There are many environmental issues with regard to natural resources in California, including depletion of important resources such as water, loss of biodiversity--the biological resources of California--because of modification of habitat and introduction of alien species, and the production and use of energy.
Water Resources Biodiversity/Habitat Conservation Energy Resources General References
Water
Resources. 
Water
is a vital issue in California. The southern part of the state has about
2/3 of the people and 1/3 of the water, while the northern part of the state has
about 1/3 of the people and 2/3 of the water. Water is transferred from one part of
the state to another on a tremendous scale, and some of the water (from the Colorado
River) comes from sources originating outside the state. To support its growing
population and highly productive agriculture, California has constructed
a truly impressive infrastructure of dams, miscellaneous water diversion structures,
aqueducts, canals, and water storage reservoirs. About 80% of the water used
in California goes to agriculture. What are the effects of such massive manipulation of
drainage basins? Are we running out of water? How much destruction of
natural ecosystems is justified to provide California's human population with water?
Will conservation do any good? Can we even conserve significant amounts of
water? Some of these questions are addressed in Water
Resources. Issues of water pollution are treated separately in the page on
Pollution.
Biodiversity/Habitat
Conservation. 
Biodiversity
refers to "the wealth of life on earth, the millions of plants, animals, and
microorganisms, the genes they contain, and the intricate ecosystems they help build into
the living environment." (Worlwide Fund for Nature, 1989). California is very
rich in biological diversity, but a growing human population and resulting habitat
destruction are threatening many ecosystems and species. There is also a lot
that is pertinent to biodiversity in the page on Natural
History.
One approach to balancing the conservation of at least some ecosystems with increasing urban development is the controversial Habitat Conservation Plan, authorized by the Endangered Species Act. The first habitat conservation plan was approved in California, and some of the most important HCP's are in place or being developed here.
To learn about biodiversity in general, read this great hypertext book on Biodiversity and Conservation, by Peter J. Bryant of UC Irvine. Used as a class resource at Irvine, it covers "the origin, nature and value of biological diversity, the threats to its continued existence, and approaches to preserving what is left." The sixteen chapters will give you a good understanding of biodiversity issues, and many of the case studies focus on California. This is a good book.
The World Resources Institute has a large web site on Biodiversity that contains a tremendous amount of information on biodiversity in general, various aspects of biodiversity (such as specific ecosystems, and endangered species), and threats to biodiversity worldwide. For an overall understanding of biodiversity issues, and connections to further information, this is an excellent place to start.
Evolution and Biodiversity in California is a brief discussion of California's biological resources.
Biodiversity Home Page from CERES, has links to information on Calfornia's management of biodiversity.
Biodiversity and the Bioregions has definitions of biodiversity, information on conservation of biodiversity in California, and related information.
California Biodiversity News , Fall, 1998, has lots of interesting articles on conservation of biological diversity. The main index page to all issues of the Biodiversity News is here.
CSUBIOWEB provides links to biodiversity information, from CSU Stanislaus.
Information links on biodiversity from CERES.
The Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project looks at the forests, watersheds and natural areas of the Sierra Nevada.
One of the big threats to biodiversity is the invasion of exotic species. See Invasion! from the Ecological Society of America for an overview of this problem, and references for further information. Another good introduction is America's Least Wanted, from the Nature Conservancy, a page on alien species invasions in the U.S. The Dirty Dozen is a "rogues' gallery representing some of America's least wanted alien species", complete with photos and descriptions, including both plants and animals. For more on introduced species, see the Nature Conservancy's Wildland Invasive Species Program. Weeds on the Web has many links to information on invasive plant species.
Management of California's Forest and Rangeland Resources is part of the job of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Energy 
California uses a variety of energy sources, including
petroleum, natural gas, geothermal, hydroelectric, nuclear, and increasing amounts of
renewable and alternative fuels, such as solar and wind energy. In terms of
generation of electricity, California has a very diverse mix of fuel sources and
technologies--one of the most balanced in the world. California is also a leader in
energy efficiency. The state has placed a priority on energy efficiency in buildings
and appliances, and as a result, California is 49th in per capita energy consumption among
the 50 states: that is, we use less energy per person than almost all the other states in
the U.S., despite our prosperous and diverse economy. Energy
Resources in California summarizes some basic information on energy in the state, and
points to a variety of sources of information on the web.
California's Natural Resources, from the State of California Resources Agency, is the entry to state resources agencies and information on natural resources from the agencies and other sources.
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Comments, Questions, or Suggestions? Email: J.R. Thorngren
(but I can't do calculations for you...or do your homework)
06/07/06
The grizzly bear is the state animal of California, and is the bear on the California flag. There are no grizzly bears in the wild in California today. The last one in the state was killed in 1922, or possibly in 1924.