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Land degradation and the decline of ranching in the Sierra Nevada foothills, California
Author(s) -
Smethurst D.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
land degradation and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1099-145X
pISSN - 1085-3278
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-145x(199903/04)10:2<161::aid-ldr326>3.0.co;2-i
Subject(s) - rangeland , land degradation , land use , foothills , environmental degradation , geography , land management , land tenure , agroforestry , environmental protection , ecology , environmental science , agriculture , archaeology , cartography , biology
Land use is a critical determinant of land degradation. In this article, I examine how changes in land use from 1957 to 1997 in El Dorado County, located in the Central Sierra Nevada of California, have resulted in the degradation of hardwood rangelands. To do so, I analyze the environmental discourse of land use and land degradation, and examine changes in land use, property rights, and laws and regulations governing land use from 1957 to 1997. I argue that understanding the political ecology of land use is essential to understanding why hardwood rangelands have been degraded while upland coniferous forest has been largely protected. This has implications for conservation of the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem, which is currently the focus of increased scholarly as well as political attention. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.