The Wasootch Creek area is representative of the Rocky Mountain Front Range of southern Alberta. It is underlain by rocks of the Middle Cambrian, Upper Devonian, Mississippian, Permain and Lower Triassic, of which carbonates constitute the largest part. The Cambrian formations are correlated with the Eldon, Pika and Arctomys of the Bow Valley region. The Ghost River or Arctomys formation has on one fault block been removed by pre-Devonian erosion. The area is bounded on the west by the Cascade Coal Basin and on the east by the McConnell fault. Between these two structures are several high angle, westward dipping, reverse faults named from west to east Lac des Arcs, Exshaw, Porcupine, and West McConnell. Mature disection of the fault blocks has produced excellent correlation of rock hardness with topography. The McConnell fault consists of two thrusts which merge at Kananaskis Gap. South of Kananaskis Gap the two thrusts are designated McConnell and West McConnell. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

The history of the town and district of Coronation, Alberta, was written with two objectives in mind. The first was to recreate the beginnings and growth of a prairie town in an attempt to portray the general tone, character, and purpose of country living, as well as the hopes, thoughts, and feelings of rural and small town folk. This was to be achieved by tracing in detail the development of a special prairie community, but, at the same time, it was felt that such a story of one settlement in a semi-dry area would typify the history of dry belt pioneering throughout much of the West. This was my second aim. Typical of the West was the diversity of language and national origin of Coronation's early settlers. Typical also were the reasons for leaving their homeland and their methods of travel. Like most pioneers of the semi-dry belt they had been led to expect a land of everlasting plenty; instead they found hardships almost impossible to overcome. In common with the rest of the West their fortunes rose or fell according to the crop year, but, typical of the dry areas, their crop failures were far more numerous than in districts more blessed with rain. Typical, too, was the overdependence on wheat and the overinvestment in land -- factors leading to ruin in the hungry Thirties. And, as depression and frustration took the place of wild expansion and unbridled optimism, the people of Coronation joined their neighbours in the fight for a farmers' government to oppose the suspected dominance of eastern big-business interests. Finally, with the rebounding faith so typical of the West, Coronationites were quick to forget the hardships of the past with the promise of good times to come. In order to set the stage for my detailed study I have purposely included a fairly extensive introductory chapter. Here I have discussed briefly the main steps in western development, from the time of Confederation up to the early 1900's, when Coronation's story really begins. By first presenting a general picture of what was happening throughout the entire West, I felt that my story of one community could slip more readily into proper perspective. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

This study traces the development of community recreation in Edmonton from the time of the initiation of the community leagues to the present, and concludes with an evaluation of their present and possible future status. It is particularly pertinent because of the long history of community recreation in Edmonton and because the Edmonton Recreation Commission is probably the strongest public recreation agency in western Canada. The growth of the community league movement and of the Federation of Community Leagues are traced. The establishment of the Edmonton Recreation Commission, the resulting conflict with the Federation, and emerging relationship are discussed. Prom the study of Edmonton and its agencies serving the recreation needs of the people, the next logical step in organization for recreation in the city is indicated. The suggestions made for the future are based on accepted principles of professional community organization but the application of these principles is predicated on a clear interpretation of past and existing relationships between community agencies. One principle peculiarly applicable in Edmonton is that whenever possible the public recreation programme should be operated through only one organization in each community. Because of the varied nature of recreation an organization with a broad objective is best suited to this function but at the same time the functions of other agencies must be clearly defined to avoid duplication of effort. The suggested community reorganization for recreation in Edmonton is an example of co-ordinating recreation agencies within a city and redefining their areas of concern. The problem is not peculiar to Edmonton, and the suggested reorganization is not necessarily applicable elsewhere. There are, however, methods and principles indicated that should be generally applicable to similar situations. Primary source material has been used wherever possible including newspaper articles, minutes of community league meetings, the constitution of the- Federation of Community Leagues, personal interviews and personal experiences. In addition reference has been made to leading professional authorities in the field of community organization for recreation, and to pamphlets and booklets issued by national and international agencies in the field. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Recent studies by Dr. I. McT. Cowan in Jasper National Park have revealed that many of the winter game ranges of the Park are heavily over-utilized by grazing and browsing animals. In order to correct this situation, it was first necessary to obtain accurate information on existing range conditions. Therefore, study of certain key areas of the Athabaska Valley was undertaken in the summer of 1946 and 1947 by Dr, Cowan and the author, for the purpose of describing existing plant growth, investigating factors affecting this plant growth, and recommending measures for improving range conditions. In carrying out the project, standard range survey methods were used on nine representative areas. Point sampling revealed the composition of the ground vegetation while cover estimates and numerical counts gave the status of trees and shrubs. Analyses of soil samples indicated the fertility of the soil of the various ranges. The relative utilization of the ranges by herbivores was estimated by defecation counts. In order to determine the productivity of the ranges equal amounts of ground vegetation were clipped, air-dried, and weighed. Exclosure plots, established in 1942, served as a type of control as productivity within the plots was compared to that outside. The Jasper cemetery was used as a relict area. As a result of the investigations it was concluded that the winter ranges of the Athabaska Valley vary greatly in their capacity to produce vegetation, and that all the ranges are over-utilized to a greater or lesser degree, principally by elk and horses. This over-utilization is producing a retrogressive succession of the ground vegetation which is rendering the ranges increasingly unproductive. Destruction of browse species and strict fire protection are hastening development of climax spruce forests on certain range areas. In order to correct present trends in the ecology of the Athabaska Valley it was recommended that the numbers of elk be greatly reduced, that annual censuses of game populations be made, that a cover map of the area be prepared and new exclosure plots set up, that periodic range studies be made, that horse grazing be prohibited, and that conifers be controlled on certain game ranges. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

