Land-cover and ownership change on rural-residential parcels in the central Sierra Nevada, CA: 1952--2000

This study uses a longitudinal analysis from 1952 to 2000 to measure changes in land cover, forest type, land use, and landowner characteristics on individual rural-residential parcels in the foothills of Nevada County, California. Parcels were stratified by three vegetation zones, which also represents differences in land use history prior to the study period. The foothill woodland zone of 1952 was characterized by grazing and farmland; the ponderosa pine zone was the most intensively mined and logged; and the less-accessible, mixed-conifer zone was moderately to minimally mined and logged.; The study found that forest and woodland cover on rural-residential parcels >1 acre had increased in all three vegetation zones, with the least change in the foothill woodland (1.3%) and the most dramatic change in the ponderosa pine zone (30.3%). Mean developed, or impervious, cover was 0% and increased to approximately 5% in all three zones. Across all parcels, increased forest cover was more than double on parcels in the riparian zone compared to upland, with 24% and 11% increases, respectively.; The changes in forest and developed/impervious cover were found to be unrelated to parcel size for parcels >2.5 acres. Only two variables in this study significantly explained variations in land cover: (1) Baseline forest cover in 1952 explained approximately 30% of the variation in forest cover change. All other variables explained less than 1%. (2) Owner type, as determined by two groups of land use ideologies, "environmental protection" and "property rights" was significantly (p < 0.01) related to changes in both forest and developed/impervious cover, holding baseline forest cover for the year that the parcel was acquired by the current owner equal. 4n developed parcels, impervious cover increased 1.5% on parcels owned by people identifying strongly with statements of "environmental protection" compared to 7.2% on parcels owned by people identifying strongly with statements of "property rights." Forest and woodland cover on parcels owned by the environmental-protection group increased 26% total and 1.1 annually (i.e. standardized for the number of years owned) compared to 10% total and 0.3% annually on parcels owned by the property-rights group. The same trend in forest cover was found in the riparian zone, with increases of 30% on "environmentalist" parcels and 15% on "property-rights" parcels.; The study concludes that conservation planners are missing a potentially valuable resource by excluding parcels less than 40 or 160 acres from habitat planning, because the "intermix" parcel sizes of 5--160 acres make up a large land-base, ∼50% of the study area. Landowners from both ideological groups are already attempting, or expressed interest in, land management for forest health and habitat creation. The results of this study show that these existing, rural-residential parcels should be considered for their potential to serve conservation goals in the matrix. Furthermore, resource managers, including extension programs, need to be given the resources to engage these landowners in conservation education and cost-share programs. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...