This year's selections of notable state and local government documents, from Colorado wildlife to Oregon sea urchins, North Dakota blizzards to North Carolina DWI offenders

COLORADO

Colorado Water Plan: Analysis and Technical Update. Colorado Water Conservation Board. 2019. Illus. maps. OCLC# 1122862605. website with pdf. bit.ly/2xt9SNk

Colorado's water resources are facing new and intensifying challenges, including drought, wildfire, flooding, and more. Acknowledging these challenges, the Colorado Water Conservation Board has produced this very expansive, multi-media document detailing its plan of action for conserving and protecting Colorado's water. This includes a data repository with population, agricultural, and water supply databases and analytic tools; extensive text commentaries on all aspects of water conversation and management; webinars and other online learning resources; and more.

Western Slope Wildlife Prioritization Study. Julia Kintsch, Pat Basting, Meredith McClure and Jim O. Clarke, Colorado Department of Transportation; Colorado Department of Natural Resources. 2019. 403p. illus. maps. OCLC# 1117339233. pdf and other online resources. bit.ly/2V4r8QZ

Wildlife-Vehicle conflicts (WVCs) have negative impacts on wildlife populations and wider ecosystem and on human economies in terms of damage and accident-related traumas. This resource details the collaborative effort of the Colorado Departments of Transportation and Parks and Wildlife to understand areas with high rates of WVC. This project includes identifying high-volume wildlife crossing points on highways, recommendations for accident mitigation, and more. Ultimately this project will inform the development of infrastructure to decrease accidents, especially those involving large wildlife like elk.

OREGON

Final Report of Ginger McCall, Oregon Public Records Advocate. By Ginger McCall. Oregon Office of the Public Records Advocate. 2019. 12p. illus. OCLC#1122857755. pdf. bit.ly/2PS23ae

Access to public records is an essential utility for citizens to fully participate in and make informed decisions about their government. Oregon has made increasing access to public records a priority and established the Public Records Advocate to review policies and gain insight from people around the state about issues surrounding access to public records. This report details the results of the review and identified some critical issues such as fees required to process requests, a lack of record request tracking, a legal gray area surrounding records relating to elected officials, and the future independence of the Public Records Advocate.

Prickly Problem with Sea Urchins. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. 2019. video (2 min., 56 sec.): sound, color. OCLC# 1124936590. bit.ly/3cCSi9q

Kelp forests provide habitats for many ocean-dwelling creatures such as star fish, abalones, and urchins. The kelp forests off of Oregon’s coast have been severely stressed over the last few years by an ocean heatwave and El Niño cycle together with a 10,000 percent increase in urchin populations after an epidemic greatly reduced the number of urchin-eating starfish. This video synopsizes the current situation and efforts by Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife to monitor these events and distinguish between seasonal variation in the ecosystem and longer-term trends aggravated by climate change.

Assessing Oregon's retail environment: shining light on tobacco industry facts. Oregon Department of Health and Human Services. 2019. 10p. illus. OCLC# 1110580036. pdf. bit.ly/32YzVYq

This document details some strategies used by the tobacco industry to promote its products and recruit new customers among youth, and especially minorities. Rich diagrams and succinct statistics illustrate how vulnerable populations are targeted with brazen advertisements outside of convenience stores and other venues, flavored tobacco product promotions commingle with snacks, and product discounts are frequent. This documents also details some initiatives by the Oregon state government to mitigate tobacco consumption and addiction such as raising the smoking age, increasing the price of tobacco, and expanding licensure of tobacco sales.

Strategic plan: A strategic plan for keeping Oregon's bee pollinators healthy. Oregon Bee Project. 2018. 34p. illus. maps. OCLC# 1041857229. pdf. bit.ly/2ReALLT

Oregon is home to over 500 species of bees, which play an essential role not only in the natural ecology of plants, but also in Oregon’s agricultural industries. Bee populations around the world are threatened by stressors like colony collapse disorder, excessive application of pesticides, and more. This document outlines a two-year plan to mitigate these challenges by offering training in how to apply pesticides, increasing bee habitats, reduce the impact of bee diseases, and increasing the overall understanding of bees through observation and data collection.

Oregon ocean acidification and hypoxia action plan, 2019–2025. Oregon Coordinating Council on Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia (OAH). 2019. 11 vol. illus. OCLC# 1120941301. Pdf. bit.ly/2vGI47B

This resources outlines a broad approach to understanding and mitigating changes to ocean acidity. Part of a wider West coast initiative that includes Washington, California, and British Columbia, this plan identifies five components: advancing scientific understanding, developing strategies to reduce CO2 and other causes of OAH, supporting resilience to OAH in Oregon’s ecosystems, disseminating knowledge about OAH, and building sustainable support between state agencies. These components are explored in eleven reports and appendices which focus on special topics such as carbon; building sustained support; and spotlights on species such as Dungeness crabs, oysters, and salmon.

