River rafting trips and hikers use sandbars along the Colorado River in Marble and Grand Canyons as campsites. The U.S. Geological Survey evaluated the effects of Glen Canyon Dam operations on campsite areas on sandbars along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park. Campsite area was measured annually from 1998 to 2012 at 37 study sites between Lees Ferry and Diamond Creek, Arizona. The primary purpose of this report is to present the methods and results of the project.

Campsite area surveys were conducted using total station survey methods to outline the perimeter of camping area at each study site. Campsite area is defined as any region of smooth substrate (most commonly sand) with no more than an 8 degree slope and little or no vegetation. We used this definition, but relaxed the slope criteria to include steeper areas near boat mooring locations where campers typically establish their kitchens.

The results show that campsite area decreased over the course of the study period, but at a rate that varied by elevation zone and by survey period. Time-series plots show that from 1998 to 2012, high stage-elevation (greater than the 25,000 ft3/s stage-elevation) campsite area decreased significantly, although there was no significant trend in low stage-elevation (15,000–20,000 ft3/s) campsite area. High stage-elevation campsite area increased after the 2004 and 2008 high flows, but decreased in the intervals between high flows. Although no overall trend was detected for low stage-elevation campsite areas, they did increase after high-volume dam releases equal to or greater than about 20,000 ft3/s. We conclude that dam operations have not met the management objectives of the Glen Canyon Adaptive Management program to increase the size of camping beaches in critical and non-critical reaches of the Colorado River between Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Mead.

Summary: 

Interview conducted by: Dr. Paul Hirt, Arizona southwestern U.S. state. State University and Jennifer Sweeney, Four East Historical Research, LLC. Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program Administrative History Project. Administered by Arizona southwestern U.S. state. State University Supported by a grant from the US Bureau of Reclamation.

Biography: 

Paul Grams has worked directly with the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP) since 2008, as a program manager and research hydrologist at the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC). His involvement in Grand Canyon studies goes back to 1991, when he took a Colorado River research trip as part of an undergraduate science course. Grams is an expert on the effects of dams on river geomorphology and sediment transport. He holds a BA in Geology from Middlebury College, an MS in Geology from Utah State University, and a PhD in Geography and Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

As of May 2022, there have been more than 80 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the United States, and over two million cases in Arizona. The pandemic has had a devastating impact on local, national, and global economies. This brief features the findings from data collected from a survey administered to Arizona residents in April of 2021, as well as national statistics, to understand some of the economic consequences of COVID-19 and its impacts on Arizona households.

We surveyed a diverse group of Arizona residents, including over 2,300 parents of school-age children and nearly 1,300 members of the school community, consisting of teachers, lunchroom staff, school administrators, and other school employees. Respondents represented a wide range of racial, economic, educational, and political backgrounds. A more detailed report of methods and results will be shared on the Arizona Food Bank Network’s website in January 2023.

Under current United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines, Arizona schools participating in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program are reimbursed for the meals they serve students through federal dollars and co-pays from student families. For this analysis, our goal was to estimate the cost to the State of Arizona if the breakfast and lunch co-pays for students that qualify for reduced-price meals were covered by the state.

The epidemic of overweight and obesity and its multiple causes have captured the attention of researchers, program administrators, politicians, and the public alike. Recently, many stakeholder groups have started investigating the role that food and nutrition assistance programs play in the etiology of the problem and in identifying possible solutions. As a result, policy changes have been recommended and implemented for programs such as the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to improve the nutritional quality of foods they offer to their participants. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is also attracting attention as a potential vehicle to reduce the burden of obesity among its users. Because of the tough economic and political climate in which all federal programs currently operate, the need for making nutrition assistance programs more efficient and effective in addressing health and nutrition related problems affecting the country has never been greater.

This document proposes a set of strategies to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of SNAP. These strategies are based on a review of research literature, recommendations from expert groups, and the experiences of other communities and states. We include information that pertains to potential stakeholder arguments for and against each strategy, as well as the political feasibility, financial impact, and logistical requirements for implementation. We drew candidate strategies from the range of options that have been tested through research and from policies that have been implemented around the country. The order of strategies in this document is based on overall strength of supportive research, as well as political and implementation feasibility. The four proposed strategies are improving access to healthy foods to provide better choices, incentivizing the purchase of healthy foods, restricting access to unhealthy foods, and maximizing education to more effectively reach a larger population of SNAP participants.

The New Jersey Childhood Obesity Study was designed to provide vital information for planning, implementing, and evaluating interventions aimed at preventing childhood obesity in five New Jersey municipalities: Camden, Newark, New Brunswick, Trenton, and Vineland. These five communities are being supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids program to plan and implement policy and environmental change strategies to prevent childhood obesity. Effective interventions for addressing childhood obesity require community-specific information on

who is most at risk and on contributing factors that can be addressed through tailored interventions that meet the needs of the community. Based on comprehensive research, a series of reports are being prepared for each community to assist in planning effective interventions.

The main components of the study were:

• A household telephone survey of 1700 families with 3–18 year old children,

• De-identified heights and weights measured at public schools,

• Assessment of the food and physical activity environments using objective data.

This report presents the results from the household survey. Reports based on school body mass index (BMI) data and food and physical activity environment data are available at www.cshp.rutgers.edu/childhoodobesity.htm.

The New Jersey Childhood Obesity Study was designed to provide vital information for planning, implementing, and evaluating interventions aimed at preventing childhood obesity in five New Jersey municipalities: Camden, Newark, New Brunswick, Trenton, and Vineland. These five communities are being supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids program to plan and implement policy and environmental change strategies to prevent childhood obesity. Effective interventions for addressing childhood obesity require community-specific information on

who is most at risk and on contributing factors that can be addressed through tailored interventions that meet the needs of the community. Based on comprehensive research, a series of reports are being prepared for each community to assist in planning effective interventions.

The main components of the study were:

• A household telephone survey of 1700 families with 3–18 year old children,

• De-identified heights and weights measured at public schools,

• Assessment of the food and physical activity environments using objective data.

This report presents the results from the household survey. Reports based on school body mass index (BMI) data and food and physical activity environment data are available at www.cshp.rutgers.edu/childhoodobesity.htm.

The maps in this chartbook describe the physical activity environment in Camden in terms of geographic distribution of parks and physical activity facilities. Research shows that people who have access to these facilities are more likely to be physically active.

• The maps in this chartbook were created using physical activity facilities data from a commercial database (lnfoUSA, 2008), data from city departments, as well as information obtained from systematic web searches. The maps present data for the city of Camden and for a 1 mile buffer area around Camden.

• Physical activity centers include private and public facilities which offer physical activity opportunities for children 3-18 years of age.

• Physical activity environment maps are compared with Census 2000 data to visualize accessibility of physical activity opportunities in neighborhoods with different characteristics.

• Poverty level presented in this chartbook are based on the 2000 Federal Poverty Guidelines.

• Crime rates in Camden are presented at the census block group level as relative crime risk (CrimeRisk) obtained from a commercial data source (Applied Geographic Solutions, 2008). CrimeRisk - an index value derived from modeling the relationship between crime rates and demographics data - is expressed as the risk of crime occurring in a specific block group relative to the national average. For this chartbook, data on total CrimeRisk, which includes personal and property crimes, are reported.