The lumber industry today is both similar to and different from the nation's other major industries. The similarity stems from the fact that all of these industries have had a definite, well-defined transition period from an era dominated by many small, independent entrepreneurs to an era dominated by a small number of large corporations. The dissimilarity between the lumber industry and the other industries is that with the lumber industry the domination by the few large firms has never been as total in scope as that domination by the giants of such industries as oil and transportation. This dissimilarity has been the cause of no small amount of discussion and tension between various individuals and groups interested in the continued well-being of the lumber industry. The opponents of the large corporations claim that the trend in the lumber industry toward domination by a few firms has been just as complete as that experienced in other industries. Not only has it been complete, they claim, but the extensiveness of this domination has had a negative effect on the whole lumber industry, stifling competition and. driving the small, independent operator from the scene. Those who support the theory that this domination of the lumber industry by the few large firms has never been completed on a basis comparable to other industries can offer much factual proof to support their argument, and in doing so much evidence can also be offered to refute the theory that this rise to positions of seeming dominance by a few lumber producers has had a bad effect on the industry. These advocates of the cause for "Big Lumber” argue that if it had not been for the emergence of a few strong leaders in the lumber industry, giving to the industry the direction and guidance it so badly needed, commercial lumbering on a large scale may have been doomed in the United States. The purpose of this thesis is to open this argument once again with the intention of' proving that certain lumber producers did emerge to dominate the industry although that domination was never complete. Also, the attempt is made to present a sound case in favor of these large lumber firms as being the instruments which were actually to save the lumber industry and to guarantee its permanent future existence. The method used to prove this position will be that of a detailed historical study of the early lumber industry in the United States from colonial times until shortly after the turn of the present century. Such a study is definitely needed for it reveals the complete story of why it was possible for a few firms to gain a high degree of control over the entire industry and yet still allow for the existence of a vast number of smaller, independent competitors. Also, such a study reveals how the transition was accomplished. Finally, through the examination of' the lumber industry's early history, one is able to see quite clearly the significance of this movement to the modern lumber industry. The evidence unveiled by this study goes far in support of a major theme of this thesis, namely that the positive industrial leadership and influence generated by these few large lumber producers more than offset any ill effects their growth had on the lumber industry.

Traditionally, local above- and below-ground plant and microbial communities, temperature and precipitation, topography and texture and composition of parent material have been thought to govern the soil processes that lead to soil organic matter accumulation over decades or centuries. Soil organic matter is a substantial global reservoir of carbon and disturbance of equilibrated soils often leads to efflux of significant quantities of CO2. Anthropogenic influences shift the inputs, disturb the structure and alter the biochemistry of soil, profoundly disrupting soil-forming processes. Urbanization leads to soil organic matter equilibria that are different from those in naturally forming soils. Measurement of soil organic matter in diverse cities suggests that they differ in their capacity to accumulate soil organic matter. Here I quantify soil organic matter and examine the limitations of its accumulation within cities by comparing differences in soil organic matter and natural and anthropogenic characteristics at the neighborhood, city and regional scales in Portland, Oregon to that in the Pacific Northwest. I found that each Portland neighborhood has distinct urban characteristics and tree and shrub community composition, but soil organic matter content is indistinguishable among them. Across Portland, neither vegetation structure nor urban factors appear to directly influence soil organic matter content. Rather, microbial biomass, bulk density and total nitrogen appear to be important factors controlling soil organic matter content in Portland. The amount of soil organic matter stored in Portland's soils is statistically indistinguishable from Pacific Northwest soils, in contrast to other temperate cities.

This thesis is an attempt to construct a perspective of the acculturation of immigrants drawing on certain communication- based phenomenological assumptions. From these phenomenological assumptions a Framework of Acculturation is constructed as a guide through which to examine the acculturation process. The Framework of Acculturation is then applied to the particular group of Scottish immigrants who live in the Northwest of the United States.

