Changes in federal forest management, enactment of environmental policies, recessions and a shift to a global economy dramatically impacted counties between the 1980s and 1990s. In the 1990s, counties began experiencing a shift away from traditional natural resource extraction activities – amidst changing demographics resulting from rural restructuring taking place...
The goal of the graduate essay was to provide the reader with a historical overview of the United States government funded preschool program Head Start and examine policy considerations for long term effectiveness on academic achievements of participants. Focusing on research about Head Start effectiveness, careful consideration was given to...
This essay examines the low-income weatherization program in rural Oregon, shedding light on difficulties in increasing weatherization services to low-income rural households. This essay also identifies policy limitations. There are strict rules in place for utilizing Department of Energy weatherization funding and some of these rules
are likely to make...
The language of water policy both suggests and enforces the relationship that the public should have with water. Differences in language use between policy institutions and the public suggest that the understanding of water promoted through policy may be incongruent with the understanding of water held by the public. Semi-structured...
This essay provides a snapshot of sustainability and acceptability of wave energy and eight other electricity-generating energy sources in Oregon. Since “sustainability” is an important point of view in decision-making, the paper is centered around the concept. Although there is no consensus on the definition of sustainability in the academic...
Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are an important aspect of the forest that has often been overlooked. NTFPs have been especially important to Native American people because of their subsistence, cultural, and economic values. As a result of their economic value, there have been an increased number of people harvesting NTFPs...
Researchers have long sought to understand the relationship between economic growth and social development. The notion that economic growth increases social well-being was first written about by Rostow in 1960. This idea quickly became prominent and well accepted- the foundation of development policy. However, in the past twenty years many...
Oregon, much like the nation, has historically had a paradoxical relationship to migration. Oregon is famous for the Lewis and Clark expedition and the Oregon Trail. It is, and always has been, greatly affected and inspired by interstate migration yet each successive generation has been less than welcoming to further...
Despite their widespread use and presence at all levels of government, public commissions and boards are rarely given much attention, by the general public, academia, or surprisingly by public policy and agency experts. As a state infrastructure governing entity transportation commissions often deal with controversy, but do we really understand...
Microfinance, or the technique of lending small amounts of money to the world’s poor for productive activities, has become a popular strategy for poverty-alleviation, achieving legislative status as a development strategy in the U.S. in 2000 with the Microenterprise for Self-Sufficiency Act. However, microfinance has increasingly failed to achieve the...