systematically. Trapping, a powerful incentive to exploration, was the main object of many western explorers in the early nineteenth century. The trappers were a special breed-self-reliant, solitary, largely freebooters-who strove to outwit their rivals, mislead them regarding routes, and supplant them in the goodwill of the Native Americans. They lasted until fashion suddenly switched from beaver to silk for men's hats. The trappers nevertheless played a major role in the region's history.

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the gold associated with the gold rush was extracted from the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. The Sierra is a granitic "fault-block" mountain range with the gentle slope facing west. Mining mostly took place in the streams that flow towards the San Joaquin Valley to the west. An estimated $81 million ($2.7 billion in 2020 dollars) was extracted from the Sierra in 1852 alone, the peak year of the California Gold Rush. While California still produces gold today, Nevada is the leading gold-producing state, and the third leading gold producing place in the world. The Basin and Range topography that dominates the state's geomorphology has allowed for numerous gold-producing mines. The thinning of Earth's crust during the "stretching" that produced the faulted Basin and Range allowed for molten rock containing gold-also copper and silver-to be emplaced near the surface.

Cattle and Sheep Grazing The Farmer Invasion One example of farmer invasion was the Mormon migration to the Salt Lake Basin in 1847 (we discuss the Mormon culture realm further below). The Mormons had trekked from New York into Ohio and Illinois, and then into Missouri to escape persecution and find a sanctuary where they might maintain their religious integrity. To do so, they felt impelled to establish themselves on the border of the real American desert (during the nineteenth century, the Plains area was often referred to as the "Great American Desert"). The agricultural fame of the Deserercolony was soon known far and wide. 3 Utah is the only state in the Union that was systematically colonized. The leader, Brigham Young, sent scouts into every part of the surrounding area to seek lands suitable for farming. Throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century, Mormon pioneers participated in a major colonizing effort that established settlements, usually based on irrigated agriculture, in valleys and oases throughout the Intermountain West.

The Intermountain West has always been only marginally favorable for livestock grazing. For some years after the Spaniards came, cattle raising was almost the only range industry, although Navajo Indians and Mexican colonists herded some sheep. Northward in Utah and Idaho, as well as in the Oregon country, cattle raising dominated in nonfarrning areas. In fact, the Columbia grasslands were major cattle-surplus areas for many years and, along with Texas, stocked the Northern Great Plains area. In Utah, the Mormons raised sheep; as early as the 1850s nearly every Mormon farmer had a few head. In the 1870s and early 1880s, herds of Spanish and French Merino sheep were driven into the Southwest from California, furnishing a fine shortstaple wool in sharp contrast to the coarse long wool of Navajo sheep. Transhumance (seasonal movement of livestock) was practiced in Arizona, where the northern mountains were used from May until August and then the flocks were moved to the lower desert ranges.

The California Gold Rush

Spread of Settlement in the Southwest

Following the explorers, trappers, and farmers came the gold seekers of 1849 (discussed further in Chapter 16). So large was the movement west to California that it led to the establishment of trading posts and stations where the migrants rested and refreshed themselves. The Salt Lake Oasis, especially, became a stop for the weary and exhausted. Much of

The movement of people into the Southwest was erratic and variable and extended over a long period. Less noticed, but fundamentally very important, was the gradual influx of Hispanics: The gradual contiguousspreadofHispano colonists duringthe nineteenthcentury is a little-knownevent of major importance.Overshadowedin the public

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Chapter I 5 mind and regional history by Indian wars, cattle kingdoms, and mining rushes, this spontaneous unspectacular folk movement impressed an indelible cultural stamp on the life and landscape of a broad portion of the Southwest. It began in a small way in Spanish times, gathered general momentum during the Mexican period, and continued for another generation, interrupted but never really stemmed until it ran head on into other settler movements seeking the same grass, water, and soil. (Meinig, I 971, p. 30)4

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, the influx of Anglos from Kansas, Colorado, California, and especially Texas was the major force in the region, quickly dominating both the economy and the political pattern. Mining camps and pastoral enterprises were particularly prominent, but the coming of the two major east-west railroad corridors-a northerly one through Albuquerque and Flagstaff, and a southerly route through El Paso and Tucsonsignaled the beginning of a more diversified economy and the growth of a more urban population.

A major problem associated with the large amount of government-owned land is the great complexity of the ownership pattern. Much of the land that is not federally owned occurs in a sort of checkerboard arrangement (derived from granting scattered, but designated, sections of land to states, railroad companies, and other institutions either as reward, to generate revenue, or as a stimulus to rural settlement) within a broad matrix of public domain (that is, federal) land. The land fragmentation often precludes any rational development of use (Fig. 15-12). The largest category of scattered, nonfederal land is owned by state governments. When western states were originally formed, the federal government made extensive land grants to them (generally

LAND OWNERSHIP IN THE INTERMOUNTAIN REGION

A striking feature of the Intermountain West geography is the large amount of public domain land. In the eleven western states of the conterminous US, more than half of the land is owned by the federal government, 5 and in the Intermountain Region, the proportion is even higher. For example, more than 75 percent of the land in Utah, Arizona, and Nevada, is owned by either federal or state government. One major reason that so little land is in private ownership is that nonirrigated agriculture is impractical; thus, there was little opportunity for dense rural settlement and little practical demand for individual ownership. Although successful homesteading occurred in many localities,6 the homestead laws were designed to apply to more humid regions and did not function well in the arid West. The two principal categories of public land are (a) national forests and (b) Taylor Grazing lands. The latter refers to the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934, which essentially ended homesteading; public land could no longer be claimed for agriculture. Today the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers grazing on those federal lands not designated to agencies such as the US Forest Service. Other large areas of land set aside are Native American and military reservations.

0

~Federal

1111

2

4

Miles

State

C:::JPrivate -

Water reserve

FIGURE15-12 In much of the lntermountain West, the land ownership pattern resembles a gigantic, imperfect checkerboard. This sample is from San Bernardino County, California, near the Nevada border. The federal land mostly is administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Private land includes that owned by railroad companies, other corporations, and individuals (data from Amboy Quadrangle of Bureau of Land Management map series, 1978).

The Intermountain West four disconnected sections of land out of each township-four square miles out of each thirty-six) as trust land to support public education. Some 42 million acres (16.8 million ha) of this school trust land (Nevada sold most of its acreage) remain scattered across the West, particularly in the lntermountain Region. In Utah, for example, the state was given Sections 2, 16, 32, and 36 of trust lands-lands held to support public schools and universities. Some of these trust lands subsequently generated wealth through such uses as mineral, oil, and gas leases.

THE CONTEMPORARYPOPULATION: VARIED AND RAPIDLYINCREASING

Most population in the lntermountain West has developed where (I) precipitation is adequate, (2) water is available for irrigation farming, (3) ore deposits permit commercial mining, (4) transportation routes converge, (5) some special recreational attraction exists, or (6) there is Sun Belt retirement. Cities are few and scattered, but some are large and rapidly growing. Notable examples are Phoenix, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Tucson, Albuquerque, and EI Paso. The Intermountain West is also a region of population movement, in a literal sense. Numerous population clusters are characterized by mobile homes, travel vans, campers, and recreational vehicles. Even in the metropolitan areas, there is frequent movement from one home to another. For the region, some 60 percent of the population changes domicile at least once every five years. The net rate of population growth has been very rapid in the southern part of the region, but somewhat slower in the north. More than two million inhabitants were added to the regional total during the I 980s. Nevada and Arizona, the two states wholly within the region, grew by 37 percent and 36 percent, respectively, during that decade. The trend continued into the 2000s as Nevada increased population by 35 percent-mostly from growth in Clark County, which contains Las Vegas (some Nevada counties actually lost population)-and Arizona grew by 24 percent according to the 2010 Census. There are three significant, readily identifiable, and distinctive minority elements in the contemporary population of the Intermountain Region. All three represent subcultures that are more prominent here than in any other region in the United States: the Mormon culture realm centered in Utah, a Hispanic

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American borderland along the southern margin of the region, and Native American lands covering vast areas, particularly in Arizona and New Mexico.

Mormon Culture Realm As the earliest White settlers in the central part of the Intermountain Region, Mormons (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) have been a part of the human geography of the Intermountain West for over a century and a half. Their cohesive and readily distinguishable culture is manifested in various social patterns, in economic organization and development, and in certain aspects of settlement. 7 Today, most Mormons, like most other North Americans, are urbanites; nevertheless, distinctive cultural characteristics set them apart and set their realm apart as a cultural subregion. The Mormon culture realm (Fig. 15-13) was defined in Meinig's classic 1965 study and has since been refined and updated in the Atlas of Utah. The core of the culture realm is that intensively occupied and organized section of the Wasatch oasis that focuses on Salt Lake City and Ogden; it is the nodal center of Mormonism. The domain, which encompasses most of Utah and southeastern Idaho, in-

eo,e Domain

*

$phefe

Miln

Templ"outside the core

15-13 The Mormon culture realm (after Meinig (1965] and Greer et al. (1981l) (Patricia Caldwell).

FIGURE

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eludes the area where Mormonism is dominant, but with less intensity and complexity of development. The sphereis defined as an area in which Mormons live as important nucleated groups enclaved within Gentile (non-Mormon) country. Despite the continuing expansion of Mormonism (they may be found in every US state and in most countries of the world), its Utah focus is shown by the fact that more than one-half of the total county population in 25 of the state's 29 counties are members of the Mormon church, whereas in only one county in California and a few in southern Idaho does such a proportional membership exist.

Hispanic American Borderland Along the southern margin of the Intermountain Region from the Imperial Valley in California to the Pecos River in Texas are concentrations of Hispanic populations, and in some towns and counties, including El Paso, Hispanics are in the majority. Thus, from a demographic and cultural standpoint, Latin America merges northward into the United States. In contrast, however, the virtual absence of "Americans" south of the international boundary suggests that North America ends abruptly at that line. As J. W. House has noted, "Along its entire length, the USMexican boundary is one of the most remarkable and abrupt culture contact-faces in the world .. Nowhere else are there such steep economic and social gradients across an international boundary" (House, 1982, p. 37).8 The accompanying box ("The US-Mexico Border") highlights the situation. The legacy of Hispanic settlement in the Southwest is long and notable. Architecture, settlement patterns, language, and cuisine are but a few of the more prominent elements of this heritage. The continuing high rate of immigration from Mexico and the rapidity of increase among Hispanic Americans ensure that this portion of the Intermountain Region is likely to maintain its Hispanic subculture indefinitely.

there are several large reservations in the northern portion of the region, including the Yakima in Washington, Umatilla in Oregon, Pyramid Lake and Walker River in Nevada, and Uintah and Ouray in Utah (Fig. 15-14), it is around and south of the Four Comers country that Native American lands are most prominent. The Navajo Reservation is by far the largest in the US, but there also are extensive reservations for the Apache, Hualapai, Hopi, Tohono O'odham, and Ute. In addition, there are many smaller reservations in the Intermountain Region; some are densely populated, particularly the Pueblo reservations in north-central and northwestern New Mexico. In general, the Native Americans of the Intermountain Region have been economically poor, socially deprived, and politicaJly inactive. On reservations, they have usually maintained cohesive tribal identities, although their livelihood is often near or below the poverty level. Many off-reservation Native Americans have adjusted to living in southwestern cities, as the rapidly growing Indian populations of Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Albuquerque attest; fur-

Land of the Native Americans More than in any other region outside of the Boreal Forest and Arctic, the Intermountain West is the land of the Native American. Over 500,000 Native Americans of various tribal affiliations are scattered over the region, although mostly in Arizona and New Mexico, the latter where over IOpercent of the population is of Native American origin (second by percentage of Native peoples only to Alaska). While

Miles

FIGURE15-14 There is a greater extent of Indian reservations in the lntermountain Region than in the rest of the country combined (Patricia Caldwell).

