California Forests and Rangelands: 2015 Assessment

The number of jobs available within occupation types can tell a lot about the economic activity in an area. In rural areas, jobs could be related to tourism, logging/milling, goods movement, and ranching. This indicator refers to the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system, where workers are classified into occupations with similar job duties, skills, education, and/or training, regardless of industry.

Relative employment and incomes in a region are measures of overall economic well-being. Useful metrics include: a. Employment –All full time and part-time works, wage3 and salary jobs (employees), and proprietors (the self-employed) reported by place of work. b. Population- The total number of people by place of residence c. Personal Income- Income from wage and salary employment and proprietors' income (labor earnings), as well as non-labor income sources (dividends, interest, and rent, and transfer payments) reported by place of residence. All income figures will be shown in real terms (i.e., adjusted for inflation). d. Unemployment- The number of people who are jobless, looking for jobs, and available for work divided by the labor force.

Urban forests provide relief from heat through shade. The more tree canopy in an urban area, the less air conditioning and therefore fewer days using air conditioning. This is one proxy for the energy savings from urban forests.

Parks may be used differently by different groups of people, grouped by race or income. This may be because of accessibility (distance between residence and park), or other reasons. For some urban or rural areas, there are no or few open spaces and parks nearby for people to use.

Patterns and types of fires can depend on the type of dominant vegetation in an area. Fire frequency is an important characteristic of fire regimes for particular vegetation types. If a fires normally occur frequently for a particular type of vegetation in an area, but now occur infrequently, this can lead to increased risk of fire and fire severity in the future. The degree of departure of fire regimes from a normal range indicates risk from wildfire.

Fires can be tracked using various metrics that can tell us whether or not fires are occurring naturally, or if they are becoming more (or less) severe, larger (or msaller0, or if they are significantly affected by vegetation "treatment".

Fire weather describes the climatic conditions that contribute to fire ignition, rate of spread, and intensity. Hot, dry, windy conditions are the most likely to foster fire ignition, spread and high intensity. Climate change may change fire weather conditions in forested landscapes.

As more and more trees die in an area from insects or disease, the risk of fire ignition and spread increases. If swaths of trees die near forest communities, it could put the community at risk from fires.

Many communities depend on forests directly or indirectly for a wide range of forest-based goods and services. The sustainable provision of these services is clearly linked to the productive capacity of the forest. If this capacity is exceeded there is the risk of ecosystem decline and collapse.

Certain economic activities rely on their adjacency to forested areas (e.g., forest-dependent tourism). This economic connection can lead to both loss and protection of forest function, depending on how economic activities are regulated in the area.

This indicator uses several metrics describing the level of employment in 3 sub-sectors of the forestry sector: - Growing and Harvesting- These are jobs associated with growing and harvesting of trees on a long production cycle. It includes people employed in forest nurseries, as well as those involved in the cutting of trees and transportation of timber. - Sawmills and Paper Mills- These are jobs associated with converting logs into lumber, boards, poles, shingles, and similar milled products. It includes those involved in the conversion of logs and chips into pulp and paper as well as the creation of veneer and plywood. - Wood Products Manufacturing- These are jobs associated with manufacturing. It includes the production of corrugated boxes, gum and wood chemical products, cabinets, furniture, and other wood manufactured products.

Fragmentation is the process whereby a landscape is broken into pieces by development activities (e.g., road construction or expansion). Fragmentation can negatively impact biodiversity, hydrology, weed invasions, wildlife movement, and other ecological processes and features.

Health is an important outcome of behavior economy, and ambient environmental conditions. Metrics include: a. Percent of children who have asthma- Percent of people younger than 18 who currently have asthma b. Number of people receiving disability payments- Number of people receiving Disability Insurance (DI) benefits as of December 31 of each year c. Expenditures per capita on Medicare- Total expenditures on Medicare in constant dollars, divided by the total population

Health is an important outcome of behavior economy, and ambient environmental conditions. Metrics include: a. Percent of children who have asthma- Percent of people younger than 18 who currently have asthma b. Number of people receiving disability payments- Number of people receiving Disability Insurance (DI) benefits as of December 31 of each year c. Expenditures per capita on Medicare- Total expenditures on Medicare in constant dollars, divided by the total population

This is a measure of social and sometimes economic well-being. The higher the rate, the more likely young people will find be able to find jobs. In addition, high rates are indicative of a successful school system.

This measure can have two meanings an indicator. One is that more hours a person works, up to full-time, indicates successful employment. Another is that the more hours a person works, beyond full-time, indicates that people may need to work many hours to make ends meet for themselves and family.

Housing affordability relates to economic conditions and can be measured in several ways: a. Monthly Cost > 30% of household income- The sum of payment for mortgages, real estate taxes, various insurances, utilities, fuels, mobile home costs, and condominium fees. b. Gross Rent > 30% of household income- The amount of the contract rent plus the estimated average monthly cost of utilities (electricity, gas, and water and sewer) and fuels (oil, coal, kerosene, wood, etc.) if these are paid for by the renter (or paid for the renter by someone else). c. Number of Foreclosure Filings- Number of households entering some phase of the foreclosure process.

Birds are particularly sensitive to certain types and patterns of development. Landscape fragmentation, loss of food and nesting vegetation, predation by domestic cats and nest-predation by medium-sized carnivorous mammals (e.g., skunks) can all affect species presence, abundance, and distribution. They are also a well-studied fauna and there are many types of existing monitoring for birds in general.

Developed surfaces (e.g., roads) are often impervious to water, resulting in excessive runoff from these surfaces to receiving water bodies. Vegetating urban areas (e.g., through green streets programs) can reduce imperviousness.

Herbaceous plants on the forest floor and in rangelands are habitat an forage for many animal species. They are light/shade-sensitive, usually lost during fire, and recover quickly from disturbance, assuming climatic conditions and seeds are available. Their presence, abundance and diversity indicate a healthy forest or rangeland.