Land use changes involving forestry in the United States: 1952 to 1997, with projections to 2050.

Abstract

Forest land was the largest source of land converted to developed uses such as urbanization. Urban and other developed areas are projected to continue to grow substantially, in line with a projected U.S. population increase of more than 120 million people over the next 50 years, with population growth occurring the fastest in the West and South. Projected increases in population and income will, in turn, increase demands for use of land for residential, urban, transportation, and related uses. An overall net loss in forest area in the United States since the early 1950s has been due to a combination of factors, but in more recent decades has been primarily due to conversion to urban and developed uses. Total forest area in the United States is projected to decrease by approximately 23 million acres by 2050, a 3-percent reduction from the 1997 forest area. Consistent with the projected slow net decline in U.S. forestland area, private timberland area is likewise projected to decline. Total area of U.S. private timberland is projected to decline by 4 percent by 2050. Industry timberland is projected to decrease by 3.0 percent by 2050, whereas timberland area on nonindustrial private lands is projected to decrease by 4.4 percent.

Past and projected rural land conversion in the US at state, regional, and national levels

“…The amount of rural land converted to developed uses (R converted ) is a reflection of the rents of those rural lands in rural production (e.g., the rents from agriculture or forestry production) relative to the rents for developed uses and local factors influencing land-use conversion (e.g., zoning and planning and physiographic conditions) (Alig et al, 2003Lubowski, 2002;Parks and Murray, 1994). Although rural land historically has converted back and forth between rural uses (e.g., agriculture to forest and vice versa), conversion to developed uses is generally a permanent alteration of rural lands.…”

“…The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA NRCS) National Resources Inventory (NRI) (USDA NRCS, 2000 data have been used as a basis for numerous land-cover and land-use change studies (e.g., Alig et al, 2003Lubowski, 2002;Polyakov and Zhang, 2008). An alternative source of data, the US Department of Commerce (USDC) Census Bureau data for urban area that is defined based on population and proximity to established urban areas, are updated every 10 years and were used by Nowak and Walton (2005) to project urban area expansion to 2050.…”

Biomass as Feedstock for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry: The Technical Feasability of a Billion-Ton Annual Supply

“…Federal funding for forestry programs for such activities as private tree planting, forest stand management, and technical assistance are a small fraction (<0.5 percent) of direct agricultural payments to farmers (Alig et al, 2003). Given the size of private forestland ownership, well-crafted policies aimed at providing incentives for landowners to manage their holdings could attract large quantities of biomass.…”

“…About 33 percent of the land area is classified as forest land, 26 percent as grassland pasture and range, 20 percent as cropland, 8 percent as special uses (e.g., public facilities), and 13 percent as miscellaneous uses such as urban areas, swamps, and deserts (Vesterby and Krupa, 2001;Alig et al, 2003). About one-half of this land has some potential for growing biomass.…”

International Energy Agency (IEA) Task 40 ? Sustainable International Energy Trade: Securing Supply and Demand -- Country Report 2010 for the United States

“…About 33% of the land area is classified as forestland, 26% as grassland pasture and range, 20% as cropland, 8% as special use (e.g., public facilities), and 13% as miscellaneous use (e.g., urban areas, swamps, and deserts). 56,57 About one-half of this land has some potential for growing biomass for bioenergy feedstocks while continuing to meet food, feed, and fiber demands. Geographical biomass resource potential is the theoretical potential of land area available for the production of biomass energy from residues (forestry and agriculture) and dedicated energy crop plantations ( Figure 6).…”