The Intermountain

A CLOSERLOOK

The US-Mexican Border-A

West

Line or a Zone?

The Mexico-US border, or la Frontera(the frontier) as it is called in Mexico, is popularly if somewhat derisively referred to as the "Tortilla Curtain." This moniker not only suggests the role the border plays as a convenient symbolic divide between North America and Latin America, but also between the First and Third Worlds. Few international boundaries separate, at least politically, such fundamentally different countries and prevailing cultures. Born of conflict and increasing US domination of the region during the first half of the nineteenth century, the border was created by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which concluded the war between the two countries in 1848. From the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, the border runs for 1,954 miles (3,145 km) over granite-studded mountains, deserts, high plateaus, and coastal plain; it passes through land as inhospitable and desolate as any in either country, but also bisects some of the fastest growing, most dynamic urban centers in the Western Hemisphere. All along its path, it generates political complexities and controversies, as it cuts through twenty-three counties in four US states (California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas) as well as thirtynine municipios-municipalities that administratively are like counties in the United States-in six Mexican states (Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas). For approximately 1,325 miles (2,120 km}, it follows the course of the Rio Grande, or Rio Bravo del Norte as the river is known in Mexico. Westward from El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, it is marked by barbed wire and wire mesh fence, and 258 white marble obelisks. Yet while the location of this partly invisible boundary is precise, the perception of it is not. In general, it is viewed from one of two perspectives-as being either a line or a zone. Those who support the former concept argue that the border is an abrupt demarcation, a sort of cultural fault, separating two countries with vastly contrasting material and non material cultures. They point to the differences in history, tradition, religious affiliation, values and symbols, language, ethnic composition, patterns of social organization, lifestyles, political and legal systems, architecture and design, cuisine, music, and levels of economic development. To support this position, they suggest one need only cross the border, in either direction, to immediately perceive the distinctions: The look, the smell, the character, the sense of the two places are quite different. These differences in the cultural landscape-the composite of all manufactured features-are not merely cosmetic, but rather, it is argued, reflect the deeper cultural-historical currents of the respective societies. That the landscapes of Matamoros, say, are for the most part unlike those of neighboring Brownsville, or that the landscapes of Tijuana would not likely be confused with those of San Diego, are both readily apparent and culturally meaningful. Conversely, there are others who see the border as a zone that straddles the international boundary. It functions, so the argument goes, as a kind of linear third country or special domain with its own identity and character. This zone of "overlapping territoriality," as it has been labeled, has produced a hybrid culture, one that is part Mexican and part American, similar to, yet different from, the cultural mainstreams found in the interiors of the two nations. Here, for instance, Spanish and English words are liberally and spontaneously mixed together in everyday conversations, creating a dialect and a language usage unique to this land between, as it might be called. It is suggested that the so-called fronterizos, the border people, share a common experience and are tied not (continued)

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only by geographical proximity but also by interdependence, mutual interests, and transborder concerns, including a host of social, economic, and environmental issues. Perhaps the most persuasive evidence in support of the border-as-zone position is the large and increasing volume of goods, services, people, and ideas that flow to and fro over the boundary from adjacent communities. Agricultural products and manufactured goods move in both directions. The populations on both sides, often linked by family ties and long-standing friendships, intermingle as they cross the border to work, shop, and play. Yearly, there are over 200 million legal crossings from Mexico to the United States, and a majority of these, it is estimated, are made by border residents. For them, if not for others, this highly permeable border is indeed, for all practical purposes, a zone of binational interaction and bicultural attractions. So whether the border is a line or a zone depends finally on what perspective is taken. Seen from the ground (a microlevel view), the empirical evidence, especially the cultural landscape characteristics, tend to support the former; whereas seen from above (a macrolevel view), the complex functional patterns of transborder movement and interdependence become dominant, thus supporting the latter. Places, it should be remembered, are not one-dimensional entities that can be easily classified. Professor James R.Curtis California State University Long Beach

thermore, economic and social conditions on many reservations have been improving rapidly. The Apaches of the Fort Apache, San Carlos, and Mescalero reservations have developed prosperous logging industries and have shrewdly organized outdoor recreational advantages to attract tourists. The 30,000 Pueblo Indians have generally been able to adjust to the pressures of modem civilization because their ancestral lands were legally restored to them, and each Pueblo village is thus surrounded by a protective girdle of farmland that reinforces its insularity. A more recent economic endeavor has been casinos operating on Indian lands (see "The Rapid Rise of Legalized Gambling" in Chapter 4). In 2018, Indian Gaming Revenues were $33.7 billion according to the National Indian Gaming Commission. The Navajo Reservation of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah is the largest (27,000 sq. miles) on the continent, and the Navajo Nation population is also the largest (nearly 300,000). Pastoralism has been the dominant occupation of the Navajo, but coal, petroleum, natural gas, uranium, and helium are being extracted on the reservation. During the 1960s, the Tribal Council signed several long-term contracts with mineral and utility companies for the mining and transport of coal and the construction of power-

generating facilities to use the coal. In 2013, the Four Corners Power Plant, Near Farmington, New Mexico, was purchased by the Navajo Nation. An agreement between the contract mining company (Navajo Coal Company), and the power plant will ensure the operation of the Navajo mine through 2031; this power plant is solely provided coal by the Navajo mine. Many jobs have been subsequently created, an estimated 350 people from the Nation are employed, and the Navajo Nation Council now has an annual budget of more than $170 million. Another power plant, the Navajo Generating Station, near Kayenta, Arizona, ceased operation on November 18, 2019, with three years planned to finish the decommission of the site. A major and long-standing problem is the acrimonious relationship between the Navajos and their closest Native American neighbors, the Hopis. Some 7,000 Hopis occupy a reservation completely surrounded by the Navajo Reservation (Fig. 15-15). Most Hopis live in agricultural villages that are situated on three high mesas (Fig. 15-16). They are much more farming-oriented than the Navajos, and the Hopis engage in extensive pastoralism with sheep and goats on and around their mesas. There are many facets to the Navajo-Hopi dispute, but it

The Intermountain West centers on the use of grazing lands. Each tribe claims land that is used by the other, and much stock that has strayed beyond disputed boundaries has been confiscated by both Navajo and Hopi police who patrol the disputed areas.

THE WATER PROBLEM

Limitations imposed by the short supply of water are felt throughout the Intermountain Region. Rainfall is low and rivers are scarce and often located in

409

deep gorges, making their water relatively inaccessible. Groundwater is obtained in some areas, such as the alluvium-filled basins of the Basin and Range, but the principal hope for increasing the natural water supply of the region has always been river catchment and diversion. In the Intermountain, as in other parts of the West, the federal government has not hesitated to become "enlisted on the side of The People vs. The Desert" by building dams and blocking the rivers to create tiny islands of moisture availability in the sea of aridity. Flood control and irrigation have been the twin purposes of most river development projects

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ARIZONA

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410

Chapter IS

in the region, although some dams have more specifically been designed to provide an urban water supply or generate hydroelectricity.

dams were built on tributaries of the Columbia, particularly the lower Snake (for hydroelectricity and navigation) and several short streams issuing from the Cascade Mountains (for irrigation).

The Dammed Columbia River Of all rivers in North America, the Columbia has an annual discharge exceeded only by those of the Mississippi system (including the Ohio and Missouri) and the St. Lawrence. The Columbia, however, has a steeper gradient and, hence, the greatest hydroelectric potential on the continent. Originating in the Canadian Rockies, the Columbia's average runoff is about ten times that of the Colorado, but only one-third that of the Mississippi. Along its 740mile (1,184 km) course in the United States, the Columbia descends 1,290 feet (387 m); it has now been so completely dammed that only 157 feet (47 m) of the headwaters is still free flowing. Beginning with Rock Island Dam in 1929-1931, eleven dams have been built along the Columbia in Washington and Oregon. Except for Grand Coulee, the dams are primarily for hydroelectricity generation and navigation on the lower Columbia. Grand Coulee is a dam of superlatives (Fig. I 5-17). It houses the fifth largest hydroelectric power plant in the world; impounds the sixth largest reservoir, F. D. Roosevelt Lake, in the United States; is the fifthhighest dam in the nation; and is designed to irrigate more than 1 million acres (400,000 ha). Several other

The Continuing Controversy of the Colorado River

Although many rivers in North America carry more water, the Colorado is particularly important because it is the only major river in the driest part of the subcontinent (exotic, as we described above). The river flows for 1,400 miles (2,240 km), its drainage basin encompassing about one-twelfth of the area of the conterminous states. Seven states and Mexico use virtually all of the Colorado's waters. The first major dam in the Colorado watershed was the Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River near Phoenix, which was built soon after Congress passed the Reclamation Act of 1902, authorizing the Department of the Interior to establish large-scale irrigation projects. Before long, it was realized that basin-wide planning was needed for efficient use of the waters of the basin. The Colorado River Compact was finally hammered out, taking effect in 1929; its main provision apportioned the use of Colorado River water between the upper basin states (Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico) and the lower basin states (Arizona, Nevada, and California) on a 50--50 basis. Later amendments provided a share for Mexico and subdivided the upper basin total among the four states involved. The lower basin states, however, could not agree on division of their share, and complex litigation finally ended with subdivision of the Lower Basin allotment by the Supreme Court. Several major problems persisted, not the least of which was the fact that the Colorado River was bankrupt; the various agreements called for an annual use of three mi.Ilion more acre-feet than the river normally carried. Four dams, starting with the mammoth Hoover Dam, were built along the lower course of the Colorado for various purposes, but particularly to stabilize the river's flow and provide maxiFIGURE15-17 Rocky Reach, near Wenatchee, is one of the smaller of mum usage in California and Arithe Columbia Riverdams (Tom L. McKnight photo). zona (Fig. 15-18).

The Intermountain West The Hoover Dam, sometimes referred to by its original name of Boulder Dam, is located on the Arizona-Nevada border at a height of726 feet (221 meters). Hoover Dam is named after Herbert Hoover, who was president during the construction of the dam and, as commerce secretary in the 1920s, oversaw the arrangements necessary for construction. Hoover Dam provides hydroelectric power for three states: Arizona, Nevada, and, the bulk of its power to California, particularly the Los Angeles area. As a result of the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead was created and is the largest reservoir in the US, providing recreation and water storage. After years of planning, construction began on the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal in 1973, and the fust water was delivered to the Phoenix area in I 985. By the mid-I 990s, the $2.5 billion project (the largest ever undertaken by the US Bureau of Reclamation at the time) was essentially complete, and the reality of the situation recognized in southern California; prior to 1985, the Central Arizona Project's share of Colorado River water had been diverted to Los Angeles and vicinity.

411

AGRICULTURE

Farming is sparse and scattered in the vast, dry lntermountain West, but it is nevertheless the most prominent activity in most nonurban settled areas. Only a small portion (3 percent in Utah, for example) of the total land area is in farms, and little of this is actually in crops. Precipitation is so sparse that growing crops under natural rainfall conditions is restricted mostly to the Columbia Plateau subregion. The most important agricultural area by far is the Palouse country of eastern and central Washington and adjacent parts of northern Oregon. The Palouse area has rich prairie soils enhanced by the deep accumulation of loess, which makes it the highest-yielding wheat-growing locale on the continent (but much smaller in total production than the Plains wheatgrowing areas). Whitman County, just north of the Snake River in southeastern Washington, is a leading wheat-producing county in the United States, primarily because of very high yields per acre. The bulk of the output is soft white winter wheat, which is commonly used for pastry, crackers, and cookies,

FIGURE 15-18 Hoover Dam, on the Arizona-Nevada border, is the keystone structure in the management of lower Colorado Riverwater (superjoseph/Shutterstock).

