For over a century, salmonids have been stocked in historically fishless, montane lakes for the sole purpose of creating recreational fishing opportunities. Salmonid introductions have had transformative impacts on historically fishless systems where . . .

Bicycle commuting decreases traffic congestion, decreases dependency on oil consumption, and mitigates critical health conditions like heart disease and obesity. Yet, it is a challenge for non-profits, governmental and community organizations to incre . . .

Research has demonstrated children and young adults benefit from attending summer camps, especially when exposed to challenging activities in an outdoor environment. Researchers have identified several benefits derived from attending outdoor camps, su . . .

This is a project to gather and tell the story of food, people, and the land that connects them. It is a work of creative nonfiction: one that combines narrative, participatory research, and scholarly reflection to trace the efforts of the Humboldt Co . . .

Since Humboldt County is a somewhat isolated region, community members may feel limited by their ability to access available modes of transportation, which can be restricted by high gasoline prices and fixed annual incomes. During the last several yea . . .

This thesis explores the use of Place-based education (PBE) in K-12 public schools. Specifically, I focused on the perceptions teachers have of PBE and the factors influencing the use of these approaches in K-12 schools. Place-based education is a cro . . .

This project analyzes the local barriers and solutions to producing affordable housing in Humboldt County, focusing on the cities of Eureka and Arcata, as well as the Humboldt County level. Interviews with representatives and employees of local govern . . .

The issue of language revitalization is central to the viability of Alaska Native communities. In order to resist language loss and ensure that languages are transmitted to younger generations, immense social efforts are required. Immersion schools ha . . .

Exurban migration and “back-to-the-land” movements bring lots of new people into rural places. This often creates social conflicts with the established residents as well as generating adverse environmental impacts. The Upper Redwood Creek watershed in . . .

Numerous dams in Sierra Nevada watersheds are due for relicensing, now and in the upcoming years. The relicensing process is an opportunity to assess the impacts and values of individual reservoirs and water projects. The Federal Energy Regulatory Com . . .

This thesis explores the role of community capacity in sustainable rural community development. Community development in the United States has typically followed an economic model founded on the assumption that economic growth will positively affect o . . .

This project focuses on an affordable housing model aimed at ending the homelessness of individuals who experience mental illness in rural Humboldt County, California. Although a range of human services and temporary housing programs are available, th . . .

In a time of change and dwindling resources, how decisions are made for managing private lands is critical for the future resilience of ecosystems. Theories in ecology and natural resource sciences are moving away from a past emphasis on steady-state . . .

Population discourse has been woven throughout the Sierra Club rhetoric and evolved into an internal, yet public debate over the Sierra’s Club’s immigration policy. This debate generated moments that reproduce systems of power as well as spurred anti- . . .

Privately held resource lands provide ecosystem services including water quality and wildlife habitat across the United States. These lands hold significant conservation values, but their contiguity is threatened by the pressure of subdivision from re . . .

Community gardens are one of the many kinds of urban agricultural green spaces that exist in the cities and suburbs across the United States. Current research credits them with producing a wide array of human and environmental. Especially touted are i . . .

Libraries used to be quiet reflective places where people went to find information and read and study. Even university libraries expected students to only talk in hushed voices and most of the space was taken up by book stacks. Today university librar . . .

This thesis examines the change in Earth First! praxis elaborated by North Coast Earth First! (in Northern California) from 1985-1990 in order to identify how Judi Bari’s theory of “revolutionary ecology” emerged as political force from within a movem . . .

Anti-violence movements in the United States have demanded that the state, institutions, and communities take steps to respond seriously to domestic violence and sexual assault. In the past 35 years, state and federal laws have been passed mandating c . . .

Though the need for prescribed fire in forests and rangelands is widely recognized, its use remains subject to a range of constraints, from operational to social. Efforts have been made to identify these constraints, as their characterization may be c . . .

As the limitations of ‘organics’ manifest and sustainability continues to elude California, the subsidies that demarcate the scope of sustainable agriculture need to be examined. This case study looks at research and development in sustainable agricul . . .

Evidence of the impacts of global warming is accumulating and becoming more specific. Its effects on people, particularly the poor, minorities, indigenous peoples and others living in circumpolar regions, high altitudes, low-lying areas and other vuln . . .

All over the United States, sprawling growth is consuming farmland and open space. In California—the most populous and the most urban state in the nation—the situation is particularly acute. The negative impacts of farmland conversions are widely ackn . . .

In 1579 the first modern day corporation made contact with the area now known as Humboldt County. During the time period examined, corporations played a major role in the region’s politics, economy, and living conditions, and resistance to corporate d . . .

The focus of this thesis is a Geographic Information System (GIS) based predictive modeling process with results as applied to the Wiyot Cultural Area in Humboldt County, California. Predictive models aim to identify patterns that demonstrate a range . . .

