 * Critical Findings * Deforestation in the Mid-1800s Resource Use: Changing Needs Through Time REGIONAL ECONOMIES * SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS Community Well-Being in the Sierra Management Scenarios and Strategies
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Unemployment and Income Maintenance Programs as Measures of Poor Economic Conditions
Household income levels in most regions of the Sierra Nevada are lower than those
of California as a whole. In addition to the large fraction of retired households,
other major factors reducing income levels are seasonal unemployment and households
with children but no wage earner. Figure 2.12 shows the monthly unemployment rate for four
regions. Unemployment rates are higher in many counties in the Sierra Nevada than
the rates for California as a whole. Nearly all of the difference is a direct result
of seasonal unemployment during the nonsummer months. During the summer months, there is
little extra unemployment compared with the state as a whole. Seasonality of many
jobs related to agriculture, forestry, and recreation is characteristic of all but
the more metropolitan-oriented labor markets in the region. Long-term reductions in overall
unemployment in the region have always been driven by greater integration with the
more robust metropolitan economies of the Central Valley.  FIGURE 2.12 (ACTUAL VIEW 5K) Monthly unemployment rates for four Sierra Nevada regions, 1990-95 average. (From volume III, chapter 23.) The largest income-maintenance programs are the family group and unemployed parent programs within Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Over the past twenty years, the ratio of AFDC cases to total population has always been below the state average for the ten counties fully within the Sierra Nevada. The large Central Valley counties that are also represented in the SNEP region (Butte, Yuba, Madera, Fresno, Tulare, and Kern) have been above the state average for most of the past two decades. Although AFDC cases are not an exact measure of poverty, the regional difference does suggest that poverty may be more serious in the lower foothills than in the higher-elevation areas of the SNEP region.Conclusion: Regional Economy The economic health of the Sierra Nevada depends on a diversified employment base that grows as fast as population, population growth rates that do not outstrip the ability to be served by local social (e.g., schools, health services) and physical (e.g., roads, water supply, sewage) infrastructure, and levels of resource stewardship that provide both direct and indirect benefits to a wide range of residents and business enterprises. Although personal income levels in areas of the Sierra Nevada not closely linked to major metropolitan areas are not as high as those for the state as a whole, economic and demographic diversification has generally reduced the historical problems associated with local economies dependent on only one or two industries. * Social and Economic Analysis
Sociologists and economists in SNEP used different analytical techniques and different
approaches with the wide range of existing and new data available on individuals,
households, communities, and larger regions within the Sierra Nevada. Complementary
and sometimes contradictory conclusions are presented depending on disciplinary orientation
and on which patterns are highlighted or which scales are used in analysis. For example,
the socioeconomic assessment, based on the 1990 census data of 180 communities, was evaluated at the level of an individual community, a county, and several counties.
The economist's approach aggregated the data to examine regionwide and temporal patterns,
whereas the community sociologist explored patterns of relationships--some qualitative--at the level of the community. Personal income was a primary assessment measure
in the economic approach; the measure of community capacity was used as part of the
sociological assessment of community well-being. Although it sometimes makes integration more difficult, use of diverse approaches
and debate about their differences lead to a richer analysis and to identification
of human and institutional issues operating at different scales. 
 
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