The Coastal South

                Washington and the Coastal South have certain features in common.  The Coastal South's citrus industry is being challenged by increased international competition (Hardwick et al., 2008).  The Pacific Northwest's logging industry has also been threatened by competition from abroad.  The Coastal South has the advantage of not having extremely cold weather and being able to grow certain types of crops that thrive from the humidity.  Washington experiences cold, wet and snowy winters which don't have a large impact on their harvesting processes.  This is one reason why Washington contains some of the largest trees in the world and why there is not a large amount of agriculture.

                The Coastal South is a region where hurricanes tend to make landfall.  Hurricanes have caused billions and billions of dollars in damages throughout the years.  Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was one of the worst hurricanes in recent memory.  The Pacific Northwest also experiences many storms that plow through the region.  Washington receives the most rainfall in all of North America.  Since there are many mountains in this region, flooding is minimal and runoff is excessive.  The Coastal South on the other hand sits low in comparison to sea level and there are not any mountainous regions that can force the rainfall into the Gulf of Mexico.  This results in severe flooding that can last for weeks.

               Washington's and the Coastal South's histories have been very different.  The Coastal South has been a part of popular history since the Spanish and other Europeans first made landfall.  Africans were brought over from west Africa to pick cotton and work in the field.  French settlers from Canada were also sent packing to the south after being removed from Acadia (Hardwick et al., 2008).  These people, also known as Cajuns, made southern Louisiana their home and even today, they practice their old customs.  The Coastal South has also been a port of entry for many immigrants coming to the United States.  Washington's history has not been as colorful as the Coastal South's.

Hardwick, Susan W., Shelley, Fred M., Holtgrieve, Donald G. The Geography of North America. Glenview, 2008. Print.

The Inland South

                There are a number of similarities between the Inland South and Washington state.  For starters, there is a lot of rainfall throughout the whole area.  This sometimes results in flash floods in the southern Appalachians where the mountains are steep.  Because of the high rainfall, there are extremely thick forests that attracted Euro-Americans to settle here.  Also much like Washington, commerical foresty is a significant contributor to to the local and regional economies (Hardwick et.al. 2008).  The warm, humid climate allows for trees to grown almost out of control.  Trees like pine and poplars are among the fastest growing trees in the region.  These are harvested to produce paper, woodpulp and other products (Hardwick et. al. 2008).  Along with foresty, the Inland South also must depend on raising livestock and growing crops.  Farmers raise animals such as hogs, chickens and turkeys along with others.  The farmers on the eastern side of washington grow pears and apples along with wheat. 

              Washington also has a unique connection to the Inland South; music origins.  The Inland South is a popular region for country music.  Country music has dominated the region and has been homes to many famous country artists.  Many record label companies are established there as well as venues like The Grand Ole Opry.  Washington state is said to be the origin of grunge music starting in the mid 1980's.  This is do to the climate of the region; being a very gloomy and rainy place as are the song topics.  This is where bands such as Nirvana, The Melvins, Soundgarden, and Green River originated (90's 411, 2013).  Grunge is said to be the root of what is now alternative rock which changed music forever (90's 411, 2013).  

Hardwick, Susan W., Shelley, Fred M., Holtgrieve, Donald G. The Geography of North America. Glenview, 2008. Print.

http://www.90s411.com/history-of-90s-grunge.html

The Great Lake and Corn Belt

             The region of the Great Lakes and Corn belt is nothing like that of the Pacific Northwest.  The Great Lakes and Corn Belt region is a very flat area and some of the areas sit less than 2000 feet above sea level.  Much of the area was covered and shaped by the glaciation that occurred approximately 10,000 years ago.  Areas to the south and east are hillier and less suited for agriculture.  This area is home to the world's largest natural lakes where the country gets a large number of crops.  These crops are also exported to counties all around the world.  A lot of the Midwestern farms are family owned and very mechanized.  The United States is the world's leading producer of corn.  The U.S. is also producing soybeans on the same farms as corn.  Farms in other parts of the region are producing cattle for milk and meat along with hogs.  This is the complete opposite of Washington.  Washington is rugged and full of high mountains and volcanoes.  Farming is extremely minimal and isolated to the east.  All of the harvesting is from natural resources like trees and fish.  This landscape is nothing like the Great Lakes and Corn Belt region since glaciation did not hit Washington like it did the Midwest.  Because of this, it gave the mountains of Washington the opportunity to keep it's topography. 

