This thesis conducts historical research into Swanton Pacific Ranch in the County of Santa Cruz, an interdisciplinary facility for education and research managed by Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. The study seeks to determine whether there have been discernable changes in vegetation alliances (communities), spatially or in type, within a 110-acre Study Area from the early twentieth century to the present day and how the changes compare with other similar historical analyses in California. Historical farming and ranching uses of the area are researched, and two family case studies are presented as paradigms of potential changes to vegetation as well as the connectivity with the larger socioeconomic context of Italian immigration into California. Examination of the vegetation alliances over the course of the historical study period utilizes several types of historical imagery, including twentieth-century aerial photography, ground level photography and nineteenth-century maps. This thesis diverges from scholarship that posits substantial alteration of ecological systems by anthropogenic activities by arguing that the primary alliances and geospatial borders of the vegetation in the Study area have remained essentially stable, i.e., unchanged at a macro level, since at least the early twentieth century, and that this stability has persisted despite long-term agricultural activities. This thesis contributes to the historiography of Swanton Pacific Ranch by providing a preliminary exploration of the botanic resources and the attendant anthropogenic agricultural activities on the land that may have affected those resources. It provides a framework for further study of Ranch resources as well as the cultural context of the agricultural history of the North Coast-Santa Cruz region.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:17:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Telma Oliveira Marques.pdf: 1632724 bytes, checksum: b8fb51f512b54a42e07cc07d559fc512 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-11-12 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The objective of this research, a case study, is to know and to analyze a sociable rural experience of culture of the priprioca, as well as the process of collective participation, in the small village of Campo Limpo, in the city of Santo Antonio do Tauá, in the State of Pará, from 2003 to 2007. The purpose to carry out this study appeared due to the changes, that have been occurring at Campo Limpo, with the installation of some economic projects for the extraction of the Priprioca, of the Curauá, of the Nim and of other cultures focused on export. The object of the present study is the collective participation and the sociability of a group constituted of 03 (three) families with blood ties, accomplishing 15 (fifteen) associates for the planting of priprioca. The raised hypothesis recognizes that the collective participation has been internally created in the intra and inter familiar relationships, as well as externally through the organization of the Rural Producers Association Rancho Fundo , created by the group, as instrument of management and realization of culture and commercialization of the priprioca. The idea has been centered in the fact of knowing if this experience has been making possible and resulting in collective participation, and what is the meaning of this collective participation in the construction of the notion of citizenship and rights for the associates. Thus, the nature of the research is qualitative, having, as methodological procedures, the bibliographic survey, the documentary research, the local observation, the preliminary contacts, the ethnographic study, the use of the field diary, the photographic register, and the achievement of semi-structured interviews with oriented topics. The research has disclosed, as results, that the associated work has contributed for strengthening the ties, and also has been stimulating the conquer of the permanence, mainly of young people in the rural area. In this investigation, the land appears in a relationship of respect, that enhances values, like simplicity, which can be maintained through time, because it is based on respect to life. In this sense, the association has been useful as a way to deal with the lack of land and material resources. The participation of the people has been expressed as a learning process, that has been occurring in the internal and external practical activities, being able to direct itself to a future sustainable local development / O objetivo desta pesquisa, um estudo de caso, é conhecer e analisar uma experiência rural associativa de cultivo da priprioca e o processo de participação coletiva, na localidade de Campo Limpo, no município de Santo Antônio do Tauá, no Estado do Pará, no período de 2003 - 2007. A proposta de se realizar este estudo surgiu em decorrência às mudanças que vem ocorrendo em Campo Limpo com a instalação de alguns projetos econômicos para extração da Priprioca, do Curauá, e do Nim e outros cultivares voltados para a exportação. O objeto do presente estudo é a participação coletiva e o associativismo de um grupo constituído por 03 (três) famílias com laços de parentesco perfazendo 15 (quinze) pessoas associadas para o plantio da priprioca. A hipótese levantada reconhece que a participação coletiva vem se tecendo internamente nas relações intra e inter familiares, e externamente através da organização da Associação de Produtores Rurais Rancho Fundo criada pelo grupo como instrumento de gestão e realização do cultivo e comercialização da priprioca. A idéia centrou-se em saber se essa experiência vem possibilitando e resultando em participação coletiva, e quais os significados dessa participação coletiva na construção da noção de cidadania e direitos para os associados. Para tanto, a pesquisa é de natureza qualitativa, tendo como procedimentos metodológicos, o levantamento bibliográfico, a pesquisa documental, a observação local, os contatos preliminares, o estudo etnográfico, a utilização do diário de campo, o registro fotográfico e a realização de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com tópicos orientadores. A pesquisa revelou como resultados que o trabalho associativo contribuiu para o fortalecimento dos vínculos, e vem estimulando a conquista de permanência principalmente dos jovens no meio rural. Nesta investigação, a terra aparece numa relação de respeito, que realça valores como a simplicidade e que podem se manter no tempo porque se trata de uma relação baseada no respeito à vida. Neste sentido, a associação vem também servindo como forma de lidar com a escassez da terra e dos recursos materiais. A participação dos sujeitos expressou-se como um processo de aprendizagem, que vem se fazendo nas atividades práticas internas e externas, podendo se direcionar para um desenvolvimento local sustentável futuro

The primary purpose of this study is to examine professional city management in San Bernardino County cities functioning under the council-manager form of government, and to determine whether they are using the fundamental principals of "Managing for Results" as set by the criteria in the GPP report.