Climate change and public health in Oregon. Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division. 2018. 33p. illus. OCLC# 1079421307. bit.ly/2J7LW4n

The effects of climate change on public health are anticipated to be far-reaching. Rising temperature will lead to more heat-related illness while forest fires will exacerbate respiratory problems. Many of the negative effects on public health will be social determined, with poor and minority populations suffering higher proportions of health challenges. This resource explores the effects of climate change and particulate matter on the welfare of vulnerable populations together with effective interventions for these populations, climate change mitigation strategies, and related issues most relevant to Oregon.

WASHINGTON

Open Educational Resources & the Cost of Required Course Materials in Four-Year Universities. Washington State Institute for Public Policy. 2019. 54p. illus. pdf. bit.ly/2WPC4nZ

Rising textbook cost have negative impacts on education achievement and access in higher education. Open Educational Resources, which include free textbooks and course materials, are a promising development in mitigating these challenges. This document relates the method and results of a statewide survey on the impact of textbook and course materials costs by academic discipline, format (access codes, textbooks, etc.), purchasing behaviors, comparison costs between institutions, and more.

NORTH DAKOTA

Traces: Early Peoples of North Dakota. Barbara Handy-Marchello; Fern E Swenson, State Historical Society of North Dakota, 2018. 128p. illus. maps. OCLC#1054627580. ISBN 9781891419225 $25.

A concise and comprehensive overview of North Dakota’s human history from circa 13,000 BC to the 1880s. This book has extensive scholarly commentary about the history of Native Americans in North Dakota accompanied by extensive illustrations and maps. Illustrations include photographs of the material culture remains of the early inhabitants of North Dakota, artistic recreations of their contemporary environments, timelines and maps showing the when and where of important archaeological sites, and moments in Native American history.

Operation Snowbound: Life Behind the Blizzards of 1949. David W. Mills. University of North Carolina Press. 2018. 250p. illus. OCLC# 1019526767 ISBN 9781946163035 $29.95.

A detailed account of one of the worst series of blizzards in the recorded history of the northern plains. This book combines a vignette of daily life in the Great Plains with a detailed account of the meteorological antecedents of the storm, the immediate effects of the blizzard on people and animals, and the extended consequences and rescue efforts.

NORTH CAROLINA

Seacoast Plants of the Carolinas. Paul E. Hosier. University of North Carolina Press. 2018. 492p. illus. OCLC# 1082447768 ISBN 9781469641430 $28.

A richly illustrated companion to North Carolina’s coastal fauna. Over 200 plants are featured, each with a binomial, common name, range, habitat, frequency and flowering period, wetland status, text description, and ecological role. Each profile also features several photographs with various details of leaves, flowers, seeds, and more. A lexicon of plant-related terms together with a bibliography and directory of places where plants can be seen make this a comprehensive resource for plant enthusiasts.

Study of the Most Effective Setting for Housing and Treatment of DWI Offenders. North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission. 2019. 28p. illus. OCLC# 1091624993. pdf. bit.ly/2XdOTbW

In North Carolina, DWI offenders are confined in local jails instead of state prisons. Local jails, however, are not well adapted to housing DWI offenders since the sentences tend to be much longer than other offences and local jails are not always able to provide treatment programs that offenders are required to participate in. This study examines the shortcomings in the sentencing and imprisonment system and makes some recommendations for better management, such as dedicated state-run treatment programs in existing facilities.

Grand Illusions: Historic Decorative Interior Painting in North Carolina. Laura A. W. Phillips. University of North Carolina Press. 2019. 140p. illus. OCLC# 1124973279 ISBN 9780865264915 $40.

This well-illustrated resource details the wide range of styles and techniques used in the interior decoration of North Carolina’s historic buildings. Images of traditional wood grain doors and marbled baseboards, smoked ceilings, colorful scenic and trump l’oeil murals, and more bring these otherwise-hidden interiors to the public. Extensive text commentary that includes biographical details of the artists, historical notes about the structures, and descriptions of decorative techniques complete this work

My NC from A to Z. Michelle Lanier, Dare Coulter. North Carolina Office of Archives and History. 2019. 32o. illus. OCLC# 1117315397 ISBN 9780865264991 $14.95.

This children’s block book illustrates North Carolina’s African American people and history from A to Z. Each letter introduces a famous person, place, event, or achievement that marks the progress of African Americans in North Carolina. This book will inspire young people to explore more about North Carolina’s history and African American history in general.