             The Great Lakes and Corn Belt region's weather is somewhat different than that of Washington's.  The climate of the region is determined by the Great Lakes (Hardwick, 2008 et al).  The south and east part of the region are locations of heavy snow fall in the winter.  There are occasionally blizzards and snowstorms in the region that can effect all ways of traveling.  In the spring and summer time, tornadoes and thunderstorms can be a major hazard to lives and property throughout the region.  Since this is an area of large cities, human lives are especially at risk.  Washington's weather is not as extreme most of the time even though they do get some major rainstorms coming down from Alaska.  This results in flooding when a major storm does come through.  Snow is isolated to very high peaks of the Cascade Mountains.       


Hardwick, Susan W., Shelley, Fred M., Holtgrieve, Donald G. The Geography of North America. Glenview, 2008. Print.
              

Megalopolis

                                                                       (Tacoma, WA)


             Megalopolis is a term that has been given to the area of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington.  It is said that it has become one major metropolitan area.  Washington state and Megalopolis have very little similarities.  Washington has mountains that bring a lot of precipitation to the region.  Megalopolis has the Appalachians that also causes a good amount of precipitation to fall along the east coast.  Both Megalopolis and Washington experience cool winters and a snow fall.  Megalopolis' snow fall occurs in the northern part of the region while Washington's Cascades are high enough to receive and hold snow.  Both regions have rivers spilling into the near by oceans.  Native Americans in Megalopolis cut down trees in order to settle farms and build homes (Hardwick, 2008 et. al).  They would use wood for other things such as fire, fuel, weapons, and making tools (Hardwick, 2008 et). In Washington, Native Americans would also build their houses of the natural wood that grew in the area, more specifically red ceder.  The natives in this region also used the wood for totem poles. 

             Washington, unlike Megalopolis, has not had a long history of large numbers of Europeans in the area.  Since colonial days, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore have been the largest cities of the region.  This is where most of the regions economy was based and where all the trading was occurring.  Washington D.C. then emerged as the region's main economic and political base.  Since both regions are located along the sea, they both rely on the ocean for a main source of income.  Megalopolis is the leading source of oysters, crabs and shellfish (Hardwick, 2008 et).  Washington seems to have people that enjoy the outdoors and are concerned about the preservation of the states forests and parks.  Overcrowding has been diminishing the "natural" experience of the outdoors and there is limit to the number of people that can be in the parks at a given time.  Overcrowding, in general, has been having a negative effect on both regions over the past years.  It has been taking a toll on the environment causing air quality issues, unemployment, and housing issues among other things.  Population growth does not seem to be slowing down any time soon.



Hardwick, Susan W., Shelley, Fred M., Holtgrieve, Donald G. The Geography of North America. Glenview, 2008. Print.           

The Atlantic Periphery

              Like Washington, the Atlantic Periphery contains a long mountain range running through the area.  Washington has the Cascade Range running through the center of the state while the Atlantic Periphery is part of the Appalachian Mountain chain.  Parts of Washington have also been effected by glaciation like most of the Atlantic Periphery has.  Also like Washington, much of the land is useless for agriculture.  Washington has patches to the east where there is farming but it's difficult to find these in the Atlantic Periphery.  The Atlantic Periphery can experience heavy snowfall and sometimes blizzards.  The Pacific Northwest also experiences heavy snowstorms.  In the winter months, both regions experience below freezing temperatures as well as heavy rainfall. 

            The Atlantic Periphery, like Washington, has an abundance of large forests and large quantities of offshore fishing and marine animals.  Fishing is still a major part of the economy for both regions.  Lobsters are fished from the Atlantic Periphery by the millions of pounds averaging $285 million annually.  Even though Washington still has a heavy reliance on logging and fishing, tourism and high technology is becoming a major source of income.  More and more people are traveling to Washington and the Pacific Northwest for hiking, backpacking, and other outdoor activities.  The Atlantic Periphery's economy is still oriented toward their natural resources.  These two regions do have a lot in common because of their geographic locations.   

