Abstracts of Papers Presented: 1998 APCG Meeting, Flagstaff, Arizona

ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS PRESENTED 1998 APCG Meeting, Flagstaff, Arizona DONALD ANTHROP, San Jose State University Improvement of Nesting Habitat for Migratory Waterfowl at Thermalito Afterbay, California Although the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys of California have been established wintering areas for migratory waterfowl for a very long time, studies conducted in the late 1970s and early 1980s suggested that mallards would readily nest in these areas if suitable nesting habitat were available. In 1986 a joint project between the California Department of Water Resources, the California Department of Fish and Game, and the California Waterfowl Association was initiated to develop nesting habitat for ducks on state-owned land surrounding Thermalito Afterbay near the city of Oroville, California. The habitat improvement work had two principle components: 1) Establishment of five stable-water brood ponds, and 2) Development of upland nesting habitat for ducks. The upland areas, which had been heavily grazed by cattle, were disked and seeded with a cover mixture consisting of oats, annual ryegrass, blado brome, vetch, rose clover, and wheatgrass (a perennial). Nest searches were conducted to determine nesting density and nest success. The results have been remarkable. In the fall of 1987, approximately 35 acres were disked and seeded with the cover mixture. The following spring, there were seven nests, one of which was successful, in these 35 acres. In the spring of 1997, approximately 161 acres of improved habitat were searched. A total of 325 duck nests were found on these 161 acres, and 143 of these nests were successful. JOHN C. BENNETT, San Diego State University The Application of Geographic Spatial Analysis in Modeling Traffic Noise Propagation away from a Freeway This paper demonstrates the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) to perform a spatial analysis of traffic noise away from a freeway. The more traditional analysis procedures used by the Federal Highway Administration (FHA, 1978 and 1982) employ a noise model that is range limited and not designed to handle largescale topographic variation in proximity to a freeway noise source. A digital elevation map of a portion of a freeway in San Diego County that includes a mesa and valley landscape is incorporated into a GIS where a spatial analysis of sound scattering, surface conditions, and vegetation distribution is used to evaluate measured noise levels of traffic. Preliminary results indicate that a GIS model of traffic noise provides a more realistic basis for predicting noise impacts particularly at longer ranges in areas of variable topography. 222 Abstracts 223 KEVIN S. BLAKE, University o f Wyoming The Symbolism of Permanence at Pueblo Mission Churches The landscape of the American Southwest manifests both the passage and continuity of time. As noted by J. B. Jackson, a sense of time and of place meet to form distinctive cultural landscapes. In the Colorado Plateau region of New Mexico, three Pueblo mission churches symbolize sacredness, collective identity, hegemony, and most of all permanence. The churches are Spanish in plan, purpose, and general form, but owe much of their construction and interior decorative detail to Pueblo culture. Field observations and interviews were conducted and archival materials were examined for the mission churches of San Jose de Laguna, San Esteban del Rey, and Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, located at Laguna, Acoma, and Zuni Pueblos, respectively. Outside of the core of Spanish influence along the Rio Grande, these three mission churches project a multi-cultural sense of permanence rooted in history, setting, religious syncretism, built form, and artistic expression. The symbolic meaning of these churches accrues from and is projected by their multi­ cultural and multi-generational promotion, preservation, and visitation. As a primary symbol of each Pueblo, these structures of permanence represent the connections within and between cultures that contribute to the evolving construct of regional character. ANDREA BRUNELLE-DAINES, University o f Oregon A Post-Glacial Record of Fire and Vegetation from Siesta Lake, Yosemite National Park, California A sediment core from Siesta Lake yields a complete Holocene record (11,700 yr B.P.) of climate, vegetation, and fire for the watershed based on pollen and sedimentary charcoal. Siesta Lake is moraine formed, and high amounts of glacial sand and low concentrations of pollen and charcoal characterize the...