I’ve got three of the six states up @Ricochet, but they’re behind the paywall, so I’m going to republish here. First up is Jefferson.

Jefferson, up on the Oregon border, is the first new state within the boundaries of the current state of California that I’ll describe in this series. It would be the most rural and smallest of the new states, with fewer than a million people currently residing in the counties that would comprise it. The population density is very low in the northeastern part of the region. However, it would still be larger than Wyoming and North Dakota. More than any other state, Jefferson would probably resemble central/western Oregon, except without the high-tech industry of Portland (at least initially). In fact, it might actually make more sense to simply allow Oregon to annex it, but that isn’t the proposition on the table. Its primary industries would be agriculture, ranching, logging, commercial fishing, tourism, and perhaps even some oil and gas.

In terms of agriculture, while it won’t have the Napa or Sonoma valleys, which will be across the southern border in North California, it will have the Alexander Valley further north in Mendocino County, as a major wine-producing region. Because of its northerly proximity to the Pacific Northwest, this is the most reliable part of the current state to get rain, particularly in the winter. The area also has other agriculture, and is noted for its local microbrews. But it is likely that one of the first acts of the new state will be to legalize marijuana. Though it is hard to know, given its current illicit status, that is probably already the region’s largest cash crop, in Mendocino, Trinity and other counties. It might provide a surprisingly robust tax base. It would also benefit public safety by eliminating the current hazards of booby-trapped illegal farms that can injure unwary hikers.

The eastern part of the new state will have the ranches of Plumas, Lassen, Modoc, Shasta, Tehama and Butte counties. There will be logging here as well (also in Trinity, Siskiyou and other northerly counties). The California salmon has recovered, and will provide the basis for commercial fishing on the Klamath and other rivers, as well as deep-sea fishing off the coasts of Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties.

At the southern end of the Cascades with Mts. Shasta and Lassen, Jefferson would attract recreational hikers, climbers, hunters and fishermen. The north coast, while not as beautiful as the central coast of the new state of Silicon Valley, will continue to attract tourists to scenic locales such as Mendocino, and Ferndale, with its old Victorian houses. The coastal redwoods will also continue to be a big draw.

There is some oil in the region (in fact one of the earliest wells in California was near Eureka, and there is still some gas production there). Advancing technology may increase the productivity of the existing fields or allow new ones, if the voters allow it, and that may become more attractive as a means of providing needed revenue for the new state.

In terms of transportation, the best route from the interior to the ocean, due to the northern coast range, would probably be I-5 US-101 to Eureka. It’s possible that the state will want to establish a port there, but it will have ready access to the other Californias via road and rail.

The largest city in the new state will be Redding, in Shasta County. The second largest would be Chico, in Butte County. One of them is likely to become the state capital. The current California State university in the latter would probably become the University of Jefferson. Humboldt State might become Jefferson State. It seems likely that they won’t follow the lead of Sacramento in ruining sex on campus.

The state will inherit three prisons from the current California system: the High Desert State Prison and California Correction Facility in Susanville, and the notorious high-security Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, up near the Oregon Border. It’s unlikely that it would need any more, given its low population, with no major cities and associated street gangs. It would have to make arrangements with the other states as to how to deal with the high-risk prisoners at Pelican Bay originating from them. It’s possible, and even likely, that it won’t allow unionization of the guards, which has been one of the causes of California’s decline, by bribing politicians to pass laws favorable to them, but expensive for both the taxpayers and in social costs. There is also a federal prison in Herlong, in Lassen County, that would presumably be unaffected.

So what will the voters do? The region is currently heavily Democrat in the coastal west, with a sprinkling of Greens, but the eastern part is more conservative. With its current population (as of 2012) it would have a two-point Republican edge in registration (36.6% versus 34.7%) with about 4% American Independent Party. Greens and Libertarians comprise about two percent, with over twenty percent unaffiliated. So with its current electorate, it would be a very competitive state for either party, in terms of senators or governor. However, because it’s so small, and so evenly balanced, it might become a migratory target for an organized group (say, of libertarians) who want to take the opportunity to forge a new state in a beautiful, mild climated and potentially very productive geographical region.

Next up: North California.