Geography & Planning Department

APCG 2017

"APCG 2017" four birds flying over rice fields

Association of Pacific Coast Geographers Annual Meeting

The theme for the 2017 meeting was Sustainable Communities, and was held from October 25th to 28th, 2017.

Photo Credit: Bruce King

  • Conference Overview

    We look forward to seeing you in Chico at the 2017 Association of Pacific Coast Geographers Annual Meeting. Chico, home to the internationally renowned Sierra Nevada Brewery, sits on the eastern edge of the picturesque Sacramento Valley. Surrounding the historic city is a mosaic of original Konkow homelands, Mexican ranchos, gold rush towns, agricultural landscapes, and the Sacramento River, a major water supplier to the Golden State.

    This year's meeting will continue the APCG tradition of scholarship, collegiality and friendship. The evacuation from below nearby Oroville Dam made the national news(opens in new window) last February and the spillway failure is topic of our Wednesday night Keynote Speaker. Department faculty members have planned six field trips for Thursday to help you explore the diverse landscapes of the northern Sacramento Valley. Destinations include Oroville Dam(opens in new window), Grey Lodge Wildlife Refuge(opens in new window), the New Clairvaux Monastery(opens in new window), The Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve(opens in new window), Historic Downtown Chico(opens in new window), Scotty's Landing(opens in new window) and The Butte College Wildlife Preserve(opens in new window). Thursday evening's annual social event is at the Sierra Nevada Brewery's "Big Room"(opens in new window). Brewery tours(opens in new window) are optional field trips during the day.

    Formal paper sessions will be held on Friday the 27th and Saturday the 28th on the Chico State campus. We encourage your participation. Remember that the APCG is an excellent, friendly venue for undergraduate and graduate students' research presentations. The Saturday night Awards Banquet and Presidential Address will be held on campus and feature a local Field to Fork Gourmet Meal centered on the historic Rancho Llano Seco(opens in new window). That morning, we will highlight the participating farms and farmers at the Chico Saturday Farmers Market(opens in new window), ranked among the top 10 Farmers Markets around the world by Essential Travel. There will be many other chances to network and socialize with colleagues, including the Conference Barbeque(opens in new window) on Friday night and Women's Network Luncheon on Saturday. We encourage guests to stay in one of the many hotels or B&Bs within walking distance of campus so they can enjoy the many dining and entertainment options(opens in new window) in our historic downtown without getting behind the wheel.

    Mark Stemen and Scott Brady (Conference Coordinators)

  • Registration Info

    Registration was completed through the official APCG website, which can be found at this link.(opens in new window) For reference, the registration prices for the 2017 conference are listed below:

    Registration Info

    Registration Fees for Members:
    $110 Early | $125 Regular | $145 Late

    Registration Fees for Students:
    $40 Early | $50 Regular | $55 Late

    Day Pass for Friday: $40

    Day Pass for Saturday: $40

    Early Registration Ends:
    Monday, Sept. 4, 2017

    Regular Registration Ends:
    Friday, Oct. 6, 2017

    Abstract Deadline:
    Friday, Sept. 22, 2017

    Student Paper/Poster Award Application Deadline:
    Monday, Oct. 2, 2017

    Conference Barbeque:
    $10 Members | $5 Students

    Women's Network Lunch:
    $20 Members | $10 Students

    Awards Banquet:
    $50 Members | $25 Students

    Information on Awards and Scholarships(opens in new window) can be found on the APCG website as well.

  • Final Program
  • AAG Meeting

    The AAG executive committee met in Chico during the APCG Conference. The attending members were:

    AAG executive members
    President
    Derek Alderman (2019)
    University of Tennessee
    Vice President
    Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach (2020)
    University of Texas at Austin
    Past President
    Glen MacDonald (2018)
    University of California, Los Angeles
    Treasurer
    Julie Cidell (2018)
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    Secretary
    Cathleen McAnneny (2019)
    University of Maine at Farmington
    Executive Director
    Douglas Richardson
    American Association of Geographers
  • Field Trips Info
    • Agricultural Landscapes: Rice to Ruin
      Trip leader: Scott Brady

      This trip will trace a transect that leads from the rice paddies 30 miles south of Chico to a restored thirteenth century Cistercian monastery 30 miles north of Chico. In between, we will: drink coffee in Richvale, a town settled by Swedes, including Lundbergs, who became rice growers; go nuts in the almond, walnut and pistachio orchards that sprout in the area’s Vina loam; sample the fare at a few of the wineries included in the region’s burgeoning wine industry; observe riparian restoration along the Sacramento River, dine on River Burgers at a river landing bar and grill; and, break vows of silence at a Trappist monastery on land once owned by Leland Stanford.

