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Acres of 1982 Prime Farmland Converted to Developed Land in 1997

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Description

This shaded polygon map shows the amount of 1982 prime farmland that was converted to developed land in 1997 within each 8-digit hydrologic unit. Developed land includes urban areas and rural transportation land. The data are presented in four categories based on the following divisions: 20,000 or more acres converted, 5,000 to 20,000 acres converted, 2,000 to 5,000 acres converted, and less than 2,000 acres converted. A total of 7,347,000 acres were converted. Metropolitan Statistical Areas are indicated by black squares. Areas with 95% or more Federal area are shaded gray.

Cautions for this Product:
This map does not show the total amount of prime farmland or developed land. Data are not collected on Federal land. Data are not available for Alaska or the Pacific Basin. Data for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are shown 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: 8 Digit Hydrologic Unit Areas with Federal Land
Other Layers Displayed: States, Rivers, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) Lat/Long selections from GNIS

Definitions

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

Federal land:
A land ownership class designating land that is owned by the Federal Government. It does not include, for example, trust lands administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs nor Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) land. No data are collected for any year that land is in this ownership. [NRI-97]

Hydrologic units:
A hierarchical system developed by the U.S. Geological Survey that divides the United States and the Caribbean into 21 major regions, 222 subregions, 352 accounting units, and further subdivided into 2,150 cataloging units that delineate river basins having drainage areas usually greater than 700 square miles. [USGS]

Metropolitan Statistical Areas:
Generally, these are defined as areas that include counties with central cities of 250,000 or more inhabitants (for additional details, contact Bureau of the Census)

Prime farmland:
Land that has the best combination of physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber, and oilseed crops and is also available for these uses. It has the soil quality, growing season, and moisture supply needed to produce economically sustained high yields of crops when treated and managed according to acceptable farming methods, including water management. In general, prime farmlands have an adequate and dependable water supply from precipitation or irrigation, a favorable temperature and growing season, acceptable acidity or alkalinity, acceptable salt and sodium content, and few or no rocks. They are permeable to water and air. Prime farmlands are not excessively erodible or saturated with water for a long period of time, and they either do not flood frequently or are protected from flooding.[SSM, USDA Handbook No. 18, October 1993]

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: 5076
Production Date: 12/13/00
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.