412

Chapter IS

rather than bread. Normally, more than three-quarters of the output is exported, particularly to Japan and India. Whitman County is also a leading barleygrowing county in the nation. The Palouse area also has considerable acreage in dry peas, lentils, clover, and alfalfa. The Blue Mountains district of northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington is the leading source of green peas in the nation. There are no other major areas of commercial dryland farming in the region. Scattered patches of dryland wheat are found in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Dry beans are raised without irrigation in central New Mexico, southwestern Colorado, and southeastern Utah where there is sufficient summer rain. Most crop growing in the region, however, is dependent on irrigation, which has been expanding ever since it was introduced by the Mormons in 1847 (both Native Americans and early Spanish settlers practiced irrigated agriculture much earlier). Some 10 million acres (four million ha) of cropland are now under irrigation, of which about one-third are in Idaho and one-sixth in Washington (Fig. I 5-19). The principal areas of irrigated farming are summarized next.

Principal Areas of Irrigated Farming The Salton Trough The Salton Trough is a flat valley below sea-level occupied by the saline waters of the Salton Sea and two highly intensive irrigated farming areas: Imperial Valley to the south and Coachella Valley to the north. The 470,000 irrigated acres (190,000 ha) of Imperial Valley yield about 750,000 acres (300,000 ha) of crops each year as a result of the widespread adoption of double cropping. The valley is watered from the Colorado River via the All-American Canal and produces a remarkable variety of crops, ranging from high-value iceberg lettuce (which dominates the winter market in the United States) to alfalfa. With up to seven cuttings a year, Imperial County produces almost twice as much hay as any other county in the United States. It is also a major producer of sugar beets (the third-ranking US producer), but its most valuable output is beef from cattle that are fattened in the area before marketing. Coachella Valley also obtains its water from the Colorado River and grows a variety of crops, but the bulk of farm income comes from the four-level agricultural pattern of vegetables (especially carrots),

vineyards (mostly table grapes), grapefruit (California's principal area), and dates (the only significant commercial source in the nation [Fig. 15-20]). The Salt River Valley This was the fust major federal irrigation project and one of the most successful economically. The chief cash crop is short-staple cotton, but there is considerable acreage in a great variety of other crops, especially hay, wheat, barley, sorghums, citrus, and safflower (Fig. 15-21); the aforementioned CAP Canal provides much of the water for irrigation. Much irrigation water is also obtained from wells. No other state has such deep irrigation wells, on average, as Arizona. With thousands of feet of sediment underlying the surface, groundwater is relatively abundant but has been depleted to the point of some land subsidence in the area. Indeed, Arizona has the highest cost irrigation of any state, but it has outstanding yields to compensate. Around 38 percent of Arizona's total water use comes from the Colorado River, while 40 percent comes from groundwater sources. The Rio Grande Project The Middle Rio Grande Valley constitutes one of the oldest irrigated areas on the continent, having been initiated by pre-Columbian Native Americans. Sporadic private irrigation diversions in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries severely diminished the water available downstream of El Paso, an important Mexican irrigated district. After considerable international negotiation, the Rio Grande Project was developed under federal auspices. The key structure is Elephant Butte Dam on the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico. Some 180,000 irrigated acres (72,000 ha) are included within the project. The greatest acreage is devoted to hay and feed grains for cattle fattening. Other prominent farm enterprises involve cotton, poultry, pecans, and grapes. Colorado's Grand Valley West-central Colorado has several major irrigated areas that use water flowing westward from rivers including the Colorado and the Gunnison. Most notable is the Grand Valley Project near Grand Junction. Many different field crops, such as corn, small grains, alfalfa, sugar beets, potatoes, and vegetables, are grown. The area's reputation, however, is based on its fruit crop, primarily peaches but also other orchard fruits.

The Intermountain

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15-19 Major irrigated areas and mining towns in the lntermountain Region: (1) Salton Trough, (2) Salt River Valley, (3) Rio Grande Project, (4) Colorado's Grand Valley, (5) Salt Lake Oasis, (6) Snake River Plain, (7) Columbia Plateau Fruit Valleys, and (8) Columbia Basin Project (Patricia Caldwell). FIGURE

414

Chapter IS

Salt Lake Oasis The valley of the Great Salt Lake was occupied by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s. Within the first decade of occupancy, the land-use pattern was established, and relatively little expansion of irrigated farming has occurred since then. The lofty Wasatch Mountains to the east tower above the oasis, their snowclad slopes providing water for the dry lands at their base. At the mouth of almost every stream canyon, as it emerges from the Wasatch, is located a city or village girdled by green fields and adorned by orchards and shade trees. The cropping pattern is extremely diverse, although the greatest acreage is devoted to hay and grains (especially wheat).

Other notable crops are sugar beets and fruits (particularly apples, peaches, and cherries). Livestock are also abundant and varied, most notably cattle and chickens.

The Snake River Plain Southern Idaho contains a lengthy sequence of irrigated areas scattered across the sagebrush flats above the abrupt gorge of the Snake River. The basic Idaho crops are hay, potatoes (Idaho produces more than one-fourth of the national crop), and sugar beets (Idaho is the third-ranking producer) (Fig. 15-22). The three principal irrigation projects are the Minidoka in southeastern Idaho and the Boise and Owyhee in southwestern Idaho and adjacent southeastern Oregon. The most dynamic irrigation developments in the West in recent years, however, have been extensive, mostly privately financed, operations relying on electric- or gas-operated pumps in various locations on the Snake River Plain. The water is pumped up from wells from 400 to 600 feet (120 to 180 m) underground, or a comparable vertical rise from the Snake River. These new farms tend to be enormous in size, corporate in structure, and quite capital intensive, making heavy use of sophisticated equipment and other farm machinery. FIGURE 15-20 Over 90 percent of commercial dates produced in the United States come from the Coachella Valleynear Indio, California (Tom L. McKnight photo).

FIGURE 15-21 Highquality cotton is a major product of the irrigated valleys in central Arizona. Here, a cotton harvester works near Phoenix to harvest Arizona'sfinest cotton (Paul R.Jones/ Shutterstock).

The Intermountain West

415

Sugarbeets for Sugar, Harvested Acres: 2012

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FIGURE 15-22 One of Idaho's leading crops is sugar beets; the area trails only the floodplain of the Red Riverof the North for beets in North America (USDA).

Columbia Plateau Fruit Valleys

In the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains lies a series of Columbia River tributaries whose valleys-especially the Yakima and Wenatchee-produce two-fifths of the national apple crop (Fig. 1523). There is also notable output of hay and field corn for cattle feeding, hops, potatoes, and enormous recent expansion of vineyards (most of Washington State's wine is produced here). The Columbia Basin Project

Grand Coulee Dam was built in the 1930s as the first high dam on the Columbia River. Water from its impounded reservoir is diverted to central Washington, which has the potential to irrigate up to 1.1 million acres (450,000 ha) of semiarid sagebrush country. About 60 percent of these potential acres are actually

irrigated by the project at this time. An important major development was the introduction of center-pivot systems to disperse the water, thereby achieving great efficiency of water use and reducing labor costs. The Columbia Basin has become a leading center-pivot irrigation area, with a notably expanded output of potatoes and corn.

Pastoralism In this region of rough terrain, light rainfall, sparse vegetation, and poor soils, most of the land (if it is to be used for agriculture at all) must serve as range for livestock. Pronounced differences in elevation cause differences in precipitation and vegetation, which, in turn, are reflected in the seasonal utilization of the range. Mountain pastures are

Chapter IS

416

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Central Washington is by far the US leader in apple production (USDA).

strictly summer pastures; deserts are used mostly in winter, when snowfall provides water. Oasis pastures and feedlots are handling more and more animals throughout the year. The establishment of federal grazing districts by the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 had a significant effect on the pastoral pattern of the region. The Taylor legislation put an end to unrestricted grazing on public lands and helped stabilize the balance between forage resources and numbers of stock. Ranchers may lease portions of a grazing district for seasonal use. It is up to the Bureau of Land Management, the administering agency, to harmonize the carrying capacity of the range with the economic realities of the ranchers (Fig. 15-24).

Ranches for both sheep and cattle are widespread in the region (Fig. 15-25). In recent years, there has been a rapid proliferation of feedlots, mostly for cattle. Feedlots have become big business in the Phoenix area, the Imperial Valley, around Yuma, and in several parts of Utah, southern Idaho, and central Washington. MINING

From the Wasatch to the Sierra Nevada and from Canada to the Mexican border, the region is dotted with communities located solely to tap the mineral resources. These communities enjoy viability as long as the mines produce but decline precipi-

The Intermountain West

417

FIGURE 15-24 A Thanksgiving Day sheep roundup on BLM land near Tooele in central Utah (Tom L. McKnight photo).

FIGURE 15-25 Cattle and cowboys on the sagebrush plains of eastern Oregon (Tom L. McKnight photo).

tously and typically become ghost towns once the ores are worked out or relative price changes make mining unprofitable.

Copper The most notable mineral resource of the Intermountain Region has long been copper, despite frequent wild fluctuations in the international marketplace that have caused many mine closures and openings. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a drastic decline in demand for copper and about half the copper mines in the region were shut down. A firmer market in the late 1980s and early 1990s occasioned a decade-long upward trend in production as well as the reopening of several of the closed mines. The copper industry nose-dived again in the mid-1990s (but has greatly increased during more recent years) and the bellwether mine at San

Manuel, the largest underground mine in the country, was among the closures. The number of working mines in Arizona currently stands at twelve. Arizona has been the leading copper-mining state for more than a century. Utah is the secondranking state, with most production from the largest individual copper mine in the country, at Bingham, until it was "temporarily" closed in the I 980s (Fig. 15-26). New Mexico is the third leading state; it experienced rapid production increases in the 1970s from several mines in the Santa Rita-Silver City district, but these mines were among the most severely affected by recent closures. Nevada's principal copper mines are at Ely and Yerington.

Other Metals There has been a spectacular increase in precious-metal mining in the Intermountain Region

418

Chapter IS

15-26 The openpit mine in Bingham Canyon, west of Salt Lake City, has been producing ore for more than a century and is the largest humancreated excavation in the world. It experienced some shutdown periods in recent years but is currently back in production (YegoroV/Shutterstock). FIGURE

ever since prices began to rise significantly in the 1970s, with most of the action in Nevada. Nevada gold output rose from virtually nothing to an annual output of nearly 120,000 kg by the mid-I 990s. Production peaked in the early 2000s at over 250,000 kg and has more recently (2018) lowered to 173,600 kg. Nevada also produces more than one-third of the national output of silver. Other metal ores that are mined in the region include iron in southwestern Utah and tungsten in several locales.

Salts Several places in the Intermountain deserts yield salts of one kind or another, with major output from southeastern California. Borax minerals are obtained from a voluminous pit at Boron, borate and potash compounds are scraped from the surface and extracted from brine wells at Searles Lake, various sodium and calcium salts are mined in Death Valley, and soda ash has been taken from the dry bed of Owens Lake near Lone Pine. Various potash salts are obtained from the Bonneville Salt Flats west of Great Salt Lake.

Coal While Wyoming leads the nation in coal production, Utah has the most reserves and production among Intermountain West states. There has been

production for several decades in Carbon and Emery counties, an area with extensive reserves. Coal output has also been expanding in the Four Corners country, with mines in Arizona and New Mexico. Most of the production is used by thermoelectricgenerating plants or coal gasification plants.

Petroleum Although the map of oil lands in this region is expanding and the amount of drilling is increasing, the Intermountain Region contributes less than two percent of the national output. Principal production comes from the Rangely field in northwestern Colorado, several fields in the Uinta Basin of northeastern Utah, and northwestern New Mexico. Oil Shale Oil shale is sedimentary rock containing oil-like hydrocarbons which are the source of so-called shale oil, accessed from the oil shale by methods like hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and horizontal drilling that are discussed in Chapter 9. Oil shale is widely scattered over a part of the region in the Uinta Basin of northeastern Utah south of the Uinta Mountains, in adjacent west-central Colorado, and in the Green River Basin of southern Wyoming (partly outside the Intermountain Region). However, high costs and potential production problems have shelved more than a dozen heralded development projects, and at pres-

The Intermountain West ent only a small amount of oil shale is actually being converted to crude oil in the Intermountain Region. Oil shale will likely continue to be an important energy source in the future.

