Recent Population Growth Population doubled in the Sierra Nevada between 1970 and 1990; 40% of the population growth occurred in the Sierra portion of just three counties: Nevada, Placer, and El Dorado.

Population Forecasts Official projections forecast that the 1990 Sierran population of 650,000 will triple by 2040.

Impacts from Population Growth Population growth and its accompanying effects are causing significant impacts on resources.

Biotic Vulnerability The oak woodland communities of the western Sierra Nevada foothills are the most vulnerable of the widespread vegetation types as a result of greater access by humans and of their continuing potential for urban development.

Local Mitigation Some rapidly growing counties that SNEP examined have not collected information sufficient to adequately monitor and forecast impacts of development on biological and social resources. In addition, the current project-level approach to planning does not account for changes in regional or Sierra-wide conditions or address the need for larger-scale monitoring and improvement.

Jobs The number of jobs has more than doubled in the Sierra Nevada since 1970, but the relative proportion of commodity-producing and service-producing jobs has stayed constant.

Personal Income Income earned by commuters, interest, dividends, and transfer payments to retired and other households now constitute more than half the total personal income in the Sierra Nevada.

Ecosystem-Based Revenues Water is the most valuable commodity, followed by timber, livestock, and other agricultural products, based on gross revenues. The Sierra Nevada ecosystem produces approximately $2.2 billion worth of commodities and services annually, based on estimates of direct resource values (not the total revenue produced by resource-dependent activities).

Regional Patterns of Economic Activity The flow of economic values from the Sierra Nevada provides an empirical basis for assessing how different levels of government, producers and consumers, and employers and employees could be involved in new approaches to ecosystem management.

Community Dependence Communities in the Sierra Nevada are dependent on the ecosystem for a combination of direct and indirect natural resource benefits, including noneconomic benefits associated with aesthetic and sense-of-place values. Few economies are dependent exclusively on resource-extractive activities (timber, mining, grazing).

Timber-Based Employment Timber industry employment may decline from present levels due to trends of increasing labor productivity within the region and a shift in remanufacturing facilities out of the region.

Timber Harvests on National Forests National forest timber harvests have averaged 650 million board feet from 1950 through 1994; the highest level was just over 1 billion board feet in 1988, and the lowest was 227 million board feet in 1994.

Community Well-Being One hundred eighty communities were identified in the Sierra: twenty-eight ranked low and thirty-one ranked high in a measure of well-being that includes community capacity and socioeconomic status.

Regional Well-Being Six distinct socioeconomic regions were delineated by transportation corridors, commuting patterns, economies, community identification, and administrative boundaries.

Concentration of Low Socioeconomic Status Sierra residents living in poverty are concentrated in the larger cities and communities.