CALIFORNIA 1 : Northern Coast - Eureka

It takes about six hours to travel the length of the 1st, a journey that starts in Solano County, about an hour drive north of San Francisco, and ends at the Oregon border in Del Norte County, one of the district's three coastal counties. In between are wineries and majestic Redwoods, which make the Northern Coast famous.

To the north, Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties have long been ground zero in the battle between environmentalists and the timber industry. East of Mendocino, Lake County's economy is a mix of ranching, farming and tourism. South of Mendocino, the 1st takes in part of Sonoma County and its wine-producing land. Neighboring Napa County is a pre-eminent wine-making region. The district's most urban region, in its far south, includes Fairfield and Vacaville.

Conflicts between economic and environmental interests - particularly off-shore drilling and preserving ancient redwoods - have made the 1st extremely competitive politically, despite a 15 percent Democratic voter registration advantage. In 1992, the district voted Democratic in national races, followed by a shift to the GOP in 1994.

Major Industry
Timber, agriculture, tourism

Military Bases
Travis Air Force Base, 7,750 military, 3,000 civilian (1997)

Population
572,870 (1990)

Cities
Fairfield (pt.), 73,787; Vacaville (pt.), 39,926 (1990); Napa, 65,030 (1996)

People
39% urban; 13% age 65+ (ranks ninth of 52 in state; middle third nationally); 58% married couples, 27% married couples with children; 18% college educated (ranks 33 of 52 in state; middle third nationally); 54% white collar (ranks 37 of 52 in state; middle third nationally), 26% blue collar (ranks 18 of 52 in state; middle third nationally) (1990)

Race
85% white, 4% black, 4% Asian; 11% Hispanic origin (1990)

Median Household Income
$30,943 (ranks 35 of 52 in state; middle third nationally) (1990)

Unusual Features
Niebaum-Coppola, winery owned by film director Francis Ford Coppola.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company