CHAPTER.14- The Southwest Border Area

We learned from our textbook reading that the Los Angeles area is home to more American Indian residents than any other city in the country. However, Hispanic Americans far outnumber the number of American Indians. More than 3 million Spanish-heritage people reside in the Los Angeles area according to the text. L.A. is the largest Spanish culture north of Mexico City! Living in Los Angeles, it is obvious the huge impact Hispanic Americans have on the city's culture, economy and politics. Our Mayor is of Hispanic descent. locally and nationwide, immigration issues are one of the most controversial topics discussed today. There are over 2.3 million Hispanic owned business in the United States, many of them headquartered in Los Angeles. There is no denying the impact Hispanic Americans have had on the culture of Los Angeles. From restaurants and markets specializing in food from countries all over Latin America (and I'm not talking about Baja Fresh :/) to local artists who pay tribute to Hispanic history and culture, as well as the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach to the Hispanic majority community of East L.A., Hispanic Americans influence the culture and way of life in L.A. 

Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach: 

CHAPTER.13- THE EMPTY INTERIOR

The Empty Interior is home to numerous national parks, which are the best know use of the vast governmental land resource. The Bureau of Land Management holds the largest share and the U.S Forest Service is the second largest U.S. federal land holder. The U.S Forest Service is in charge of the Angeles National Forest in the Los Angeles area. This forest contains over 1000 square miles of open space to the residents and visitors of L.A. With a land area of 655,387 acres and 697 miles of trails, the forest offers natural scenery and numerous recreational activities. The forest is located north of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel mountains.

Photo Source: http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/

CHAPTER.12- THE GREAT PLAINS AND PRAIRIES

The great plains is no stranger to extreme weather. From the 20 year drought cycle to tornadoes and hail, this region of the United States has experienced all that mother nature has to offer. Los Angeles experiences a very moderate Mediterranean subtropical climate, but as we all know, the weather can also be described as "extreme" occasionally. According to USA Today, there were 41 documented tornadoes in Los Angeles country between 1950 and 2004, more than any other city in the state of California. Although these tornadoes are generally very minor (f-0/f-1) compared to the ones in the great plains, there have been 5 tornadoes rated f-2 on the Fujita scale, which measures the strength of these storms. Hail is far more common is Los Angeles than tornadoes. These stones of ice water fall when the elements are right, and are fairly common during our winter storms. Of course, the hail we experience in L.A is rarely the golf ball size hail that falls on the great plains and can devastate crops and property.

CHAPTER.11- THE AGRICULTURAL CORE

This chapter discusses trends in the number and size of farms in the agricultural core. The number of farms has decreased in last century, but the average farm size has increased. The question is whether or not this trend is also the case in the Los Angeles area. Between 1900 and 2002 the number of farms decreased from 6,577 to 1,543. This decrease was not constant, as there was actually an increase in the number of farms through the 1940's, followed by a steady decrease until 1982 when there was a small increase in the number of farms. The number of farms then continued to decrease until recently when the number of farms in Los Angeles increased between 1997 and 2002 from 1,226 to 1,543. Average farm size has decreased since 1900 from an average size of 136 acres to 72 acres. Between 1964 and 1972 there was a sharp increase in farm size, reaching a peak average size of 223 acres. The overall decrease in the average farm size in the last century differs from the trends of the agricultural core. This is just another way Los Angeles differs from the rest of the country! 
Photo Source: http://ucanr.org/blogs/losangelesagriculture/index.cfm?tagnamehttp://ucanr.org/blogs/losangelesagriculture/index.cfm?tagname=farm