Uranium The history of uranium mining in the United States is one of remarkable ebbs and flows. The frantic boom of the early I 950s and the great decline of the late 1950s were followed in the late 1970s by another major boom. About half the nation's uranium is found in a 100-mile strip of northwestern New Mexico, centering on the town of Grants, although there has been no uranium extraction in New Mexico for over a decade. There has been scattered production elsewhere in the Intermountain West, such as in western Colorado and eastern Utah, but the mines there are currently closed or on hold.

FORESTRY

419

TOURISM

The lntermountain West abounds in scenic grandeur. Within it are the Grand Canyon (Fig. 15-27), Monument Valley,Zion Canyon, Cedar Breaks, Bryce Canyon, Carlsbad Caves, Death Valley, the Painted Desert, the Sonoran Desert, Joshua Tree, the Mojave Desert, Utah's Canyonlands, the Petrified Forest, Great Salt Lake, gorges of the Columbia River and Snake River (including Hells Canyon) and Columbia rivers, and the Big Bend canyons of the Rio Grande. Most of these and many other beauty spots have been set aside as protected reserves by federal or state governments. The Colorado Plateau section is particularly magnificent and contains the greatest concentration of national parks (eight) in the nation. As undeniably beautiful and even breathtaking as these sites are, however, one should not overlook how they were readily preserved because they were unsuitable for agriculture, residential habitation, or other uses.

Colorado River Dams and Reservoirs

Forests are generally absent from this region, except on the higher mountains and in the north, so logging is not a major activity. Only two areas are notable: central Arizona and the lntermountain fringe areas in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. The high plateaus and mountains of the Mogollon Rim country and the Coconino Plateau of Arizona are clothed with forests of ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and other coniferous species. Exploitation is limited mostly to a few large timber-cutting operations and their associated sawmills, although a pulp mill has been brought into operation. A considerable amount of relatively open forest is found around the margins of the Intermountain Region in the three northern states. The principal species involved is ponderosa pine. Logging here is usually on a small scale, except in a few instances, such as at Bend, Klamath Falls, and Burns, Oregon, which are FIGURE15-27 major pine sawmilling centers.

The reservoirs created by damming the Colorado River at various locations have become major tourist attractions. Lake Powell behind Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Mead behind Hoover Dam, and Lake Havasu behind Parker Dam are prominent areas for boating, fishing, and skiing, and the dams themselves serve as educational attractions.

The mighty Grand Canyon has been deeply and abruptly incised into the level-surfaced plateaus of northern Arizona. This view is from Mather Point on the South Rim (Tom L.McKnight photo).

420

Chapter I 5

are reached by excellent roads, draw considerable attention from visitors to the region. Many ancient cliff dwellings and cliff-dwelling ruins are to be found in the Southwest. The most elaborate and best interpreted are in Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado (Fig. I 5-28). Many others are preserved (and sometimes restored) in national monuments in Arizona and New Mexico. The present-day Native Americans, with their traditional culture and handicrafts, also draw visitors from other regions. The Navajo Reservation and several of the Pueblo villages attract the largest crowds (Fig. 15-29). There are many historic towns in the region, remnants of that romanticized and immortalized period in American history, "the Old West." Some, such as Bisbee, Tombstone, and Jerome in Arizona and Virginia City in Nevada, have capitalized on their heritage and built up a steady trade in historically minded tourists. The remarkable history of Mormonism in Utah and the continued importance of Salt Lake City as headquarters of the FIGURE 15-28 The most extensive and most famous cliffdwellings in Mormon Church are compelling the nation are in Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado. tourist attractions. Various ediThis is CliffPalace {TomL.McKnight photo). fices and monuments in and

Other Tourist Attractions

This region of colorful and spectacular scenery has an almost unlimited number of natural attractions. Many, however, are difficult to reach, and most tourists invest only a limited amount of time in sightseeing off the beaten track. Consequently, various constructed attractions, which almost invariably

15-29 Many of the Pueblo people of central New Mexico live in villages of traditional architecture. This is Taos Pueblo {TomL. McKnight photo). FIGURE

The Intermountain West

421

15-30 The international headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints towers high above the more famous Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City (Tom L. McKnight photo). FIGURE

around Salt Lake City are visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors annually (Fig. 15-30). Although Nevada has a colorful past, its present is in many ways even more flamboyant. As the only state that has systematically used gambling as a major source of revenue, it has developed games of chance in amazing proportions. Almost every town in the state has its cluster of electronic slot machines and mini-casinos, but the chief centers are Las Vegas (over JOOcasinos) and Reno. Some of the greatest recent development has been in Laughlin (ten casinos and more than 10,000 hotel rooms), at the southern tip of the state. However, the widespread legalization of casino gambling in other states (see "The Rapid Rise of Legalized Gambling" in Chapter 4) has greatly reduced the motivation to travel to Nevada in order to gamble. To continue drawing millions of foreign and domestic tourists, Las Vegas (and a couple of other places) have added attractions such as glamorous entertainment, gourmet fine dining (complimenting the inexpensive buffets it was once known for), quick marriages, and simple (although not speedy) divorces (Fig. 15-31). The relentless, headlong rush to attract gambling tourists now focuses more on extravagant entertainment and shows that are suitable for the entire family.9 Everbigger and more elaborate hotel casinos continue to appear in Nevada, especially on the Las Vegas "Strip." The MGM Grand has more than 5,000 rooms. The Venetian and sister property Palazzoall under one roof-combined have over 7,000 rooms. Amazingly, Las Vegas has about half of the world's fifty largest hotels, including more than half of the twenty largest!

The Las Vegas MSA has been one of the fastest growing metropolitan regions in the US for a few decades, ranking 13th since 2010. Nevada had the greatest population percentage increase of any state during the 2000s and receives 38 million visitors annually. Although the greatest flow of visitors is from Southern California (S million vehicles cross the Mojave Desert from Los Angeles to Las Vegas each year), the attraction of Las Vegas is virtually worldwide. For example, there is twice-weekly nonstop air service from London, and Las Vegas is the leading travel destination for Hawaiian tourists. 10

SPECIALIZED SOUTHWESTERN LIVING

The continued population shift to the southern part of the Intermountain Region is, in part, a tribute to sunshine and health. Many Americans feel that sunny, mild winters and informal outdoor living provide sufficient satisfaction to counteract the problems of moving to a distant locality. Many don't stay during the intensely hot summers, and a few even seem to like it. Sufferers from respiratory afflictions also derive health benefits from the dry air of the Southwest. In Arizona, southern Nevada, southern New Mexico, and southeastern California particularly, the ordinary summer tourist is a relatively minor element in comparison with the frequent winter visitor, or snowbird (they first showed up in Chapter 11 on the Southeastern Coast), eagerly anticipating opportunities in a growing community. The region also sees many retired couples content to spend their last years in sunny relaxation (with the A/C adjusted appropriately).

422

Chapter I 5

FIGURE 15-31 Las Vegas at night. The flamboyance of gambling casinos and the relatively inexpensive power of nearby Hoover Dam combine to give Fremont Street the brightest lights in the lntermountain Region (s4svisuals/ Shutterstock).

These groups add significantly to the social and economic structure of the Southwest, best illustrated by the growth of suburban Phoenix. Scottsdale, on the northeast, is a semiexclusive residential and resort suburb whose luxury hotels and elaborately picturesque shops and restaurants are geared specifically to the winter visitor. Mesa-Gilbert, on the east, is a sprawling desert community scattered with large factories and ambitious subdivisions for the migrant from eastern states. Sun City, on the northwest, is a specifically planned retirement community without facilities for children, but with abundant amenities for senior citizens. Anthem, 30 miles due north of downtown Phoenix, is a more recent (opened in 1999) and successful "phased development" community that is designed primarily for senior citizens, but also encompasses provisions for other age groups; population here currently stands at 22,000.

SUBURBIA IN THE SUN: THE SOUTHWEST'SRUSH TO URBANISM The extremely rapid population expansion of the southern part of the Intermountain Region is illustrated by the burgeoning cities and extensive urban sprawl (see Table I 5-1 for a listing of the region's largest urban places).

If the magnitude of recent southwestern urban growth has been remarkable, it is the character and form of this growth that have been even more eyecatching, as expressed in the following description of southwestern cities from Robert B. Riley, still largely apt a half century later: Their physical structure is looser than in older cities; their average density is low, they consist mostly of detached single-family houses or garden apartments, they expand rapidly at their edges, and they often enclose a crazy-quilt pattern of unbuilt-upon land. Not even the slum areas, backward as they might be, approach traditional urban densities. Mass transportation is inadequate or nonexistent .... These cities have not only grown to maturity in the time of the automobile, they live by the automobile-and it is for the most part a pleasant and convenient way of life. Traffic jams are rare; parking, if not always well designed, is at least plentiful and inexpensive. Because of the automobile, the strip has often long ago replaced downtown as a center of business. Not just a competitor of the central core, it has become the vital economic area-if not in terms of quantity of money handled, then certainly in terms of daily shopping activity. (Riley, 1967, p. 21)

Many "new" cities have been condemned by urban planners; they are different and do not resemble the "old" and great cities of the world. They lack what are considered the important attributes of high

The Intermountain West TABLE

15-1

Largest urban places of the lntermountain

West,2017. Name, State Albuquerque, NM Bend, OR Boise, ID El Paso, TX Gilbert,AZ Glendale, AZ Henderson, NV Kennewick, WA Lake Havasu City Las Cruces, NM Las Vegas, NV Mesa,AZ North Las Vegas, NV Ogden, UT Phoenix, AZ Provo, UT Reno, NV Salt Lake City, UT Scottsdale, AZ Sparks, NV Spokane, WA Tempe.AZ Tucson, AZ Yakima, WA Yuma,AZ

Population of Principal City

Population of Metropolitan Area

559,000 95,000 226,000 684,000 243,000'

910,000 192,000 709,000 844,000

246,000' 303,000b 82,000 54,000 101,000 641,000 496,000' 243,QQQb

290,000 210,000 215,000 2,204,000

85,000 1,626,000 117,000 248,000 200,000 249,000' 101,oooc

548,000 4,737,000 526,000 464,000 1,203,000

217,000 185,000' 535,000 93,000

564,000 1,002,000 250,000

96,000

212,000

'City part of Phoenix Metropolitan Area. •city part of LasVegasMetropolitan Area. coty part of Reno Metropolitan Area. Source:United StatesCensusBureau.

population and building density and a centric orientation. More from Riley: But downtown in these new cities is not the same downtown that we remember from other places and times. To revitalize or preserve a downtown that contains excellent stores and restaurants, museums and schools as well as banks and offices, a downtown that is served by an adequate or expandable rapidtransit system, and that has an emotional meaning to the people of a city is one thing. Creating a downtown in an area having no good stores and few good restaurants, no cultural or education facilities, an area in which even the movie theaters are second-rate with the Cinerama-size screens located in the suburbs, where the only unique facilities are more old and cheap office space, bank headquarters, and the bus and railroad stations, a downtown located in a

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city of a density too low to support mass transit, in a city whose inhabitants' nostalgic memories are of a downtown in a far-off place that they have left-this is a very different matter [Fig. 15-32). . This new form of urban structure ... is a result of increasing affiuence and mobility, vastly improved communication, greater flexibility of transportation, and the increased importance of amenity in residential, commercial, and site location .... What is happening [in Southwestern cities) ... is precisely what is happening in the megalopolises of the eastern and western seaboard and the urban regions of the Midwestwith one important difference. In the latter areas the new developments take place over, around, or between strong and still vital industrial urban forms, forms which both dampen and distort the growth of radically new patterns. In the Southwest, where no such strong earlier forms exist, the new forms, as yet neither fully developed or understood, can at least be seen more clearly and studied for what they are or want to become. (Riley, 1967, pp. 22-23)

