Major Land Resource Area (MLRA)

Land Resource Regions and Major Land Resource Areas of the United States, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Basin

(U.S. Department of Agriculture Handbook 296, 2006)

2006 MLRA Geographic Database, version 4.2 (entire U.S., zipped shapefile format, 27 MB)

The MLRA Geographic Database is also available by state or county from the Geospatial Data Gateway.

MLRA Explorer — An interactive map-based presentation of USDA Agriculture Handbook 296. With the tools in this application, you can: (1) search for LRRs and MLRAs using a variety of geographical and textual queries; (2) select which handbook sections to display; and (3) save and print a customized subset of the handbook.

These documents require Acrobat Reader.

Low-resolution (for onscreen viewing)
Land Resource Regions and Major Land Resource Areas of the United States, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Basin (PDF; 13.4 MB)

High-resolution (suitable for printing)
Land Resource Regions and Major Land Resource Areas of the United States, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Basin (PDF; 29.4 MB)
Conterminous U.S. Map (55"x36") (PDF; 16.2 MB)
Conterminous U.S. Map (29"x26") (PDF; 5.8 MB)
AK, HI, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Basin Map (55"x36") (PDF; 6.0 MB)
AK, HI, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Basin Map (27"x24") (PDF; 2.3 MB)

The Ag Handbook 296 is used as a basis for decisions regarding national and regional land resource issues targeting efforts in education, finance, and technical services. It is also used to identify needs for research and additional inventories, as well as a vehicle for extrapolating research results across political boundaries. The handbook also serves various agencies within USDA by organizing and operating conservation program and other land resource and management programs.

For printed copies, please contact:

NRCS Distribution Center (search for “land resource regions”)
phone: 1-888-526-3227
e-mail: NRCSDistributionCenter@ia.usda.gov
 

Definition of Terms

LRR, MLRA, LRU, CRA

MLRA Geographic Database

MLRA geographic database (GIS ready) (1997)