In 1982, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), a marketer of hydroelectric power in the Pacific Northwest, found itself in a new role which required it to acquire power resources needed to meet the demands of the region's utilities. In particular, it had to deal with the Washington Public Power Supply System's nuclear plant cost escalations. In response, BPA prepared its first independent regional power forecast. The forecast development process was intricate and multidimensional and involved a variety of interested parties. Application of the Multiple Perspective Concept uncovers strengths and weaknesses in this process by illuminating its technical, organizational and personal dimensions. Examination of the forecast from the technical perspective revealed an elaborate set of interlinked models used to develop baseline, high, and low forecasts. The organizational perspective revealed BPA to be in a transitional stage. Internally, ratemaking, forecasting, conservation, resource acquisition, and financial management swelled as new organizational functions. Interorganizationally, environmentalists, ratepayer groups, and the region's utilities all had strong interests in the decision regarding WPPSS plants. The personal perspective revealed that each of the Administrators heading BPA since the early 1980s defined the agency's approach to the resource planning problem differently, first as an engineering problem, then as a political problem, and, finally, as a business problem. Taken together, the Multiple Perspectives yielded the following conclusions about BPA's 1982 forecast. (1) BPA's range forecast constituted a major improvement over the point forecasts preceding it, but left important classes of uncertainty unexplored. (2) BPA's models were better suited to address rate and conservation issues important at the time of the 1982 forecast than their predecessors. The model of the national economy, however, remained a black box, potentially significant feedbacks were not represented, and the sheer size of the modeling system placed practical limits on its use. (3) A stronger method of dealing with forecast uncertainty is needed which utilizes a disaster-avoidance strategy and plans for high impact/low probability events. This method need not involve the use of large models, but should incorporate qualitative insights from persons normally outside the technical sphere.

Contrary to popular belief, small cities, located outside Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSA's) and generally referred to as nonmetropolitan cities, have not been declining in population and withering away; rather, they have been growing and prospering in all regions of the country, albeit their growth varies considerably. It is this variation in growth rates of nonmetropolitan places in the northwest (and the factors associated with this variation) which is the focus of this thesis. Research literature in this area indicates a reciprocal relationship between the nature of economic activities in nonmetropolitan cities and their growth patterns. In an attempt to more fully understand the nature of this reciprocal relationship, this research employs a longitudinal design. The effects of the previous growth (of the city's hinterland as well as the city itself), ecological position within a system of cities (location on or off an interstate highway, distance to nearest Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, and proximity to places of varying sizes within the same county), and character of economic activity in the hinterland (State Economic Area extractive employment) impact upon both the economic functions of those nonmetropolitan places and their varying growth rates. This approach allows for a fuller explanation of how the economic organization of these communities operates as an intervening influence between these factors and subsequent population growth.

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This research examines the relationship between understory plant diversity and logs in a Pacific Northwest (PNW) Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis)-western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) old-growth, coastal forest. These forests are renowned for their high forest productivity, frequent wind storms, and slow log decomposition rates that produce unmatched accumulations of coarse woody debris (CWD) yet few studies have examined the relationship between CWD and understory vegetation ecology. My research addressed this topic by comparing understory plant census data between paired fallen log and forest floor sites (n=20 pairs). My objectives were to: 1) determine the influence of substrate type on community composition and diversity, and 2) examine successional pathways and species assemblage patterns on CWD in various stages of decomposition. To meet these objectives I employed non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordinations and unsupervised cluster analyses to identify and compare community assemblages on both substrates. These methods revealed similar species diversity and evenness between log and forest floor sites with compositional differences within and between substrates corresponding to habitat availability for colonization and light and moisture gradients. My results also suggest understory successional pathways related to decay class and characterized by an initial abundance of bryophytes, forbs, and seedlings followed by woody shrubs. Understory communities developing on logs also experienced increasing diversity, evenness, and divergence from forest floor communities consistent with log decomposition. These results differ from findings for boreal forests that reveal increasing similarity between substrate communities with increasing decay class. Recommendations for future research include the employment of a more robust sample size and direct measurements of environmental variables. Additional comparator studies are also needed to confirm the effects of forest type and decomposition on the relationship between CWD and forest understory communities. This study demonstrates how fine-scale wind disturbance fosters biodiversity through the creation of CWD substrate. My results and future research are essential for the development of silvicultural models designed to promote biodiversity in PNW coastal forests.

This research study investigated the effect of using the think aloud protocol while reading informational text on students' ability to learn from text in a secondary science classroom. The participants in this study were high school students (n=47) in three classes of a mixed-grade Integrated Biology, Chemistry, and Physics course. The study tracked student achievement during a four-week curriculum unit on the theory of evolution and evidence for biological evolution. All students received instruction on using the think aloud protocol, and all students practiced the think aloud protocol when reading short articles related to scientific evidence for evolution. The researcher measured student's ability to read and understand science text by comparing scores from a reading skills pre-assessment and post-assessment from each student. Student surveys were conducted to gather feedback on the effectiveness of the strategy in teaching students to use a literacy strategy while reading science text. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.