One of the most conspicuous features of the "new" southwestern cities is their expansive sprawl. Their booming growth has a spatial expression of erratic, leapfrogging development (for instance, nearly 40 percent of the land area within the Phoenix city limits is open space), their population density is quite low (Phoenix has a population density that is Jess than one-half that of Los Angeles, long the epitome of low density), and their areal extent is likely to be enormous (Tucson, for example, encompasses two and one-half times as many square miles as Boston). Phoenix, the largest city in the region, and fifth largest in the US, epitomizes the growing pains of southwestern cities. Its dramatic growth in the past few decades had far outstripped its transportation system. More recently, however, the infrastructure has been catching up to the increased population as a light rail system has been built and several freeways have been added. Apart from this "new" form of urban development in the region, two types of specialized communities have become prominent: 1. Paired towns have grown up at a number of locations on opposite sides of the international border with Mexico. There are seventeen pairs of these international twins, eleven of which are on the southern margin of the Intermountain West. 11 Although the individual towns of each pair have a different cultural origin, they constitute a single spatial unit with a symbiotic economic and social relationship (Fig. I 5-33). In almost all cases, the Mexican town is more populous than its US

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counterpart (Ciudad Juarez, for instance, has nearly twice the population of El Paso), but the central shopping district for both twins is in the US community. The symbiotic relationship has been particularly enhanced since 1965 when the Mexican government initiated its maquiladora (twin-plant) border industry program, which was designed to encourage the establishment of US as-

sembly plants just south of the border, using inexpensive Mexican labor, but with essentially all the finished products being shipped to the United States for marketing. More than 500 such plants have been established in Mexican border towns, about half of them in communities adjacent to the Intermountain Region. The largest maquiladora development has been in Ciudad Juarez.

FIGURE 15-32 The central areas of most of the larger lntermountain cities have been revitalized and metamorphosed by ambitious and imaginative building projects in recent years. This is in Albuquerque's Civic Plaza (Sean Pavone/ Shutterstock).

FIGURE 15-33 Looking south across downtown El Paso into smogcovered Ciudad Juarez, Mexico (Joseph Sohm/ Shutterstock).

The Intermountain West 2. Specialized recreation-retirement towns are blossoming widely in the Intermountain West. In every case, their site has some physical attraction-characteristically, the shoreline of some water body, otherwise a mountain location or a mild-winter desert spot. These towns experience relatively heavy tourist traffic, but stability is provided by a growing number of "permanent" residents. There are many instances in the region, such as Ruidoso (New Mexico) and Show Low (Arizona), but the prime examples of a self-sustaining, nongovernmentally developed recreational retirement new town are Lake Havasu City, Arizona, which grew from nothing to a population of 20,000 in two decades (it currently stands at over 54,000, making it the largest urban place in its county), and upriver Bullhead City (Arizona's fastest growing community in the late 1980s and early 1990s, current population of 40,000), opposite Laughlin, Nevada.

THE OUTLOOK

People have accomplished much in this restrictive environment. No one can stand on the steps of the State Capitol Building at Salt Lake City and gaze at the green island that is the Oasis without being impressed. Nevertheless, there is a limit to what human beings can accomplish against a stubborn and relentless nature. Because water-which means life-is scarce, and much of the terrain is rugged, the greater part of the region is destined to remain one of the emptiest and least used on the continent. Agriculture should become more important, but the development of additional large reclamation projects is unlikely, simply because most feasible dam sites in the region have already been developed (except at very controversial locations in the Grand Canyon). Irrigated crop acreages will expand most in central Washington and southern Idaho, but modest expansions will be widespread, particularly in Oregon and Arizona, often associated with center-pivot irrigation technology. Livestock raising will probably increase. More feeding will be carried on, both at local ranches and at centralized feedlots. Hay and sorghum feeding will continue to dominate, but grains, often brought into the region, will increase in importance. More attention will be paid to breeding, too, with improved Hereford and Angus strains in the north and more emphasis on Santa Gertrudis and Charolais in the south.

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Mining is an industry of fluctuating prosperity in the region and will continue to be so. Copper, historically the most important Intermountain mineral, has often experienced instability, due to an erratic market and antagonistic labor relations, a situation that is unlikely to change. Prospecting for, and mining of, energy minerals was the booming activity of the 1970s, but in the I 980s, it was dramatically superseded by precious-metal mining that generally continues today. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was approved by the US, Mexican, and Canadian governments in the early 1990s; an updated version called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) went into effect during the summer of 2020. Its immediate effect on the Intermountain West was to stimulate economic activity and to clog the highways near the international border with Mexico. Laredo, Texas, is the most active port of entry on the Mexican border, with more than two million northbound commercial vehicles passing through in 2019. The recently opened Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Bridge connecting Arizona and Nevada, and bypassing Hoover Dam, was constructed as part of a high priority transportation corridor in conjunction withNAFTA. Tourism in this region, as in most, is bound to expand. Summer is tourist time in the northern Intermountain West; winter visitors are more important in the southern portion. An abundance of natural allurements, a variety of constructed attractions, and improving transportation routes combine to ensure a steady flow of tourists. Population increase in the northern half of the region continues to be slow, expressed principally by net out-migration. The southern, or Sun Belt, portion of the region continues to grow apace. These trends probably will persist as mild winters, few clouds, dry air, informal living patterns, and the attraction of the desert will continue to exert their magnetic effects on dissatisfied, snow-shovel-weary citizens of the northern states. Such a migration-fostered population growth will probably become overextended at times, outstripping a sound economic base. Generally, however, it is likely to grow with soundness, for capital will accompany people in the migration. Water may be a limiting factor in the long run, but in the short run it is no barrier; urban growth is often at the expense of irrigated agriculture, and the former uses less water than the latter.

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The southern Intermountain Region, then, is in functional transition from desert to metropolis; today, one can find traffic in Phoenix that would make a Los Angeles resident proud. Indeed, the "new" cities of the interior West are already embarking on imaginative urban renewal projects to revitalize their downtowns. The developments are most striking in Tucson and Albuquerque, but almost every city of note from Spokane to El Paso has made at least a start on a mall-park-fountain complex in association with sparkling modern high-rise buildings in the heart of the central business district. Rapid growth, however, is accompanied by growing pains. Cities are not immune to urban problems merely because they are new and different. Moreover, it is in rural areas that the major conflicts and controversies are likely to occur. Development versus preservation marks a battle line throughout North America, but perhaps in no other region are the opposing interests and values so clear-cut and the opportunities for compromise so limited.

NOTES I. In general, drainage basins without external drainage are called endorlzeic.

2. Some authorities also question the reliability of the 134°F reading at Death Valleyand prefer to accept a temperature of 129.2°F (54°C), recorded several times at Death Valley and once in the country of Kuwait, as the hottest air temperature

ever reliably measured in the world. 3. Deseretis a word from the Book of Mormon meaning "honeybee," symbolizing the hard work necessary for the success of their desert settlements. The Mormons organized the State of Deseret that included much more land than just present-day Utah, but it was not accepted by Congress, which later formed the Territory of Utah. 4. Meinig, Donald W. ( I 971). Southwest: Threepeoplesin geographicalchange,1600-1970.New York:Oxford UniversityPress. 5. East of the MississippiRiver,only Florida and New Hampshire have as much as ten percent of their land in federalownership. 6. Homesteading made land available either without cost or inexpensivelyto legitimate rural settlers, in part to populate rural Midwest and Western states and territories in a way that

would stop the proliferation of slavery. 7. The traditional Mormon town was a small, nucleated settlement with large lots, extraordinarily wide streets, a network of

irrigation canals alongside the streets, relic agricultural features, unpainted barns, and houses of Greek Revival style con-

structed of bricks. Such settlements were totally unique in western North America, but actually representeda re-creation of the "New England nucleated village and the persistenceof nineteenth century structures and ... patterns in the twentieth

century" (Jackson, Richard H. [I 977]. Religionand landscapein the Momwn cultural region. Unpublished manuscript). Small towns in which these characteristics persist today are relatively rare and occur in remoter parts of the Mormon culture realm.

8. House, J. W. (1982). Fra11tiero11 the Rio Grande:A politicalgeography of developmentand social deprivation. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

9. Adult entertainment in Nevada has not disappeared by any means. Nevada is still the only state with any legal prostitution, and although it is not legal in Las Vegas,rumor has it that it is easy to find there. IO. Some 250,000 passengers make the five-hour flight from Honolulu annually. Thus, Las Vegas is sometimes referred to by Hawaiians as the "ninth island." 11. From west to east, they includeTecate,CA/Tecate,Baja California; Calexico,CA/Mexicali, Baja California;San Luis, AZ/San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora; LukeviUe,AZ/Sonoita, Sonora; Sasabe, AZ/Sasabe, Sonora; Nogales, AZ/Nogales, Sonora; Naco, AZ/Naco, Sonora; Douglas, AZ/ Agua Prieta, Sonora; Columbus, NM/Las Palomas, Chihuahua; El Paso, TX/Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua; and Presidio,TX/Ojinaga, Chihuahua.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bowen, Marshall E. (I 994). Utah people in the Nevada Desen: Homestead and community on a twentieth-century farmers' .frontier. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press. Cooke, Ronald U., and Richard W. Reeves. (1976). Arroyos and environmental change in the American South-West.

London: Oxford University Press. Dawson, Robert, Peter Goin, and Mary Webb. (2000). A doubtful river. Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press. Ewan, Rebecca Fish. (2000). A land between: Owens Valley,California. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Fradkin, Philip L. (1996). A river no more: The Colorado River and the West. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Francaviglia, Richard V. (1978). The Mormon landscape: Existence, creation, and perception of a unique image in the American West. New York: AMS Press. Goodman, James M. (1982). The Navajo atlas: Environments, resources, people and history of the Dine Bikeyah.

Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. Green, Christine, and William Sellers. (1964). Arizona climate. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. Greer, Deon C., Klaus D. Gurgel, Wayne L. Wahlquist, Howard A. Christy, and Gary B. Peterson. (I 981). Atlas of Utah. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press. Hart, John. (1996). Storm over Mono: The Mono Lake battle and the California water ji1ture. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Hecht, Melvin E., and Richard W. Reeves. (1981). The Arizona atlas. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona, Office of Arid Lands Studies. Herzog, Lawrence A. (1990). Where north meets south: Cities, space, and politics on the U S.-Mexico border. Austin, TX: University of Texas, Center for Mexican-American Studies. Hundley, Norris. ( 1975). Water and the West: The Colorado River compact and the politics of water in the American West. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

The Intermountain West Jaeger, Edmund C. ( 1965). The Californiadeserts.Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Meinig, Donald W (1965). The Mormon culture region: Strategies and patterns in the geography of the American West, 1847-1964. Annals, Association of American Geographers,55, I91-220. Meinig, Donald W (1968). The great Columbiaplain-An historicalgeography,1805-1910. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. Nostrand, Richard L. (1970). The Hispanic-American borderland: Delimitation of an American culture region. Annals,Associationof American Geographers, 60, 638--06!. Nostrand, Richard L. (1992). The Hispano homeland. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. Owen, David. (2017). Where the watergoes: Life and death alongthe ColoradoRiver. New York: Riverhead Books. Riebsame, William (Ed.). (I 997). Atlas of the new West: Portrait of a changing region. New York: WW Norton and Company. Riley, Robert B. (1967). Urban myths and the new cities of the Southwest. Landscape,17, 21-23. Sauder, Robert A. (I 994). Thelostfrontier: Waterdiversionin the growth and destn,ction of Owens Valley agriculture. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.

