User:Northwesterner1/notes

These are my own personal recommendations; this page does not represent any sort of policy, guideline, or consensus.

Rationale for article series structure

I have begun an article series descending from List of ecoregions in North America (CEC), which provides an overview of ecoregions designated by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) and partner agencies in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

• List of ecoregions in North America (CEC)
  • List of ecoregions in the United States (EPA)
    • List of ecoregions in Oregon
      • Coast Range (ecoregion)
      • Willamette Valley (ecoregion)
      • Cascades (ecoregion)
      • Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills (ecoregion)
      • Columbia Plateau (ecoregion)
      • Blue Mountains (ecoregion)
      • Snake River Plain (ecoregion)
      • Klamath Mountains (ecoregion)
      • Northern Basin and Range (ecoregion)

This may initially lead to some confusion. There are two major ecoregion classifications. The existing Wikipedia series descending from List of ecoregions (WWF) follows the classification of the World Wildlife Fund. If you've seen articles like Willamette Valley forests, they're based on that classification. The new series I have created descending from List of ecoregions in North America (CEC) follows the classification of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (an arm of NAFTA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency. This classification is more relevant to environmental practices in the United States and is the classification now used by most US government and state agencies. So I think we should move toward using this structure in United States articles.

I expect that some editors may suggest merging, for example, my new article Willamette Valley (ecoregion) with the existing WWF ecoregion article Willamette Valley forests or the general geographical article Willamette Valley. I believe these should be maintained as distinct articles. In my opinion, it is useful for Wikipedia to have a list of the ecoregions as strictly defined under the EPA classification, as this classification system is widely used as a basis for environmental study and research management. Thus, the article Willamette Valley (ecoregion) should be about the level III ecoregion defined by the EPA, while Willamette Valley should be about the river valley it is named for, and Willamette Valley forests should be about the ecoregion defined by the WWF. There may be some subject overlap, but I believe these should be maintained as distinct articles. If a section on "natural history" or "ecoregion" already exists in the main article, I suggest summarizing the information there, with a link to the separate article about the ecoregion as defined by the EPA.

I have made every effort to clarify in the lead sections of these articles that they are based on the CEC/EPA designation. I believe the WWF articles should be revised to note clearly in the lead section that they are based on the WWF classification.

If you would like to expand these articles, you might check out List of ecoregions in Oregon for an example of structure and content. For editors interested in helping to develop the series, you will find maps and data at the appropriate government agencies. (In the United States, see the EPA website for public domain data.)

Public domain rationale

Public domain rationale. Some article text was originally copied verbatim from the EPA posters cited as references. Poster text and maps are in the public domain as work by United States government employees. Public domain status was confirmed to me by email from the project coordinator at the EPA.