Overview
ERS has been a source of major land use estimates in the United
States for over 50 years, and the related U.S. cropland used for
crops series dates back to 1910. The Major Land Uses (MLU) series
is the longest running, most comprehensive accounting of all major
uses of public and private land in the United States. The series
was started in 1945, and has since been published about every 5
years, coinciding with the Census of Agriculture. See the latest
report in the series, Major Uses of Land in the United States,
2007.
Data from all 14 Major Land Uses reports have been combined into
a set of files showing major land use estimates by region and State
from 1945 to 2007. Alaska and Hawaii were added in 1959, when they
achieved Statehood. Since Alaska contains such vast acreage,
50-State totals in all categories prior to 1959 may appear to
change precipitously.
For citations for previous MLU reports and sources for the 2007
data update, see reference citations. See the glossary for detailed
definitions of major land uses and terms.
|
Total land | Back to top |
Total land, 1945-2007, by State: The sum of cropland, pasture/range, forest-use land, special uses, urban area, and other land | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Cropland | Back to top |
Cropland, 1945-2007, by State: The sum of cropland used for crops, cropland idled, and cropland used for pasture. | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Cropland components | Back to top |
Cropland used for crops, 1945-2007, by State: Cropland harvested, crop failure, and cultivated summer fallow. | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Cropland used for pasture, 1945-2007, by State: Pasture considered to be in long-term crop rotation. Includes some land used for pasture that could have been cropped without additional improvement. | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Cropland idled, 1945-2007, by State: Land completely idled and lands seeded to soil improvement crops but not harvested or pastured. | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Grassland pasture and range | Back to top |
Grassland pasture and range, 1945-2007, by State: Grassland and other nonforested pasture and range in farms plus estimates of open or nonforested grazing lands not in farms. Does not include cropland used for pasture or forest land grazed. | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Forest-use land | Back to top |
Total forest-use land, 1945-2007, by State: Forest-use land grazed and forest-use land not grazed. | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Forest-use land components | Back to top |
Forest-use land grazed, 1945-2007, by State: Woodland grazed in farms plus estimates of forested grazing land not in farms. | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Forest-use not grazed, 1945-2007, by State: Total forest-use land minus forest-use land grazed. | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Special uses | Back to top |
Total special uses, 1945-2007, by State: Rural transportation, rural parks and wildlife, defense and industrial, plus miscellaneous farm and other special uses. | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Special use components | Back to top |
Rural transportation, 1945-2007, by State: Highways, roads, and railroad rights-of-way, plus airport facilities outside of urban areas. | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Rural parks and wildlife areas, 1945-2007, by State: Federal and State parks, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges. | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Defense and industrial areas, 1945-2007, by State: Land owned by Department of Defense and Department of Energy and used for airfields, research and development, housing, and miscellaneous military uses. | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Miscellaneous farmland, 1945-2007, by State: Farmsteads, farm roads, and lanes plus other miscellaneous farmland. | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Urban area | Back to top |
Urban area, 1945-2007, by State: Densely-populated areas with at least 50,000 people (urbanized areas) and densely-populated areas with 2,500 to 50,000 people (urban clusters). | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Other or miscellaneous land uses | Back to top |
All other land uses, 1945-2007, by State: Unclassified uses such as marshes, swamps, bare rock, deserts, tundra plus other uses not estimated, classified, or inventoried. | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Summary tables | Back to top |
Summary table 1: Major uses of land, by region, State, and United States, 2007 | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Summary table 2: Major uses of cropland, by region, State, and United States, 2007 | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Summary table 3: Cropland used for crops: cropland harvested, failure, and summer fallow for the United States, annual, 1910-2011 | | 1/27/2012 | 1/1/2013 |
Summary table 4: Total grazing land, by region, State, and United States, 2007 | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |
Summary table 5: Special uses of land, by region State, and United States, 2007 | | 12/19/2011 | 1/1/2016 |