The Great Lakes Geographer
Volumes 6.1 & 6.2, 1999
Migration Fields of Michigan Counties in the 1990s
Gary A. Manson and Richard E. Groop
Department of Geography, Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Abstract
This study uses the concept of "migration fields', and rarely-used migration data from the Internal Revenue Service, to document out-of-state and within-state origins of persons moving to and from five case study counties in Michigan between 1994 and 1995. "Interurban" migration fields were the most conspicuous type of migraiton field at the out-of-state scale. Here, counties containing the nation's most populous cities exchanged the largest numbers of migrants with the most populous case study counties. Also present were "hinterland" migration exchanges with counties in adjacent states, and "amenity" outmigraion to counties in states with congenial environments. At the state scale, hinterland migration was easily identified as each of the case study counties exchanged the largest number of migrants with nearby counties. Amenity migration, and to a lesser extent, interurban migration were also present. These findings validate the usefulness of migration fields for summarizing migration patterns; however, several questions regarding the precision of the concept are raised.
Multi-layered Economic Restructuring in an Old Industrial Region: The Pittsburgh Transition
Sabina Deitrick
Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Abstract
The restructuring of regional economies, particularly in older industrial regions, presents a complicatead version of a post-industrial transformation. Researchers have examined the relation between changes in the structure of production and regional development trends through the post-Fordist transition. Others have studied new propulsive forces in regional development through innovative local milieux. Transition, however is uneven across space. This paper examines theoretical reasons for the economic transition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, through an analysis of employment trends over the past decade. The findings show that, despite a quite remarkable economic turnaround in the late 1980s in the wake of severe steel-related employment losses, the region's pace has slowed considerably in the 1990s. The trend has shifted from a 1980s model of successful post-industrial transition to laggard growth in the 1990s. The article examines reasons for this change by adopting a multi-layered view of transition in older industrial regions.
Keywords: regional development, post-industrial transition, economic development
Native American, Fire-Maintained Blueberry Patches in the Coastal Pine Forests of the Northern Great Lakes
John B. Anderton
Department of Geography, Northern Michigan University
Marquette, Michigan, USA
Abstract
A recent fire history from coastal pine forests in the northern Great Lakes (Loope and Anderton, 1998), based on fire-scarred Pinus resinosa trees and logging-era stumps, records that light ground fires occurred every five to 20 years in most cases, with fires beginning as early as the 1700s but ending abruptly almost everywhere in the region between 1910 and 1925. Because of the small size and isolated geographic setting of the forests, natural causes of ignition, such as lightning strikes and fires spreading from other locations, are improbable explanations for the close fire intervals. Historic and ethnographic sources suggest the forests were used as Vaccinium sp. collecting localities by Native Americans. The fertility of thse localities was likely maintained using periodic light burning, which was halted due to historic clear-cut logging and increasing white settlement and related fire-suppression activities.
Keywords: fire history, northern Grat Lakes, Native Americans, Vaccinium sp., Pinus resinosa
Environmental and Economic Concerns in the Saginaw Bay Watershed: Results of a Survey of Environmental Professionals
Chansheng He
Department of Geography, Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, Michigan USA
Thomas C. Edens
Department of Resource Development, Michigan State University
E. Lansing, Michigan, USA
Abstract
An environmental policy, planning and management survey was conducted in the Saginaw Bay Watershed, Michigan.Based on 320 questionnaires completed by professionals who have been involved in the Saginaw Bay Watershed environmental programs, this paper desscribes public perceptions of economic and environmental issues, effects of past programs, and research priorities in the region. Development of natural resource-based economy and improvement of environmental quality are perceived as the most important regional issues. Research priorities identified include agricultural nonpoint source pollutin cocntrol, water quality iprovement, and economic development. These findings provide an important basis for adapting and prioritizing government programs to lcoal needs in policy-making process
Keywords: survey, water quality, environmental management, evaluation
Technological Change in Canadian Foreign-Owned Companies: The Role of Invention, Location, Firm Structure and Technology Transfer
Brian Ceh
Department of Geography, Indiana State University
Science Building, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA
Abstract
This study incorporates patent data and industrial directory information to help reveal the major characteristics of Canada's foreign-owned companies and the geography of their patented inventions from 1975 to 1990. Such companies are distinct in that they are often large, have high volumes of sales, produce unusually high numbers of process inventions, and have become less inventive in key Canadian industries, such as electronics and chemical. Geographically, it was Canada's two largest cities and core area (Quebec City-Windsor corridor) that were adversely affected by the declining inventiveness in companies of American ownership during the 1980s. The situation has not been helped in that the country's foreign-owned companies have adopted a disproportionate share of their new technology from other world regions. Geographically, patent activity among Canada's foreign nationals shows patterns of concentration, specialization, and dispersion.
Keywords: invention, innovation, patent, foreign, process
Changes in Agricultural Land Use and Agroecosystem Health: A LandSat TM Approach
Wei Xu
Department of Geography, University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Abstract
This paper describes and documents changes in agricultural land use and assesses the implications for the health of agroecosystems in a case study of Wellington county, Ontario, Canada. The study adopts an approach of integrating remote sensing and geographic information systems to the issue of agricultural land use and agroecosystems. Using the remotely sensed data, this study generates evidence that both losses and gains of agricultural land have occurred in the study area over the period 1986-91, although a net loss of agricultural land resource is detected. Also, different processes of changes are associated with natural areas and the transformation between categories of cropland and pasture/grassland. Based on two health indicators, land resource availability and land use diversity, the study identifies the varying patterns of changes in agroecosystem health in Wellington County, and indicates a decline in the health of the system. Spatially, however, the northern part of the county is subject to a greater decrease in agricultural land resource availability, while the southern Wellington experienced a more apparent decline in land use diversity.
Keywords: agricultural land use, agroecosystem health, remote sensing
Human Impact on an Aeolian Environment, Carter Bay, Manitoulin Island Ontario, Canada
Raoul Etongue-Mayer, Eric Elder, Derek Durkac and John D. Shields
Geography Department, Laurentian University
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Abstract
The dynamics of human inpact on an aeolian environment located in Carter Bay on Manitoulin Island, Canada were studied using multidate aerial photogarphy and field studies. Significant variation of dune morphology is apparent, especially in the mature coastal dune plan. Data from 1964 indicate a positive sediment associated with low lake levels budget. By 1973 there was evidence of intense erosion of the foredune, and by 1990 there was some recovery in this area. The dynamics of the aeolian environment are found to be anthropogenically controlled primarily, with erosion initiated by trail-bikes and four-wheel drive vehicles.
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