Anecdotal evidence suggests many Pacific Northwest estuaries are filling with sediment due to historical logging activities in upstream watersheds. Using the Siletz River estuary as a case study, this research began by analyzing timber harvest and discharge records of the Siletz River watershed, and found that increased timber harvest coincides...
Given the broad scientific consensus that global climate is changing, it is no longer a question if sea level will rise, but rather by how much will it rise. The regional estimates for the Eastern Pacific suggest that the Northwest coastlines will experience a greater eustatic sea level rise than...
This research effort examined Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of Siletz tribal members of the environment they live and/or lived in, and how both Western societal beliefs and land reduction to the initially established reservation location affected and altered how the area TEK has been maintained and passed down. The theory...
Concern regarding increased coastal erosion has heightened amid growing acceptance of global warming and associated sea-level rise. This study examines shoreline erosion in Flathead Lake, Montana due to five decades of artificially elevated lake levels. It provides a model to investigate coastal erosion associated with sea-level rise. The natural water...
The subaerial beach, composed of sand dunes and the foreshore, provides a natural buffer zone between vulnerable land and the dissipation of storm wave energy due to wave breaking. The natural beauty of this region is attractive to people, and as a result, significant investment has been placed in this...
The community of Bandon is located on the southern half of the Oregon coast, 140 kilometers north of the California border and 40 kilometers south of Coos Bay (Figure 1). Part of the city occupies the low-lying (average 3-meter elevation) area along the south bank of the Coquille River, while...
The purpose of this research is two-fold: to evaluate the success of the new emergency procedures promulgated in 1998 and to characterize the erosion event that precipitated the emergency during January, February and March 1999. These two purposes support each other and provide a holistic understanding of how emergencies arise...
Sea-cliff erosion is a significant problem along the Oregon coast in that many
communities have been built on terraces affected by bluff retreat. There is considerable
coast-wide variability in the rates of cliff erosion. This variability is attributed in part to
tectonic activity that is causing differential interseismic uplift along...