Vol. 41, No. 1, Spring/Summer 2003 - "Anniversary Issue"
E. WILLARD MILLER: A LIFE REMEMBERED AND LIGHT REFLECTED
(pp. 4 - 15)
Robert C. Ziegenfus
Department of Geography
Kutztown University
Kutztown, Pennsylvania
DR. E. WILLARD MILLER AND THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE
George A. Schnell
Department of Geography
SUNY New Paltz
New Paltz, New York
LESSONS LEARNED FROM E. WILLARD MILLER
(pp. 21 - 26)
Burton 0. Witthuhn
Department of Geography
Western Illinois University
Macomb, Illinois
(pp. 27 - 41)
Vincent P. Miller, Jr.
Professor Emeritus
Department of Geography and Regional Planning
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Indiana, Pennsylvania
(pp. 42 - 43)
Sandra Mather
Professor Emeritus
West Chester University
West Chester, Pennsylvania
THE PENNSYLVANIA GEOGRAPHER: THIRTY-NINE YEARS OF PUBLICATION
(pp. 44 - 61)
Karen M. Trifonoff
Department of Geography and Geosciences
Bloomsburg University
Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Abstract
The Pennsylvania Geographical Society, and its predecessor The Pennsylvania Council for Geography Education have published the Pennsylvania Geographer continuously since 1963. There have been four changes in editorial leadership, as well as changes in the method of soliciting manuscripts, from invited papers to a peer-reviewed process. This article provides a quantitative summary of the editors, authors, articles, and themes featured in The Pennsylvania Geographer from 1963 through 2001.
(pp. 62 - 87)
Wesley R. Beard and Dr. John E. Benhart
Department of Geography-Earth Science
Shippensburg University
Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
Abstract
This article reviews the various methods that have been implemented to save some of Pennsylvania's prime farmland. The methods that are investigated include agricultural preservation zoning, differential assessment in taxation commonly known as Clean and Green, the creation of agricultural security areas, and the purchase of agricultural conservation easements. A focus is placed on preserving Cumberland County farmland with an emphasis on agricultural conservation easements as the primary means of conserving the best farmland for future generations. Current data is presented showing the amount of farmland currently preserved in perpetuity in Cumberland County along with the amount of land registered in agricultural security areas and assessed under Clean and Green. A case study is researched in Southampton Township, Cumberland County to show an example of how prime farmland is beginning to be saved in areas of the county without protective zoning. The case study is looked upon as opening the door to preserving farmland in this part of the county that is devoid of zoning.
SMOKEY THE BEAR AND LYME DISEASE
(pp. 88 - 105)
Mark A. Blumler
Department of Geography
SUNY-Binghamton
Binghamton, New York
Abstract
Ecological research into the cause(s) of Lyme disease's recent, spectacular resurgence has stressed biotic factors, but these seem insufficiently explanatory. Rather, the twentieth century policy of wildland fire suppression may be primarily responsible. Traditionally, both American Indians and Euro-American farmers employed fire to control ticks — which spread the disease— as well as pathogens and other "vermin." Frequent use of fire around habitations would have reduced tick population density, while eliminating much of the vegetation from which ticks disperse on to large mammalian hosts. Given that Lyme disease seems to be expanding from three widely separated foci, prescribed fire offers attractive possibilities for slowing the disease's geographical spread, as well as for reducing its abundance in those places where it is endemic. The arguments offered here for Lyme disease may apply also to many introduced pathogens and insect pests, since they, too, tend to be susceptible to fire.
WEST NILE VIRUS IN SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA, 2001-2002
(pp. 106 - 123)
Paul Marr and Matthew Martin
Department of Geography and Earth Science
Shippensburg University
Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
Abstract
West Nile virus first appeared in Pennsylvania in 2000, one year after an outbreak in New York City that resulted in 59 hospitalizations and seven deaths over an eight week period. A flavivirus commonly found in Africa and West Asia, West Nile virus spread rapidly across the Mid-Atlantic and the country over the next two years. Pennsylvania set up a surveillance system to monitor the virus by testing dead birds and mosquitoes. Data from these tests have been used to characterize the location and spread of the disease in eleven counties in southeastern Pennsylvania for 2001 and 2002. Although limited, these data are useful for examining the spread of the virus at the initial stages of its emergence in Pennsylvania. The virus appears to have become endemic to the region and is most concentrated in suburban areas, where people are most likely to come in contact with the mosquito vector.