ESS 320 | AIS 320 | ENVIR 320 Changing Rivers of
Puget Sound
Spring
2011
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information on
instructors, meeting times, field trips, assignments and
grading. The schedule page has the class
schedule, assigned readings, and PDFs of lectures, the assignments
page has detail on assigments and grading, and the reading
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readings
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Course description
Rivers of Puget
Sound have been
changing since their origins
following deglaciation more than 10,000 years ago. This course examines
the
physical and ecological evolution of Puget Sound rivers
and the changing interactions of people, rivers, and ecosystems.
Topics include:
(1) The
geologic origins and processes that
shape Puget Sound rivers and the ecosystems they support; (2) the
changing
relationship between people, rivers, and resources such as salmon; (3) the nature and extent of anthropogenic
changes to rivers; (4) methods for detecting and evaluating
environmental
change; (5) historical context of resource management and restoration,
including how Native American treaty rights influence resource
management and
restoration issues; and (6) the future of Puget Sound rivers, taking
into
account factors such as population growth, farmland preservation, river
restoration, and climate change.
The
class is framed
by these broad questions: (1) How has the
physical and ecological landscape changed through time? (2) How have
humans
changed and been changed by this landscape? (3) How does the history of
landscape change caused by natural processes and by humans frame issues
involving the use, management, and restoration of rivers and
floodplains?
Twice-weekly
classroom
meetings include lectures and lab
sessions. There are two all-day Saturday field trips to the Snohomish
River and Duwamish River watersheds. These field trips
are integral to the course and attendance is required. This class has
no
prerequisites.
Course
goals
By
the end of the course, students will: (1) Understand the geological and
ecological dimensions of change to Puget Sound rivers. (2)
Understand change through time in human interactions with rivers,
including the contemporary role of American Indian tribes as
co-managers of salmon and other resources. (3) Be able to apply this
understanding to
contemporary
challenges associated with rivers in Puget Sound and
elsewhere.