Editorial Notes

Abstract

Editorial Notes Craig S. Revels Welcome to the eighty-first volume of the Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers. This year's issue offers a diverse selection of original research and perspectives from our members, ranging from in-depth considerations of landscape and place to natural resources management to the tools and techniques geographers use to explore and understand the world. It also serves as the official record for our most recent annual meeting in Reno, and, as always, includes a full slate of abstracts, awards, and reports from that event. Attendees at the Reno banquet will vividly remember the Presidential Address of Paul Starrs, a wide-ranging, ruminative consideration of landscape, place, and the passage of time. In both spirit and form it is a passionate reminder of the deep understanding geography brings to the world in which we live, and it is my pleasure to present that address to begin this year's Yearbook. Continuing with the theme of place, Sean Pries takes us to California's North Fork American River to examine conservation efforts that have shaped and continue to shape the landscape. His narrative examines the actors and events that have resulted in widespread protection, but takes care to remind us that the place itself is a key part of the process, both inspiring and participating in its own process of becoming. A similar idea can be found in Ray Sumner's consideration of confluences. Though traditionally the realm of physical scientists, she suggests that confluences have a distinct character that makes them important in human terms as well, creating complex layers of meaning that ultimately reinforce our understandings of place. The next two articles turn our attention to the policy and practice of water management in the West. Michael McCarthy and Suzanne Dallman detail the ways in which California responded to its recent drought crisis and question whether or not that crisis may lead to a more comprehensive and resilient approach to water management. The answer can be found, they suggest, only by addressing the many current legislative and behavioral constraints to more effective water management in the state. Deborah Ayodele-Olajire and Bob Bolin examine the sustainability of water governance in Arizona. Detailing vertical and horizontal coordination between stakeholders, they conclude that many of those interactions actually serve to hinder rather than help the process of achieving water sustainability. [End Page 9] Our research articles conclude with a turn to the more techniques-oriented facet of our discipline. Debbie Ma, Steve Graves, and Jonathan Alvarado undertake a spatial analysis of police officer-involved shootings in Los Angeles, identifying neighborhood characteristics that increase the likelihood of such an event. Their findings suggest that the commonly assumed role of race and ethnicity is perhaps wrong, and remind us that understanding situational variables can lead to improved policy and practice by law enforcement. Sanchayeeta Adhikari considers the crucial question of data accuracy for climate change research by testing and evaluating the efficiency of commonly used indices for delineating water pixels in remotely sensed imagery. She also brings to our attention Collect Earth, a novel way for researchers to find data for accuracy assessment in remote or difficult terrain. Finally, Ryan Heintzman focuses on Joshua Tree National Park, where newly collected climate data creates an opportunity to assess reanalysis and interpolation climate models for areas where data is scarce. Considering the benefits and limitations of these models, he reminds us of their essential value for ground-level research, conservation, and management. Every volume of the Yearbook reflects the efforts of many individuals. It would not exist, of course, without the contributions of our members, and I wish to thank all who submitted their research this year, as well as everyone who volunteered his or her time to serve as manuscript reviewers. Particular thanks also to Dave Deis for this year's cover design, and to our hardworking copyeditor Rick Cooper for compiling and carefully crafting the final product you see here. Finally, I encourage everyone in the APCG, but especially graduate students and junior faculty seeking to introduce their work to a welcoming audience, to consider submitting their research and perspectives for upcoming volumes of...