It is becoming apparent that some issues in natural resource management do not lend themselves to the technical, 'value-neutral' approach to decision-making that has often characterized this function of government. One of these issues is outdoor recreation, which has become a resource use equally important to such traditional uses as water management, mineral extraction, and forest harvesting. Choices made with respect to recreational use of natural resources inevitably reflect the perceptions and priorities of those individuals who participate in making the choices. Resource managers who make decisions about the use of natural resources in the 'public interest’ must seek to optimize, that is, to choose that alternative course of action which yields the greatest net benefits to society. This study purports to assess how well the Provincial Parks agency of the Province of Alberta generates information which can lead to optimal decisions in recreation resource management. A discussion of the growing importance of outdoor recreational use of resources, and of the public nature of outdoor recreation opportunities provided by government agencies, precedes a brief analysis of a number of decision models. The latter analysis suggests that the generation of information about alternative choices is an important determinant of the outcome of the decision-making process. Accordingly, a number of criteria are proposed which will permit an evaluation of the provincial parks agency's approach to providing information for decisions regarding the management of outdoor recreation resources in the province. The provincial parks agency is described in terms of its administrative environment, its evolution since 1952, and the operation of the information generation process in the agency. Contextual information on the attitudes of provincial residents towards outdoor recreation is drawn from a survey of outdoor recreation behavior and perceptions carried out in the Peace River region of Alberta in 1972. The study concludes with the evaluation of the agency's operation in terms of the criteria proposed earlier in the study. For those aspects of information generation in which the criteria are not met, suggestions for improvement are offered. These include the definition, through public discussion, of the agency's role in providing a range of outdoor recreational opportunities for residents of, and visitors to, the province. Secondly, it is suggested that the scope of the agency's planning process should be expanded so that the provision of outdoor recreational opportunities can be considered a problem of supply as well as demand; information about the benefits and costs of alternative uses of recreational resources, and the benefits and costs of using resources that are suitable for recreation for other purposes, would be generated if such an approach was adopted. Finally, it is suggested that, in order to adequately reflect the full range of societal values in its decision process, the agency should institute a program of consultation with the public, whereby citizens would participate in decisions regarding such matters as general policy direction and major parks projects. The attachment of a permanent public advisory committee to the office of the Minister responsible for provincial parks is suggested as a medium through which Albertans may participate in planning their provincial parks. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

This study describes the spatial evolution of the electricity industry in Alberta over the period 1885-1965 in terms of production facilities, transportation linkages and market nodes and seeks to identify the forces which brought about the observed patterns. Three distinct patterns of spatial organization are identified: (l) a dispersed pattern of isolated generating stations serving proximate consumers through distribution lines only, (2) a pattern of a large generating station or generating complex serving numerous communities through an incomplete network of transmission lines, and (3) a pattern of numerous generating stations serving a regional or provincial market through an electricity grid. The major characteristics which differentiated one spatial pattern from another, and which initiated these changes in spatial organization, is shown to be the increasing use of large and/or special purpose generating units and the linking of these facilities to markets by transmission lines. It is argued that the significantly reduced unit costs of large generating facilities was the primary force bringing about the evolution of the industry from one spatial pattern to another and that transmission facilities are the spatial linkages which permit the expansion of an electricity system by the inclusion of additional market nodes. As these represent additional costs, they also establish limits to the areal expansion of an electricity system at each stage of development. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

Previous seismic studies of crustal structure using short-period P coda recorded in the vicinity of Leduc, central Alberta have indicated that serious discrepancies between the experimental observations and those based on a horizontally layered model of the crust exist in both the time and frequency domains. This 'Standard' crustal model is based on well log data for the sedimentary section, and on seismic refraction work in southern Alberta for the lower layers. The principal discrepancy lies in the large amplitude radial motion on the experimental seismograms which lags vertical arrivals by approximately two seconds. It is concluded that this radial motion, which is absent from synthetic seismograms generated using the 'Standard' crustal model, represents the generation of large-amplitude shear waves within the crust. This large radial motion is manifested in the frequency domain by experimental vertical-radial spectral ratios which are considerably lower than those computed using the 'Standard' crustal model. Using vertical-radial spectral ratios-and synthetic seismograms, a modified crustal model has been derived which gives much better agreement between experimental and theoretical results. This model involves the insertion of a layer several kilometers thick having large velocity contrast with respect to the surrounding media at the base of the Precam-brian basement (12 km deep). The new crustal model is discussed in the light of widespread evidence for a low velocity zone in the upper crust in continental regions. Several important discrepancies between experimental and synthetic seismograms remain unresolved: among these are the small onset amplitude and the character of the delayed motion of the radial component. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

School-Site Decision-Making (SSDM) has been widely discussed in Canada and the United States. The decision to implement SSDM represents a major departure from the traditional authority structure. It requires the concurrence of many key parties such as teachers, principals and school officials. Proponents believe that SSDM can help to improve the quality of schooling by giving more flexibility in curriculum content and deployment of instructional resources. It is for these reasons that the authorities in Singapore have been exploring various innovations which can help to improve the school system. One of the most talked-about SSDM projects is the one launched by the Edmonton Public School Board in 1976. It is widely regarded as the "lighthouse" system of SSDM. This report describes the studies carried out on two schools in the Edmonton system. One was a K-9 community school, the other a senior high comprehensive school. The case studies examined what happens when a major innovation such as SSDM is introduced - what the problems are, how they are solved, and to what extent the goals are achieved. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

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