United States Department of Agriculture
Natural Resources Conservation Service
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Acres of Rangeland Converted to Developed Land, 1992-1997

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Description

This dot density map shows the total acreage of rangeland converted to developed land from 1992 to 1997. Dots are aggregated by and placed randomly within 8-digit hydrologic units. Each red dot represents 2,000 acres of rangeland converted to developed land. Developed land is a combination of urban and built-up areas and rural transportation land. There were 1,283,200 acres of rangeland converted to developed land from 1992 to 1997. Areas with 95% or more Federal area are shaded gray.

Cautions for this Product:
Within an 8-digit hydrologic unit, dot counts represent total acreage, with an error of plus or minus one dot to account for remainders. Data are not available for Alaska or the Pacific Basin. Data for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are aggregated by 6-digit hydrologic unit.



Sources

Source: National Resources Inventory, 1997
Distributor: USDA-NRCS-RIAD
Reliability:
NRI sample data are generally reliable at the 95% confidence interval for state and certain broad substate area analyses. Generally, analyses that aggregate data points by smaller geographic areas and/or more specific criteria result in fewer data points for each aggregation and therefore less reliable estimates. NRI maps reflect national patterns rather than site- specific information.


Layers

Aggregate Layer: Cross of State with 8 Digit Hydrologic Units and Federal Land
Other Layers Displayed: States, Rivers


Definitions

Developed land:
A combination of land cover/use categories, Urban and built-up areas, and Rural Transportation Land.

Rangeland:
A Land cover/use category on which the climax or potential plant cover is composed principally of native grasses, grasslike plants, forbs or shrubs suitable for grazing and browsing, and introduced forage species that are managed like rangeland. This would include areas where introduced hardy and persistent grasses, such as crested wheatgrass, are planted and such practices as deferred grazing, burning, chaining, and rotational grazing are used, with little or no chemicals or fertilizer being applied. Grasslands, savannas, many wetlands, some deserts, and tundra are considered to be rangeland. Certain communities of low forbs and shrubs, such as mesquite, chaparral, mountain shrub, and pinyon-juniper, are also included as rangeland. [NRI-97]

Rural transportation land:
A Land Cover/Use category which consists of all highways, roads, railroads and associated rights- of-way outside urban and built-up areas; including private roads to farmsteads or ranch headquarters, logging roads, and other private roads, except field lanes. [NRI-97]

Urban and built-up areas:
A Land Cover/Use category consisting of residential, industrial, commercial, and institutional land; construction sites; public administrative sites; railroad yards; cemeteries; airports; golf courses; sanitary landfills; sewage treatment plants; water control structures and spillways; other land used for such purposes; small parks (less than 10 acres) within urban and built-up areas; and highways, railroads, and other transportation facilities if they are surrounded by urban areas. Also included are tracts of less than 10 acres that do not meet the above definition but are completely surrounded by Urban and Built-up land. Two size categories are recognized in the NRI: (i) areas 0.25 to 10 acres, and (ii) areas greater than 10 acres. [NRI-97]


Product Information

Product ID: 5102
Production Date: 1/29/01
Product Type: Map


For additional information contact the Resources Inventory and Assessment Division. Please include the Product ID you are inquiring about. nri@wdc.usda.gov or 1400 Independence Avenue SW - P.O. Box 2890 - Washington D.C. 20013. If you use our analysis products, please be aware of our disclaimer.