Projecting population change in the interior Columbia River Basin.

Abstract

Management of ecosystems requires projecting the human population for a biologically significant timeframe, because the impacts of potential alternative ecosystem management strategies will differ depending on the size, location, and expectations of the human population. Increases since 1990 in the net migration rates are changing the expectations for projections of population in the interior Columbia River basin. We present two population projections: low and high. The low projections are from U.S. Bureau of the Census sources and essentially assume little net migration, which is generally a repeat of the 1980s when the basin was characterized by slight net out-migration. The high projections maintain higher net migration and higher rates of natural increase than the low projection. By 2040, the high projections are twice the low projections. Where the low projection has an annual increase of 0.3 percent, the rate of growth in the high projection is 1.6 percent per year.

Citation

McCool, Stephen F.; Haynes, Richard W. 1996. Projecting population change in the interior Columbia River Basin. Res. Note PNW-RN-519. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 16 p