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Schmandt, Michael J. (1995). Postmodern Phoenix. GeographicalReview, 85, 349-363. Spear, Steven G. ( 1992). The climate of Death Valley. California Geographer,32, 39-50. Symanski, Richard. (1985). Wild horses and sacred cows. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Press. Vale, Thomas R., and Geraldine R. Vale. ( 1989). Western images,westernlandscapes:Travelsalong U.S. 89. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. Webb, Walter Prescott. (1957). The American West: Perpetual mirage. Harper'sMagazine, 214, 25-31. Wild, Peter. (2006). The new desert reader:Descriptionsof America'sarid regions.Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press. Wright, John B. (1994). Hispano forestry, land grants, and the US. Forest Service in northern New Mexico. Focus, 44, 10-14. Wyckoff, William, and Lary M. Dilsaver (Eds.). (1995). The mountainous West:Explorationsin historicalgeography. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

16

The California Region, one of the smallest major regions in our analysis of the continent, is the most diverse. This diversity is manifested in almost every aspect of the region's physical and human geography, from landforms to land use and from soil patterns to cultural patterns. The region's location in the southwestern comer of the conterminous US has been a major long-range determinant of its pattern and degree of development (Fig. 16-1). The location is remote from the area of primary European penetration and settlement of North America, and remote from the heartland of the nation that emerged after colonial times. Its adjacency to Mexico has been significant from early days, even though the region is relatively distant from the heartland of that country, too. The region is well positioned for contact across the Pacific, but the Pacific has been, until recently, the wrong ocean for significant commercial interaction. California has thus been denied ready access to

the core regions of the United States and Mexico, and even to the Pacific Northwest, by distance and by pronounced environmental barriers (mountains, deserts). This has had an important effect on the population, economic, and cultural development of the region. The California Region is our only region that includes less than one state or province (except for the very small portion of Nevada it includes that surrounds Lake Tahoe). As we saw in the previous chapter, we include almost all of the deserts and dry plateaus of the southeastern and northeastern portions of the state in the Intermountain West, except for the Antelope Valley and the Palm Springs metro area; these areas are functionally integrated with the southern California conurbation. At the same time, we will see in the next chapter that the relatively moist northwestern coast and north-central mountains of the state are grouped with the rest of the 429

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land of contemporary US mythology. It is focused on Hollywood, Disneyland, and the Golden Gate; flavored with equal parts of glamour and smog; and populated by a mixture of sun-bronzed beach lovers and eccentric night people. That the actuality is less exciting than the image is not too important. The fact that most Californians live in the same sort of suburban tract homes as other North Americans, watch the same television shows, vote for the same political candidates, and complain about the same taxes is convenient to overlook, for the California lifestyle has been sugarcoated, packaged, and marketed to the world as a thing apart, a destiny with a difference. The image does, of course, have some substance. It is due in part to the relatively late development of the region's urban economy; in part to the boom-andbust psychology and flamboyant nature of some of the staple industries-including gold mining, oil drilling, real-estate promotion, the motion picture industry, television and radio empires, aircraft and spacecraft production; in part to the unusual natural endowments of this southwestern corner of the country; and in part PACIFIC to its residents, people who are drawn OCEAN from every comer of the globe and who come seeking an elusive opportunity that JOO they failed to find in their homeland and that they expect to discover in California. Of utmost importance, both physiFIGURE 16-1 The California Region (map by Daniel W. Phillips). cally and psychologically, is the regional climate. This is the only portion of the continent with a dry-summer subtropical Northwestern Coast Region. The California Region climate, typically called "Mediterranean." Its basic thus encompasses most of the heavily populated parts characteristics are simple and appealing: abundant of the state, along with the sparse Sierra Nevada sunshine, absolutely dry summers, mild winter temRange. More than 98 percent of the inhabitants of peratures, and relatively dry winters. No other type of this most populous US state, numbering about 39.9 climate is so conducive to outdoor living. And the dimillion persons in 2020, reside within this region. verse characteristics of the California outdoors multiply the opportunities and enhance the appeal of the region. High mountains are adjacent to sandy THE CALIFORNIA IMAGE: BENIGN CLIMATE beaches and dramatic sea cliffs; dense forests rise above precipitous canyons that open into fertile valAND LANDSCAPE DIVERSITY leys. Nearby to the east is the compelling vastness of the desert, and to the south is the charm of a different The image of this region is synonymous with the culture in a foreign land. And yet there is much more image of the California lifestyle. It is the never-never

The California Region to the regional character than a flamboyant image, a benign climate, and a diverse landscape. The California Region is outstanding in agriculture, significant in petroleum, unexcelled in computer technology, important in design, trendsetting in education, innovative in urban development, and increasingly significant in decision making. It is also a world leader in air pollution, the national leader in earthquakes and landslides, preeminent in both traffic movement and traffic jams, and the destination of a population inflow that has been unparalleled in the history of the continent.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL

SETTING

The incredible diversity of California's natural environment stems from its location next to an ocean, its location on the west edge of a continental landmass, its great size and the wide range of latitudes it stretches across, and its variegated terrain.

Structure and Topography The region occupies an area of great crustal instability, due primarily to its location at the interface of two major tectonic plates (North American and Pacific). Thus, there has been, and continues to be, much diastrophic movement in the region, with a widespread occurrence of active faults. These faults are many and varied but have two prominent characteristics: ( 1) The principal ones mostly have a northnorthwest-south-southeast (NNW-SSE) trend; and (2) many of them are extraordinarily lengthy. As a

FIGURE16-2 An aerial view of one of the conspicuous faults in the California landscape. This is the San Andreas Fault as it crosses the Carrizo Plain northwest of Los Angeles (Tom L. McKnight photo).

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result, fault lines and fault scarps are prominent in the landscape (Fig. 16-2), and the general trend of most topographic lineaments (including the coastline) is NNW-SSE. Moreover, much of the topography has a "youthful" appearance, with a prevalence of steep slopes and high relief. In gross pattern, there are three broad topographic complexes within the region-the coastal mountains and valleys, the Central Valley, and the Sierra Nevada. The western portion of the region contains a series of mountain ranges with interspersed valleys. The coastal mountains include the Coast Ranges (roughly from Santa Maria in Santa Barbara County northward), which are strikingly linear in arrangement and are separated by longitudinal valleys of similar trend. The topography is structurally controlled, with prominent fault lines-of which the San Andreas is the most conspicuous and famous-tilted fault blocks, and some folding of the predominantly sedimentary strata. The nearly even crests of the ranges average 2,000 to 4,000 feet (600 to 1,200 m) above sea level and are notable obstacles to the westerly sea breezes (Fig. 16-3). South of the Coast Ranges, the coastal mountains are higher and more rugged (and no longer strictly coastal). The Transverse ranges run west-east (hence, transverse) from Santa Maria to the eastern edge of the Los Angeles Basin, near Redlands. Just south of that eastern edge, across the San Gorgonio Pass (sometimes called the Banning Pass), the Peninsular ranges run north-south to the Mexico border and into the Baja Peninsula. The Central Valley consists of a broad downwarped trough averaging about SO miles (80 km) in

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width and more than 400 miles (640 km) in length. The trough is filled with great quantities of sand, silt, and gravel (to a depth of more than 2,000 feet [600 m] in places) washed down from the surrounding mountains over thousands of years. The Sacramento River flows south through the northern half of the Central Valley, and the San Joaquin flows north through the southern half. These major river systems converge near San Francisco Bay and empty into the

Pacific Ocean through the only large break in the Coast Ranges. Their delta originally consisted of a maze of distributaries, sloughs, and low islands. It has now been diked and canalized and is one of the state's leading truck-farming and horticultural areas. The Sierra Nevada ("snow-covered mountain range" in Spanish) is an immense mountain block 60 to 90 miles (JOOto 150 km) wide and 400 miles (640 km) long, situated just east of the Central Valley. It was formed by a gigantic uplift that tilted the block westward. The eastern front is marked by a bold escarpment that rises 5,000 to 10,000 feet (1,500 to 3,000 m) above the alluvial-filled basins of the Intermountain Region to the east; this escarpment marks one of the most definite geographical boundaries on the continent. Here, in the southern Sierra, is found the highest point in California and the entire conterminous US-Mt. Whitney-which at 14,494 feet (4,418 m) in elevation is 61 feet (18.6 m) taller than Mt. Elbert in Colorado. 1 The western slope of FIGURE16-3 Along most of the seafront of central Californiathe Coast the Sierra, although more gentle, Ranges drop precipitously to the ocean. This is in the Big Sur section is deeply incised with river can(Tom L. McKnight photo). yons and was greatly eroded by glaciers, forming such magnificent canyons as those of Yosemite (Fig. 16-4) and Tuolumne. The summits of the Sierra Nevada suffered severe glacial erosion and consist of a series of interlocking cirques (Fig. 16-5). Complex faulting, mountain glaciation, and stream erosion account for most details of the mountain terrain. Some block-faulted valleys contain lakes, the most notable of which is Lake Tahoe. The rich blue waters of this lake, located right at the inside of the "crook" on the California-Nevada border, are over 1,600 feet deep, making this the second deepest lake in the US and fourth FIGURE16-4 The long western slope of the Sierra Nevada is cut by in North America. Smaller, but ofnumerous spectacular canyons that were shaped by Pleistocene glaciers, ten spectacularly sited, lakes octhe most striking of which is Yosemite Valley(Tom L.McKnightphoto). cupy some glaciated valleys.

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The long western slope of the range contains many magnificent glaciated valleys in which the glacial debris was completely washed away by the subsequent meltwater and deposited in the Central Valley. On the abrupt eastern slope, however, drier conditions resulted in less ice and less melting, with the result that glacial till accumulated in great moraines and now often encloses lovely alpine lakes. The high country of the Sierra Nevada still contains several dozen glaciers, all of which are small (and shrinking).

Climate The distinctive characteristics of the climate of the California Region are mild temperatures, FIGURE16-5 A representative view of sawtooth peaks in the glaciated especially near the Pacific Coast, high country of the Sierra Nevada. This is the Great Western Divide in and a Mediterranean precipitation Sequoia National Park (Tom L.McKnight photo). regime. Summer is dominated by a subsiding, diverging air flow that results in calm, sunny, rainless days and mild rainless nights. Although it does rain in California (contrary to a popular song from the 1970s that claimed "it never rains in California"), it hardly does at all in the summer months. Temperature inversions are frequent, and inland locations can experience much hot weather. Aspects of this Mediterranean climate are found throughout the California Region, but it is modified in the Sierra Nevada range under the influence of elevation and slope aspect (as is typical of undifferentiated highland climate). Winter is the rainy season; this is due to recurrent cyclonic disturbances, but lowland areas receive only limited amounts of precipitation. The annual total increases northward from 10 inches (25 cm) in San Diego to 20 inches (SO cm) in San Francisco. West-facing mountain slopes receive much more rain and, particularly in the Sierra Nevada, considerable snow (Fig. 16-6). California has some of the most striking natural FIGURE16-6 The Sierra Nevada normally is deeply microclimates2of any place in North America. That is inundated with snow nearly every winter. Here, a simply climatic variation over short distances, up to snowblower clears the road in Giant Forest of Sequoia a few tens of miles but even as short as a fraction of a National Park (Tom L. McKnight photo). mile. The variation can be substantial. California's

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microclimates result from its location on the Pacific Ocean. Especially because it is mostly east of the Pacific, it receives strong maritime influence most of the year, particularly the closer one gets to the coast. California's topography also plays an important role in microclirnates. The coastal ranges and Sierra Nevada block oceanic air and moisture, and different sides of mountains and hills have different aspects, which means the climate varies as one goes around the mountain (of course, these effects are prominent in any mountainous region, as we discussed in Chapter 14). The rising and dropping land surface at different elevations provides sinks for cooler and moister air, which often produces thick fog in local depressions. Whether choosing a spot to buy a house or plant a vineyard, location matters at a high resolution in the California Region. As we will see in Chapter 18, several of these factors (mountains, windward proximity to oceans) combine on the Hawaiian Islands to produce among the most incredible microclimates on Earth.

