Chapter 17

Volcanoes

Lava of  Mount Loa, largest active volcano in the world

      Hawaii is an island formed and shaped by volcanic activity.Similarly, Oregon also shaped by volcanic activity in the pacific rim in the past.The Cascade mountains have volcanic mountains such as Mt.Hood(oregon's),Mt. Jefferson, Three sisters,Mr.Mazama and New berry volcanoe.The above mentioned mountains are 5 sentinels where volcanic activity is possible to occur.However, there was no eruption or hazardous volcanic activity happened for centuries contrast to Hawaii where hazardous volcanic eruptions are active.Geological evidences say, cities Portland and Bend are built upon volcanoes similarly all the Hawaiian islands are  formed by million of years of volcanic activity.

Sources
http://www.ohs.org/exhibits/traveling-exhibits/150-million-years/oregons-volcanic-wonderland.cfm

Google Images.Youtube.

Chapter 16

Eco friendly Oregon

Pacific Northwest is the region Oregon State is situated.Many aspects of Oregon is discussed in this chapter specifically culture, people and places.Portland is the third largest metropolitan area in Pacific Northwest. Also, one of the cleanest city in air and water quality in North America.Many people in Portland bicycle to work than any other city in United States.Careful urban planning, urban growth boundary system, higher citizen participation and multimodal transit system keeps Portland  an environmentally friendly metropolitan. Especially urban growth boundary is a powerful long term land use policy introduced by former Oregon governor Tom McCall.This shows Oregonian's eco friendly urban planning..In addition, almost all of the beaches in Oregon are publicly owned and open to public which is another example of concern and activism about environment.

Oregonian's biking to work

Green city scaping

Chapter 15

Klamath Mountain Ecoregion

Oregon and California are neighboring states.Both states has lot in common such as pacific ocean, high ways, rugged mountainous topography, flora and fauna.One of the common territory lies in between these states is klamath mountains ecoregion.This region include nearly 1.7 million acres  of area starting from Sacramento Valley up to Umpqua Valley, Oregon.Highly dissected ridges, valleys and foothills are common topographic features .This ecoregion harbors rich biodiversity of plants including temperate rain forest, moist inland forests,oak forests, alpine grassland,and savannas. It is one of the America's  most biologically diverse region.In addition many rivers and significant amount of fauna make this destination good choice for hiking.

Sources
http://www.fs.usda.gov/klamath

Images -Wikipedia

Chapter 14

Historical Settlement

Unlike Mex America, Oregon is partially controlled by United States in West coast.Before european arrival, many different number of native americans present in the Pacific Northwest region.They mostly depended on fishing and marine mammal for their food.The Lewis Clark Expedition in 1803 open up settlement of europeans. British and Americans did fur trading and control the Oregon territory.Most of the early settlements in Oregon happened in fertile Willamette Valley.However, relative isolation of region from the rest of the country, keep Pacific Northwest from rapid settlement.After 1880's ,completion of transcontinental rail road attract many to settle in this region. Also large number of immigrants from Canada,the British isles, Germany, Scandinavia and other parts of the Europe settled in early 19th century. Later Latinos,Asians and Russians  also settled in this region in large numbers.Today, Oregon  has a significant amount of diversity.However, white population still the vast majority in contrast to Mex America region.

Oregon demographics based on  2010 census

Sources-The Geography of North America, 2nd edition.Hardwick, Shelley,Holtgrieve.

Images-http://almanac.ushli.org/states/oregon/