VIII. CONCLUSIONS

The challenges of managing wildland-urban areas are particularly relevant in southern California where the forests are unique from most other National Forests because of their proximity to a large urban population. In addition to the large population adjacent to the forests, uniqueness is found in the ethnic and racial diversity of the region (Allen and Turner 1992). Much of California's future population growth is expected to occur as a result of international immigration and the higher fertility rates of newly arrived immigrants compared to those who have longer tenure in this country (Johnson 1999). Seventy-six percent of all immigrants entering the United States during the 1980s went to only six states, and California received four out of every ten immigrants (Fix and others 1994). California provides a virtual laboratory for studying the dynamic relationship between land management agencies and urban populations because of its rapid social change and cultural diversity. Recent decades have shown an increasing shift in population away from the coastal counties/metropolitan areas of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area towards the Central Valley and the Inland Empire (Fulton and others 2000, Southern California Association of Governments 1998). The environmental sensitivity of these areas compounds the complexity of managing for growth while protecting endangered species and their habitats (Fulton 1999). The mountains and foothills surrounding these populations are affected by natural disturbances (such as fire and flood), the spread of elements (such as air pollution), and human uses of the land (including draw of resources such as water, development, and recreation) (Stephenson and Calcarone 1999). California is already unique from the rest of the nation in its demographic diversity, as well as being the most populous state in the nation (Baldassare 2000, Shingawa and Jang 1998). In 1990, California contained some of the largest shares of the nation's African American (along with New York), Asian Pacific American, Native American (second to Oklahoma) and Hispanic American populations (Shingawa and Jang 1998). The projected increases in population, aging of most ethnic groups, and the projected ethnic and racial composition of the state's population suggest that the assessment area holds special interest from a resource planning perspective. As the nation's population increases and becomes more diverse, lessons from Cali-fornia can provide a helpful view of resource management concerns. For example, recreation use in the four southern California urban-proximate National Forests is described as a " window to the future …