Natural Vegetation There is much localized variation in the vegetation pattern, but basic generalizations can be made. Of course, many of these vegetation areas have been replaced by agricultural, residential, and urban development. The original plant association of most of the immediate coastal zone was dominated by lowgrowing shrubs of coastal sage. Chaparral (a close growth of various tall woody shrubs that are broadleaved, evergreen, and resinous) is the characteristic vegetation of most of the valleys and lower mountain slopes of southern and central California, although there are also extensive areas of grassland dotted with oak trees. California has over twenty species of oaks, of which about half are trees with tall, thick trunks. The remainder are scrub oaks. Several are live (evergreen) oaks, as are commonly found in the Southeastern Coast Region. Originally, the Central Valley was mostly a vast natural grassland, ringed by chaparral and oak woodland. Since then, the grassland has become populated with grasses not native to California, but unintentionally introduced from Mediterranean Europe. Of course, the majority of the Central Valley is agricultural land-the greatest area of intensive agriculture in the world (more below). The middle and upper slopes of the Sierra Nevada were (and still are) mostly forested, largely with

a variety of conifers. Ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, and various firs are the principal species. The worldfamous giant sequoias occur in about seventy-five scattered groves at middle elevations (4,500 to 7,500 feet [1,350 to 2,250 ml) along the western side of the Sierra Nevada (Fig. 16-7). They are only found here, their native habitat. This fantastic species of redwood tree is not only the world's largest tree but the world's largest living thing! Sequoia trees can be 30 feet (9 m) in diameter and 250 feet (75 m) high. Its cousin, the coast redwood, can be taller but has a smaller girth (we discuss them in Chapter 17). The sequoia is also very old; for instance, the famous "General Sherman" in Sequoia National Park is 3,500 years old. In North America, only the bristlecone pines of the Intermountain West are older.

Natural Hazards: Shake and Bake in California UnstableEarth The region is in a very unstable crustal zone, seamed in profusion by faults. Thus, earthquakes are experienced, sporadically and unpredictably, but frequently. Some tremors have had spectacular and tragic results. For example, the Loma Prieta-San Francisco quake of 1989 killed sixty-five people and caused $8 billion worth of property damage, and the Northridge quake of 1994 killed fifty-seven people and caused $7.2 billion worth of damage. Other types of earth slippage, on a much smaller scale, occur with greater frequency. The steep hills and unstable slopes of the subregion often afford spectacular views but precarious building sites. Every year there are dozens of small slumps and slides, and a few unfortunate residents "move down to a new neighborhood" regardless of whether they want to. Flood and Fire The relatively small amount of precipitation falls almost entirely in the winter. As water flows down the steep hill slopes into urban areas, which are so extensive that they are inadequately supplied with storm drains, destructive floods and mud slides often result. During the rainless summers and autumns, on the other hand, forest and brush fires are ever imminent. As the Southwest becomes even drier with changing climate, larger and more frequent fires are becoming standard. The tangled chaparral and woodland vegetation of the abrupt hills and mountains that abut and intermingle with the urbanized zones is readily susceptible to burning. Only carefully enforced fire precautions, a network of fire-

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FIGURE16-7 Giant sequoias are found in several dozen discrete groves at middle elevations on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. This is Sequoia National Park (Sahani Photography/Shutterstock).

breaks and fire roads, and efficient suppression crews are able to hold down the damage; this is becoming increasingly expensive and challenging to state and municipal resources as fires increase. And where burning strips away vegetation in the summer, flooding becomes even more likely in the following winter.

SETTLEMENT OF THE REGION

The region's physical and cultural diversity is further reflected in its sequential occupance pattern. The prominent waves of Native American, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo (common term for White) settlers have been augmented more recently by an influx of African Americans, other Latin Americans, and Asians.

California Native Americans Natural resources were relatively abundant in most parts of the region in pre-European times, partic-

ularly along the coast. Given this abundance and the diversity of physical environments in this region, Native American populations were relatively dense and culturally diverse, with something like a hundred different languages from several language families spoken there. The aboriginal inhabitants were essentially hunters and gatherers, and the basic foods for most tribes were seafoods, mammals, insects, and plants that gave seeds and nuts that could be ground into flour and then boiled as gruel or baked into bread. Tribal organization was loosely knit and generally involved small units. Often, just a dozen or so families, perhaps related in some sort of patriarchal lineage, would form a wandering band. There were few large tribes or strong chiefs, and internecine warfare was the exception, rather than the rule. This also helped make it possible for California to support a relatively dense population of Native Americans, compared with Native peoples in most other parts of the US and Canada (but like the Northwestern Coast of Chapter 17).

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Unfortunately, the lack of strong organizational unity also made it easier for invading Europeans to dominate. Most Native Americans in the region tamely gave way to White occupance. Many left little mark on the landscape to signal their passing, while others still live in California. All the earliest recorded history of California revolves around Native people, and the entire pre-Anglo period was shaped by relations with them.

The Spanish Mission Period The European "discoverer" of the region was Rodriguez Cabrillo, on a maritime mission from Mexico in 1542. Following this expedition came a Jong era of occasional exploration, but more than two centuries passed before there was any attempt at colonization of Alta California by the Spaniards. California seemed to offer little attraction to the adventurous, gold-seeking conquistadors. Renewed interest was stimulated not by the possibilities of the region itself but by the

rapid advance of Russian domination of the Pacific Coast south from Alaska. Although Spain considered the California area economically worthless, it wanted a buffer state to prevent possible Russian encroachment on the more valuable colony of Mexico. The first of Spain's famous missions in California was founded by Catholics of the Franciscan order in 1769 at San Diego, and within three years, an irregular string of missions, both in protected coastal valleys and directly on the coast, had been established as far north as Monterey. Eventually, twentyone continuing missions were established, the last in 1823 (Fig. 16-8). The purpose of the mission system was to hold the land for Spain and to Christianize the Native Americans. These steps were accomplished by settling the nearby Native Americans at each mission to carry on a sedentary crop-growing and livestock-herding existence (largely against their will). Each of the missions garnered an attached population of from 500 to 1,500 Native Americans.

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65 years) than any Canadian province, and Alaska vies with only Utah for the smallest proportion of elderly people of any US state. This preponderance of young adults results in a high birthrate: Nunavut and the Northwest Territories have the highest birth rates in Canada and Yukon is not far behind, while Alaska's is second only to Utah in the United States. The residence population is not a stable one, however; it fluctuates considerably with the seasons, with a summer peak and a winter ebb. Many people enter the region for temporary summer jobs and then leave at the end of the season. Even many year-round residents, attracted by high wages in "hardship" posts, have come to the region on a temporary basis; they are sojourners, not settlers. Although improved transportation makes it easier for them to "go south" for a holiday, it also makes it easier to go south permanently.

The Boreal Forest For the region as a whole, mineral industries have been and will continue to be the keystone to the economy; forestry will continue as an important contributor. More major ore deposits will undoubtedly be found and developed. It is unlikely that there will ever be a second Sudbury, but more Thompsons can be anticipated, which only emphasizes the boomand-bust syndrome that is characteristic of such activities and communities. Large-scale energy developments-oil and gas exploration and production, oil sand development, pipeline projects, and dam building-will continue to dominate the scene in many areas. The ramifications of these major projects are far-reaching and long-lasting. The role of native people should become increasingly significant in most parts of the region. Their political power has increased and financial settlements of native claims are providing them with some economic leverage for the first time. It is more widely recognized than ever that economic developments and land-use decisions must be enacted with the involvement and consent of First Nations people. Still, a high proportion of the native population will continue to be socially and economically disadvantaged. Elements of"White" material culture and values have been introduced throughout the region, including technologies and cultural practices of consumption and leisure. In many cases the native villages have neither the physical nor the organizational foundations to support these introductions, and they are resulting in somewhat severe sociopsychological maladaptations. Many young-adult natives of the region suffer from an identity crisis that is often manifested as a generational conflict within the village or tribe. As with so many "wilderness" regions, there will be an increasing emphasis on tourism and recreation. A variety of tourists will begin to appear where now just hunters and fishermen go. There is only a short time lag in North America between the completion of any fairly negotiable road and the appearance of motels, trailer camps, picnic tables, roadside litter, and new money.

NOTES I. "Boreal" means northerly, from the Greek goddess of the north wind. 2. McCourt, Edward. (1965). T1teroad acrossCanada. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada.

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3. For more details on this topic and the resulting confusion, see Robinson ( 1969). 4. Berger, Thomas R. (1977). Northernfrontier northernhomeland: The reportof the MackenzieValleypipelineinquiry,Vol. I. Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Annin, Peter. (2018). The Great Lakes water wars (rev. ed.). Washington, DC: Island Press. Bird, J. Brian. (1980). The natural landscapesof Canada (2nd ed.). Toronto; New York: J. Wiley and Sons Canada. Bone, Robert M. (2003). The geography of the Canadian north:Issuesand challenges(2nd ed.). Oxford, UK; New York: Oxford University Press. Boychuk, Rick. (2000). Woodland crossroads. Canadian Geographic,121, 58-71. Bradbury, John H., and Isabelle St. Marrin. (1983). Winding down in a Quebec mining town: A case study of Schefferville. The Canadian Geographer,27, 128-144. Brosnahan, Maureen. (1990-91). After the inferno: Northern Manitoba slowly comes back to life one year after the worst forest fires on record. Canadian Geographic, 110, 68-75. Brown, R. J.E. (1970). Permafrostin Canada.Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Chapin, F. Stuart, III, Mark W. Oswood, Keith Van Cleve, Leslie A. Viereck, David L. Verbyla, and Melissa C. Chapin. (Eds.). (2006). Alaska's changing borea/forest. Oxford, UK; New York: Oxford University Press. Darragh, Ian. (! 987-88). Gatineau Park. Canadian Geographic, 107, 20-29. Eyles, Nick, Ed Bartram, Tessa Macintosh, and Arnold Zageris. (2011). Canadian Shield: The rocks that made Canada. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside. Fahlgren, J. E. J., and Geoffrey Mathews. (! 985). North of 50°:An atlas offar northernOntario.Toronto: University of Toronto Press. French, Hugh M. (2018). The periglacialenvironment (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. French, Hugh M., and Olav Slaymaker (Eds.). (1993). Canada's coldenvironments.Montreal, QC: McGill-Queen's University Press. Fuller, W. A. (I 975). Canada's largest National Park. Canadian Geographica/Journal,91, 14-21. Gayton, Don. (1998). Healing fire: Sometimes saving a forest means setting it on fire. CanadianGeographic,118, 32-42. Hamley, Will. (1991). Tourism in the Northwest Territories. GeographicalReview, Bl, 389-413. Heinselman, Miron L. (1996). The Boundary Waters Wilderness ecosystem.Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Krotz, Larry. (1991). Dammed and diverted: Hydro projects in northern Manitoba have disrupted the land and a way of life. Canadian Geographic,111, 36-45.

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Laird, Gordon. (2000). One last boom. Canadian Geographic, 121, 42-52. Linton, Jamie. (1991). "The geese have lost their way": The James Bay hydroelectric project has turned the lives of northern Quebec's Natives upside down. Nature Canada,20, 27-33. Lipske, Michael. (1991). Playing for power in Quebec's north. International Wildlife,21, I0-17. Littlejohn, Bruce M. (1965). Quetico country: Part I, Wilderness highway to wilderness recreation. Canadian GeographicalJournal, 71, 40-54. Macdonald, Glen M., Julian M. Szeicz, Jane Clariicoates, and Kursti A. Dale. (1998). Response of the central Canadian treeline to recent climatic changes. Annals of the Associationof American Geographers,88, 183-208. Pyne, Stephen J. (2007). Awfal splendour:A fire history of Canada.Vancouver, BC: UBC Press. Robinson, J. Lewis. (I 969). Resourcesof the CanadianShield. Toronto: Methuen Publications.

