Date of Award:

5-2015

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Environment and Society

Committee Chair(s)

Steven W. Burr

Committee

Steven W. Burr

Committee

Terry Sharik

Committee

Chris Conte

Committee

Jennifer Peeples

Committee

Robert Schmidt

Abstract

Through support from a Quinney Fellowship and the Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism in the Department of Environment and Society at Utah State University, the theory of cultural entropy emerged as an explanation for changing behavior across generations of people living in the Arroyo Grande Creek watershed. Through a trounded theory methodology data collection around early childhood experiences with nature leading towards positive civic engagement with the community, the theory of cultural entropy emerged along with a policy recommendation for reconnecting the community to the local watershed.

Lifelong residents participating in the research were found to have high levels of civic engagement through participation with the local historical society and/or recommendations from people because of their involvement with the community. More than any other theme, the importance of the Arroyo Grande Creek emerged as a significant early experience in nature amongst all lifelong residents. In contrast, this experience was completely gone from the early experiences by the high school students participating in this study. Creation of the dam, channelization of the creek, and invasive species introduction have almost eliminated access to the creek. Very little evidence was found along the entire stretch of creek from dam to ocean of kids playing in the creek. This is theorized to be a product of larger cultures from outside this local ecosystem diffusing into the local culture, creating disconnect from local ecosystem knowledge.

A policy recommendation is to create an interpretive greenbelt system along an already existing dirt farm road controlled by local agricultural land, promoting community engagement with the local watershed. Because so much of the key ecological, historical, and cultural knowledge of the area centers around the watershed, it is hypothesized that a greenbelt system has potential for reversing cultural entropy, increasing ecological, historical, and cultural knowledge of the area, and promoting civic engagement.

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