Key Findings

Some 44.2 million acres (over 11 percent) of private forest across the conterminous United States could experience substantial increases in housing density by 2030. Private forests in watersheds across the Eastern United States and in parts of California and the Pacific Northwest are projected to experience the most extensive increases. The area projected to have the most overwhelming impacts is the Southeast, considered the "wood basket" of the United States and an area of high biodiversity.

Although most watersheds meeting our selection criteria are projected to undergo significant housing density shifts on less than 5 percent of their surface area, these shifts could have significant impacts at the local level. Twenty-six watersheds were projected to experience increased housing development on more than 20 percent of the watershed's area. On a national level this may not be considerable; however, such a level of change could have tremendous impacts on many ecological values in these watersheds, including water quality.

The Top 15

More than 15 watersheds are projected to experience housing density increases on more than 200,000 acres of their surface area. The table and map below depict the number of acres of forest expected to shift either (a) from rural to exurban or (b) from rural or exurban to urban in each of the top 15 watersheds. All these watersheds are located in the Eastern United States.