    • The Feather River Fish Hatchery and Oroville Dam: The Best Dam Tour Around
      Trip Leader: LaDona Knigge

      At 770 feet, Oroville dam is the tallest dam in the USA. Located on the Feather River just east of the City of Oroville in the Sierra Nevada Foothills east of the Sacramento Valley, the earthfill embankment dam has been in the public’s eye since the Feb 11th, 2017 spillway incident and evacuation of nearly 200,000 people February 13th. This day long tour will showcase various speakers about the history of the dam and the social, economic and political consequences of the spillway incident and reconstruction project. We will begin with a visit to the Feather River Fish Hatchery and witness spawning of Chinook salmon and steelhead trout. Next stop will be the Oroville Visitor Center, located on Kelly Ridge Road with a view of the dam and lake, Sutter Buttes and other features from the 47 foot viewing tower. Several video cams of the spillway reconstruction work can be viewed in the theater in the visitor center along with displays of the history of the dam, the Hyatt Power Plant, and role of the dam as the head of the 700 miles of canals, reservoirs, pumping stations and power plants that make up the California State Water Project. The tour will be led by LaDona Knigge, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography & Planning at Chico State. Sack lunches will be included in the tour package.
      100 Day Timeline of Dam Drama(opens in new window)
      Oroville Spillway, Before and After(opens in new window)

    • Fire Resilient Landscapes
      Trip Leader: Don Hankins

      Fire is an integral process in many North American ecosystems including the fire prone landscapes surrounding Chico. Participants will travel to portions of the southern Cascades and northern Sierra Nevada including the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve and Firewise community of Forest Ranch to observe and discuss efforts to plan for and restore fire at a landscape scale to achieve multiple stewardship objectives amongst diverse ecosystems, land owners, and agencies. Weather pending, this trip will occur during the first CalTREX (California prescribed fire training exchange), and participants will have a chance to see prescribed fire in action.

    • Gray Lodge Pacific Flyway: Birds and Brews
      Trip Leader: Dean Fairbanks

      The Sacramento Valley is a major conduit for birds migrating from the north slopes of Alaska and northern Canada. Before industrial agriculture the valley was covered in wetlands and backswamps created by the geomorphological influence of the Sacramento River a important haven for the birds to rest in during their long journey to the tropics. Today the Pacific flyway is supported by remnant wetlands, restored wetlands and cooperative rice farmers who flood their paddies during winter to provide habitat and a food source for the birds. This tour will include a visit to the flooded rice paddies, the historic Rancho Llano Seco(opens in new window) where thousands of acres are set aside for wildlife habitat and conservation. Habitats include riparian forests of the Sacramento River and Little Chico Creek, Valley oak woodlands and savannas, native and annual grasslands, vernal pool and freshwater marsh wetlands. We will then head to the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area(opens in new window) at the base of the Sutter Buttes, one of the premier winter birding areas in Northern Sacramento Valley. With its varied habitats, flat hiking trails, viewing hides, and a 3-mile auto loop, viewing the million plus ducks, hundreds of thousands of Snow, Great White-fronted, and Ross's Geese, Sandhill Cranes, Swans and raptors galore. Dress for the fall weather and wear hiking shoes or boots, and bring a pair of binoculars if you have them.

    • Chico Historic Downtown Tour: Mixing New and Old
      Trip Leader: Ryan Miller

      Downtown Chico is a crossroads for campus and community culture, and is revered by Chicoans for its locally-owned businesses, walkable tree-lined streets, vibrant public art, and rich local history. This field trip, led by a 4 th generation Chicoan, will take you on a 2-mile walking tour of Downtown Chico and adjacent Lower Bidwell Park’s iconic “One Mile”. The tour focuses on downtown’s Bidwell-era heritage, public art installations, and historic building renovations and adaptive re-use projects. The tour ends with a light lunch at a local eatery which focuses on sustainably-sourced local foods and creatively re-uses a downtown space formerly occupied by a mechanic shop.

    • Sierra Nevada Brewery Tours

      These tours were taken after the Gray Lodge Pacific Flyway Tour.


apcg 2017 flickr album link