Use Of Land In Continental United States

Discussion in 'History & Geography' started by Ken Anderson, Oct 25, 2018.

  1. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Published a few months ago, Bloomberg offers a series of maps showing how land is used in the United States.

    One map shows the land that is in pasture/range, forest, cropland, special use, urban, or miscellaneous, down to blocks representing 250,000 acres. Maine shows up as almost entirely forest, except for a couple of squares of cropland in the north, and couple of urban squares, and a few miscellaneous, with far more forest than in the UP of Michigan, which surprised me.

    Another map just shows the comparative amount of overall land that is in pasture/range, forest, cropland, special use, miscellaneous, or urban.

    A third map just shows the major urban areas of the country, where four out of five Americans live.

    A fourth map highlights the Northeast and has something to do with demonstrating the growing amount of urban area, but I can't make any sense out of that map.

    A fifth map shows the US land that is held by the federal government as national parks, wildlife areas, highways, railroads, and military bases, again just showing it in blocks, so it doesn't show every federal road.

    Another highlights the fact that more than 100 million acres of federal land prohibits most commercial activities, not intended to show the location but the representative amount of land versus the total amount of land.

    In the next map, we see that agricultural land takes up about a fifth of the country, and where the major agricultural areas were.

    Next, the amount of agricultural land is broken down to what is grown there, such as the food we eat, livestock feed, grains and feed exports, wheat exports, cotton or other non-foods, and fallow land.

    Next, we see the comparative amount of land used to grow various exports. The amount of land used to grow citrus is larger than Rhode Island.

    Then, there is another one that shows where on the map, US pasture-land is, most of it being in the West, and none in Maine.

    The amount (not location) of land used to raise or feed cows is shown on a representative map, showing that 41% of the contiguous US is used for feeding livestock.

    Another map just shows the location of major plots of forestland. Given the amount of time that the Eastern US has been inhabited by European populations, and the large Eastern cities, it is interesting that a large part of our forestland is is in the East.

    The amount of land owned by Weyerhaeuser is highlighted on another. It's 2.3% of the land.

    Putting the pieces together, another map gives a sense of all of the ways in which US land is used. 2 million acres are devoted to golf courses, and 3 million to airports. Mostly cows, though.
     
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  2. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    The non-private area of land within the State of Nevada comprises 86% of the total, with much of that totally restricted as Military Reserve, which includes the old Nevada Test Site, where numerous nukes were detonated.
    Frank
     
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  3. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Tom Galty
    With 111,000 sq. miles of area, the government-controlled area is enormous, to say the least. Yet, travelling about the state, as I have done for 'nigh onto 50 years now, one cannot help but admire it's desolation, regardless of who lays claim to that! There are areas of incredible scenic beauty sparsely intermingled with vast expanses of raw desert-land. The Lamoille area of the Ruby Mountains is one such unforgettably beautiful place:

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  4. Tom Galty

    Tom Galty Veteran Member
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    I try to go to Vegas at least twice a year.

    Have traveled to the Grand Canyon on a bus trip and seen the beautiful bleakness and emptiness of the land.

    This is what makes Nevada so much different to the UK.

    In Feb am lying at 10 am at Vegas hotel pool getting sunburnt...35 Miles away at MT Charleston they are getting 26 inches of snow
     
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  5. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Tom Galty
    Mt. Charleston was one of our favorite Sunday get-away places when I ran the service station in Vegas. There is actually a ski resort there, which may or may not get ski-able snow conditions from year to year. Beautiful place!
    Frank
     
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