The practice of painting on walls and communicating through art on walls is a rich tradition in Distrito Federal, Mexico. This research investigates contemporary wall inscriptions throughout the regional landscape of Mexico City, seeking social, place . . .

Since the post war period, small-scale subsistence practices have been steadily disappearing as a way of life for families across the United States. Spaces traditionally used for home gardens have been replaced with the modern American lawn. However, . . .

The deaths of thousands of salmon have been a large part of the Klamath Watershed Conflict. Salmon were once abundant in the Klamath, and its various tributaries, but populations are now far below historic levels. The intersections of people’s lives w . . .

In recent years, the San Joaquin Valley of central California has been considered the most unhealthy air basin in the United States of America. Extraordinary levels of ambient ozone and particulate matter are responsible for the diagnosis of asthma in . . .

Cultural landscapes are a recognized type of historical resource and also an interdisciplinary category of analysis that can help to illuminate the relationship of people to their environments- how people interpret space. Cultural landscapes reflect t . . .

The following is a comparative study of two villages at different points along a continuum of reliance on the subsistence and cash economies. Of specific interest are the cultural implications and distributional effects associated with this profound d . . .

The northwest coast of the United States is dominated by a sparsely populated landscape of steep, faulted and forested terrain. Naturally prone to earthquakes, tsunami, mudslides, fires, torrential storms and floods, this vast landscape poses signific . . .

This thesis is a qualitative analysis of techniques and theories for creating a more sustainable mode of production of live theater. In-depth, one-on-one interviewing is the primary research tool employed. Groups that interviewees have been drawn from . . .

Many structurally marginalized social groups in the U.S. commonly experience restricted access to healthcare. Barriers to accessing quality resources for health, wellness, and illness prevention stem from and reinforce systemic inequalities. Navigatin . . .

As a response to global climate change, policies have increasingly incorporated forest carbon offset projects into mitigation efforts. To this end, California has implemented the first US forest carbon offset program within a compliance cap-and-trade . . .

In the last decade, we have become very aware of tsunami and the danger they pose for coastal communities. My research revealed a rich oral history of tsunami from the Yurok, Chetco and Tolowa tribes who still reside along the northwest coasts of Cali . . .

Through this thesis, I explore the effects of government policy regarding agriculture and the opinions of those who are affected by agricultural policy in Wright County, Iowa. The exploration is in response to the movement toward industrialization and . . .

This project is a case study of the Mid Van Duzen River watershed focusing on processes of collaboration and stakeholder involvement affecting watershed management and environmental stewardship practices. Through theory drawn from fields of alternativ . . .

San Diego County, CA has had an increasing number of wildfires in the wildland urban interface, resulting in loss of lives, property and habitat for sensitive and endemic species (San Diego 2008). As San Diego’s population continues to grow and expand . . .

Hemp is an ancient crop that has supported civilizations for millennia. Industrial hemp refers to the non-psychotropic varieties of Cannabis sativa L. This crop is used in numerous goods and industrial applications, such as nutritional food and oil, b . . .

The modern environmental movement in the United States is at a crossroads; following its current path, represented by mainstream national environmental organizations that struggle to gain the support of racial and ethnic minorities, it may lose the mo . . .

Intersectional Feminists are deeply informed by the interlocking systems and ideologies of power, privilege, and oppression foundational to both dominant U.S. social institutions and U.S. society. It is my assertion that the use of shame, blame, and s . . .

This thesis focuses on the debate over the private provision of water services. One billion people worldwide lack access to clean water, which results in millions of illnesses and deaths every year. The international financial institutions have blamed . . .

Myths of meritocracy and upward mobility, not to mention myths that “blame the victim” (among many others), help maintain the American capitalist economic system and obscure the existence of the tremendous structural barriers that work to prevent the . . .

In the United States, an increasing number of community-based food projects are emerging as people attempt to reclaim food sovereignty by modeling just and sustainable alternatives to the dominant, industrialized food system. Despite good intentions, . . .

Humanity is on a trajectory in which environmental crises are worsening. There are many efforts directed at resolving the multitude of environmental problems, but the environmental movement as a whole remains unsuccessful in stopping the rate of ecolo . . .

Feminist scholars and activists critique oppressive ideologies that construct the female criminal as “other” and many call for the abolition of the prison industrial complex. I argue abolition is only possible if practiced in solidarity with people in . . .

With the recovery of gray wolves (Canis lupus) to the Northern Rocky Mountains, wolf depredations on domestic cattle are an ongoing concern for all stakeholders in wolf management. Because these events can occur in clusters, one ranch or a group of ra . . .

It can be established that problems of community service exist. To address the possibility that a service program might unintentionally foster such problems, a study was conducted to determine the appropriate contents of an educational tool that could . . .

The interconnectedness of humans and nature exists within a social-ecological system, the resilience of which depends on the ability of humans and environment to respond and adapt to inevitable changes across scales. Rural communities are often natura . . .