The North American Political Economy (w/ video)

         Washington has been and will always be a place of very important primary sector occupation.  The fishing and logging that takes place here is an essential part of Washington's economy.  Commercial fishing has been part of Washington since about 1792 when the Columbia River was discovered (Harrison, 2008).  Explorers saw great potential when they discovered the large amount of salmon in the river.  They began to export the salmon to Boston's harbor but the preservation of fish and import taxes made it a financial obstacle (Harrison, 2008).  After the development of canned salmon came along, the number of commercial fishing on the Columbia grew exponentially from 100 boats in 1872 to 1,500 in 1881 (Harrison, 2008).  Now in the 21st Century, non-tribal commerical fisheries can bring in about $148.3 million in income alone (Radtke, 2011).  In 2006, there were 3,520 people employed in this industry.  More recently, there has been an economic contribution of $1.84 billion dollars employing almost 15,000 primary sector workers (Radtke, 2011). 

        Washington has also had a long history of logging.  Since the early 1800s, Washington's forests have been harvested for its valuable timber for housing, building cities, and exporting (History, 2013).  By the late 1820s, the region saw it's first saw mill and by 1890, Washington was producing 1 billion board feet of wood a year (History, 2013).  Although logging is a major part of Washington's economy today, there was more trees being logged in the early 20th century than there is today.  Today, the logging industry has been hit hard with the current recession the United States and other parts of the world have been going through.  Manufacturing has been a weak link (DNR, 2012) and this can slow down the primary sector of Washington's economy.  The price of lumber that the mill is willing to pay has been going down in recent years as well (DNR, 2012).  Another part of Washington's economy has been in the quaternary sector.  High-technology industries have been prevalent in areas where there are major research universities, including the University of Washington.  Seattle is also home to the western headquarters for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA's) research centers.    

*This is a video of History's televsision series "Ax Men".  The first six and a half minutes shows how logging is done by Port Angeles, WA's Rygaard Logging Co.

http://www.history.com/shows/ax-men/videos/playlists/season-4-full-episodes#ax-men-alaska

http://www.rhppublishing.com/smbc/attachments/SMBC%20Washington%20Total%20Commercial%20Fisheries%204.pdf  

http://www.nwcouncil.org/history/commercialfishing.asp 

http://www.history.com/shows/ax-men/articles/history-of-logging  

Historical Settlement of North America

             Washington State was part of the Oregon Territory unit 1848.  There after, the United States took control of the area from Spain, Russia, and Great Britain.  Washington, along with the Pacific Northwest region has held dense populations since the time of the first explorers.  Settlement patterns tended to be located where there was an abundance of resources.  For example, aboriginal residence occupied the northwest region for its marine resource which also resulted in complex belief systems and rituals.  In the later years after the arrival of Europeans, the abundance of quality timber had attracted loggers from across the country.  Prior to the discovery of Washington's large trees, loggers were producing large amounts of wood out of Maine and other states on the east coast (History, 2013).  By the mid 1800's, logging was proving to be a possibility for economic development in the previously occupied Native American lands.  Around the same time in 1862, Lincoln's Homestead Act tempted unemployed loggers from the Midwest to migrate West (History, 2013).  They quickly found that the Pacific Northwest was the place to harvest quality timber. 

            By the the 1890's and into the 20th century, Washington was holding the record for producing timber at a rate of 1 billion board feet annually (History, 2013).  In 1905, Washington had become the top lumber-producing state in America (History, 2013).  Washington hit it's all-time high producing 7.6 billion board feet 1926 (starting the 21st century only producing 4.1 in comparison) (History, 2013).  Despite the massive changes throughout history, there are still large Native American lands in Washington although mostly toward the east which consist mostly of grasslands and desert.  Now-a-days, migration and settlement patterns have shifted slightly in the United States.  Instead of immigrants settling in large cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, they are now settling in second-tier cities such as Dallas, Texas and Seattle, Washington.  This has also been the result of the recession that began in 2008.  New immigrants have been moving to cities, like Seattle, that have not been effected dramatically by the recession in addition to increasing numbers during the past decade.  We shall see where new migration patters will bloom in the upcoming decade. 

http://www.history.com/shows/ax-men/articles/history-of-logging