Smith, Sharon L., and Margo Burgess. (2004). Sensitivityof permafrostto climate warming in Canada. Ontario: Geological Survey of Canada. Vanderhill, Burke G. (1982). The passing of the pioneer fringe in western Canada. GeographicalReview, 72, 200-217. Welsted, John, John Everitt, and Christoph Stadel (Eds.). ( 1996). Thegeographyof Manitoba:Its land and its people. Winnipeg, MB: University of Manitoba Press. Wilkins, Charles. (1991). East meets west at Thunder Bay. Canadian Geographic,I 11, 16-29. Winterhalder, Keith. (1983). The re-greening of Sudbury. Canadian Geographic,103, 23-29. Wonders, William C. (1968). Theforestfrontier and subarctic. In John H. Warkentin (Ed.), Canada: A geographical interpretation (pp. 4 73-507). Toronto: Methuen Publications.

20

Enormous in size but sparse in population, the Arctic Region sprawls across the vastness of the northern edge of North America. On few parts of Earth is nature less generous, and more unyielding and unforgiving, and nowhere else are people's ways of living more closely attuned to the physical environment. This is primarily a region of the Inuit, yet they occur only in small numbers and in scattered settlements. Although parts of this region have been known to non-natives for four centuries, only a few "outsiders" have come to the Arctic, and only a tiny fraction of that few have been more than visitors or sojourners for a relatively short period of time. Conversely, only a small number of Inuit have departed from the region on anything other than a temporary basis. Such urban places as those in the midlatitudes are virtually nonexistent. In the more remote areas, a settlement nucleus may include only a handful of families. Wherever they are and whatever their size, the

settlements of the region are always dominated by the immensity of the environment. The inhabited places are separated by great distances of trackless and treeless land, or by equally barren water or ice. Within a settlement, the buildings and artifacts of people take on a peculiarly aggressive significance. There are no trees or shrubs to cover mistakes, provide transitions, or ease the exposed rawness. The sparse, slow-growing, unobtrusive vegetation survives with difficulty, and where it has been ripped away by human endeavor, the nakedness persists for a long time. Settlements are inevitably scars on the fragile landscape. This, then, is a region in which nature thoroughly dominates humankind. Such items as ice thickness, windchill factor, permafrost depth, caribou migration route, hours of daylight, blizzard frequency, abundance of harp seal, and formation of fast ice are critical to human existence. Conversely, what people do in this region has remarkably long-lasting effects on the environment. Al557

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though the surface of the land is rock-hard through the long winter months, it is extremely susceptible to the impress of human activities during the brief summer period. The structural fragility of the groundhugging tundra plants and the spongy soil beneath them is such that any type of compression leaves a mark that is not soon erased. The scrape of a bulldozer blade will leave a scar for generations, the track of a wheeled vehicle will be visible for years, and even a single footprint may be obvious for months. The Arctic Region includes the part of North America that extends from the Bering Sea on the west to the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and from the Boreal Forest on the south to the Arctic Sea on the north; it also includes the vast Arctic Archipelago north of the Canadian mainland (Fig. 20-1). Although some basic characteristics of the region are broadly uniform, there are many aspects of heterogeneity. It is possible to generalize validly about the region, but, as in any extensive region, many exceptions and variations must be considered. Particularly notable in this respect is the fact that the eastern and western extremities-coastal Labrador in the east and the Bering seacoast area in the westhave a pronounced orientation toward commercial fishing that is quite unlike the situation over most of

the region. This is a function of the availability of exploitable marine resources, which is governed particularly by climatic differences. As a remote and unpopulated region, the Arctic has generally received little attention from most citizens of Canada and the United States. In recent decades, however, it has intruded into our consciousness more often. Energy resources have been discovered; environmental and ecological concerns have been raised; political, social, and economic demands of the native people have been voiced more stridently. The Arctic, like the Antarctic, is revealing the effects of anthropogenic climate warming more rapidly than temperate and tropical regions; it is now anticipated that the melting sea ice will make the long fabled "Northwest Passage" a reality soon enough. Public interest in the Arctic Region is rising, and both Washington and Ottawa have taken note.

THE PHYSICAL SETTING

Climate The Arctic is not, as novelists would have it, a land of perpetual ice and snow. Winter temperatures

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The Arctic are low, but they are higher than in the taiga to the south because of maritime influence on the climate of the Arctic. Point Barrow on the Arctic Ocean has yet to record winter temperatures as low as those characterizing certain stations in North Dakota and Montana. Nevertheless, most of the time, over most of its area, the Arctic is cold. It is a global heat sink-a low-energy environment with mean annual temperatures around or below freezing and winters that are spectacularly frigid and long. Temperature extremes become greater south of the coast, for the country increases in elevation and is more remote from the ameliorating effects of the ocean. Thus the temperature range at Allakaket, 350 miles (560 km) south of Point Barrow, is much greater; whereas the lowest and highest temperatures at Point Barrow are -56°F (-49°C) and 78°F (26°C), respectively, those at Allakaket are -79°F (-67°C) and 90°F (32°C). But everywhere in the Arctic Region, winters are long and summers short, with only oblique sunlight. Although the temperature range at Point Barrow is more limited, the growing season there is only seventeen days; at Allakaket, it is fiftyfour. Snow may be absent for just two to four months. The growing season along much of the Arctic coast is less than forty days. Air at low temperatures cannot absorb or retain much water vapor, so the precipitation is light and varies over much of the region from S to IS inches (12 to 38 cm) annually. In the far east and far west, there are higher totals, but part of the "High Arctic" in the Arctic Archipelago is the most arid area of North America; most of Ellesmere Island, for example, is a frigid desert that receives Jess than 2 inches (5 cm) of moisture annually. The precipitation that does fall in the region is mostly fine dry snow or sleet. Winds, especially in winter, are very strong and frequently howl day after day. They greatly affect the sensible temperature; thus, on a quiet day, a temperature as low as -30°F (-34°C) is not too unpleasant if one is suitably clothed, but on a windy day, a temperature of zero (- l 8°C) may be quite unbearable. The wind sweeps unobstructed across the frozen land and sea and packs the snow into drifts so hard that they often take no footprints, and no snowshoes are required for human locomotion. Winter windchill not only discourages people and animals from moving about but also significantly contributes to the slow growth of plants (and the complete absence of trees). Moreover, blowing snow is a common cause of poor visibility in winter. At Baker Lake in Nuna-

559

vut, there is an average of nearly ninety days a year in which the persistence of blowing snow effectively confines people indoors. But it is not always cold. In summer, the beauty of flowers and the torment of flies return regularly in their season. The long daylight hours of summer combine with continual reflection off water surfaces to produce heat that can occasionally become quite warm. The coastal areas of Labrador and the Bering Sea experience widespread overcast conditions, considerable fogginess, and more storminess than other parts of the region. Perhaps the seasonal phenomenon of greatest significance to humans is the fluctuation in length of days and nights. Continual daylight in summer and continual darkness in winter persist for lingering weeks, and even months, in the northerly latitudes.

Terrain The gross topographic features of the Arctic Region are similar to those of other parts of the continent; only in relatively superficial details does the unique stamp of the arctic environment appear. Most typical are flat and featureless coastal plains, which occupy much of the Canadian central Arctic, as well as most of the northern and western coasts of Alaska. Prominent mountains occur in several localities. The massive Brooks Range separates the Yukon and Arctic watersheds in northern Alaska. The eastern fringe of Arctic Canada, from Labrador to northern Ellesmere Island, is mountain-girt with numerous peaks over 6,000 feet (1,800 m), rising to the 8,544-foot (2,563-m) level of Barbeau Peak in the far north. The coastline adjacent to Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea is notably embayed and forded as a result of glacial modification of the numerous short, deep, preglacial alleys that crossed the highland rim. Along the east coast of the three islands (Ellesmere, Devon, Baffin) and Labrador are innumerable fjords, some of which penetrate inland for more than SO miles (80 km). Offshore is a fringe of rounded, rocky islets called skerries. A number of large rivers flow into the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea from the continental mainland, but the Arctic islands have no streams of importance. Most notable of the rivers are the Mackenzie and the Yukon, both of which form extensive deltas (Fig. 20-2); that of the former river contains literally thousands of miles of distributary channels and as many as 20,000 small Jakes. Other major rivers of the

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FIGURE20-2 The extensive delta of the Mackenzie River has numerous distributaries. The boreal forest reaches its maximum northern extent here (Tom L. McKnight photo).

region are the Kuskokwim and Colville in Alaska and the Coppermine and Thelon in Nunavut. Lakes, large and small, abound in the region, including on the Arctic islands. For example, Lake Hazen (included in Ellesmere Island National Park), at latitude 82°, is 45 miles (72 km) long and 900 feet (270 m) deep.

Distinctive Topographic Features of the Arctic Three types of distinctive landform features in the Arctic Region are limited to this harsh environment. Icecaps Icecaps and glaciers constitute less than 5 percent of the ground cover of arctic Canada, but many are quite large in size. Baffin Island contains two icecaps that are larger in area than the province of Prince Edward Island, and the islands north of Baffin (Bylot, Devon, Axel Heiberg, Ellesmere) each contain icecaps that are still more extensive in size (Fig. 20-3). Almost all these ice features have been diminishing in area and thinning in depth during the twentieth and into the twenty-first century, and the evidence of glacial recession is conspicuous, even noted as long ago as 1967: Ground newly uncovered by the retreating ice front is raw, light-colored,unvegetated, in contrast to the ground beyond the trimline which was the position reached by the glacier at its greatest recent extent. Many small glaciers have completely disappeared since the turn of the century, larger ones have become 300 to 500 feet thinner and in some instances their snouts have retreated several miles. (Ives, 1967,p. 115)1

Raised Gravel Beaches Adjacent to many portions of the present coastline are relics of previous sea levels. Characteristically, they appear as gravelly beaches that may extend inland for several hundred feet above the contemporary coastline. These "subaerial" (under air, not under soil, ice, or water) beaches indicate emergence of the land after the great weight of Pleistocene ice sheets was removed by melting. The postglacial recovery of the land from ice depression varies from 100 vertical feet (30 m) to as much as 900 (270 m) in some places. Patterned Ground The most unique and eye-catching of Arctic terrain is patterned ground, the generic name applied to various geometric patterns that repeatedly appear over large areas in the Arctic. The patterns, consisting of circles, ovals, polygons, and stripes, apparently originate from the heaving actions of ground that freezes and defrosts repeatedly (Fig. 20-4). A very distinctive type of patterned ground is the tundra polygon ... [which resemble]enormous mud cracks, such as those of a dried-up muddy pool, but with diameters of from 50 to 100 feet. The tundra polygons may be nearly as regularly shaped as the squares on the checkerboard, but most are irregular, somewhat like the markings on turtle shells. The boundary between two adjacent polygons is a ditch. Beneath the ditch there is an ice wedge of whitish bubbly ice which tapers downwards, like the blade of an axe driven into the ground. Some ice wedges are more than ten feet wide at the top and are tens of feet deep.... On a smaller scale, the ground observer may see stones arranged in circles or gar-

The Arctic lands a few feet across, like stone necklaces; or the ground may have stripes trending downhill .... Of particular interest to people in the western Arctic are the conical ice-cored hills called pingos, an Eskimo word for hill [Fig. 20-5]. The pingos are most numerous near the Mackenzie Delta, where there are nearly 1,500 of them. The pingos may reach a height of 150 feet and so are prominent features in

the landscape. They are found typically in shallow or drained lakes and are believed to have grown as the result of the penetration of permafrost into a thawed lake basin. Each pingo has an ice core of clear ice. If the ice core should melt, a depression with a doughnut-shaped ring enclosing a lake is left behind. (Mackay, 1964, p. 62)

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