FORTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING Moscow, Idaho June 14-19, 1981

FORTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING Moscow, Idaho June 14-19, 1981 The 44th annual conference of the Association was held at Moscow, Idaho, June 14-19, 1981. Facilities were provided by Cavanaugh's Motor Inn and the University of Idaho. The Department of Geography at the University of Idaho acted as host for the meetings. Because of Moscow's location on the northern edge of the APCG region, a small turnout was anticipated and, in fact, only about 100 members attended. Nevertheless, a full program of papers and activities was presented so as to provide an informative and interesting conference. Registration began Monday afternoon, and was followed by opening remarks by Galen Rowe, acting as an emissary of President Richard Gibb of the University of Idaho. The Opening Program was by Professor Jack Smiley of UFs Geology Department, who spoke about the paleogeography of the nearby Clarkia Fossil Area along the Saint Maries River, an extraordinary fossil record of the Late Cenozoic era. Juxtaposing the old with the new, there followed a tasting of Pacific Northwest wines with the strictly academic goal of informing the profession of the emerging viticultural region encompassing the lower Snake and Columbia river basins. Paper sessions were held on Tuesday and Thursday, the abstracts of which are reproduced elsewhere in this issue. To prevent the attendees from dispersing to the far corners of Moscow (Idaho, remember) in search of unique cuisine, we scheduled the marvelously witty editorial columnist of the Lewiston Tribute, Bill Hall, to provide humorous lunch-time insight regarding human nature. Bill's comments on geography were profound—they had to have been, we cannot remember any of them! The annual banquet was held Tuesday evening and following a fine meal, APCG President Dave Lantis treated us to a fabulous slide presentation and discussion on the physical character and challenges of Alaska. Wednesday was a full day with most participants going on an extended excursion contrasting the Palouse country with the Scablands to the west and the mountains and forests to the east. Dale Stradling and his crew from EWU at Cheney provided the spark for the success of this trip. All were good sports and despite the long distance involved, we got back just in time for a chicken bar-be-que and party, highlighted (if that's the right term) by a short program of bagpipe music by the Border Highlanders, a member of which is our own Sam Scripter. Thursday began with a community breakfast at which Dave Johnson, an astute student of local people and their problems and columnist for the Lewiston Tribune, provided a sensitive glimpse of the personal histories of several non-mainstream Americans in 129 130ASSOCIATION OF PACIFIC COAST GEOGRAPHERS rural and village settings. Two interest-only field trips followed on Friday; a nonwhitewater float on the Snake River with environmental activist and river guide John A. K. Rarker, got rave reviews, especially for the appearance of a litter of coyote pups along the bank. This latter feat was one of the more difficult arrangements of the entire week's program. Another group headed for Idaho's Silver Valley, spent Thursday evening at Kellogg and visited the Lucky Friday Mine (near Osburn), flagship of the Hecla Mining Company, on Friday. Most of this tour took place nearly a mile underground, but with ore averaging 10 percent lead and 16 ounces of silver per ton this was truly a sparkling experience. At lunch in nearby historic Wallace, our host, mine manager Mike Gross, answered so many questions his meal got cold. To all who came and all who helped—thanks! We had a good time, and we hope you did too. John Hultquist Program Chairman University of Idaho EDITORIAL NOTES Following a year in which forty-three papers were submitted, it was not expected that the two score or so papers delivered at the Moscow meetings would yield a large number of submitted papers. And so it turned out. Only eleven papers were received before the extended deadline of October 31, 1981. Each paper was sent initially to two readers, and subsequently two papers were reviewed by a third reader. The rejection rate was high. No paper was...