Major Land Uses

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 uses from 1945 to 2007. Gaps in continuity (identified as "Not Available") occur only in categories with no data on which to base an estimate. This is the case in Alaska and Hawaii prior to Statehood in 1959. Since Alaska contains such vast acreage, 50-State totals in all categories prior to 1959 may appear to change precipitously.

Data Files

U.S. and State tables, 1945-2007
Table			Description (and hyperlinks to glossary definitions)
Total land 1945-2007 by State			Total land: The sum of cropland, pasture/range, forest-use land, special uses, urban area, and other land
	Cropland 1945-2007 by State		Cropland: The sum of cropland used for crops, cropland idled, and cropland used for pasture.
		Cropland used for crops 1945-2007 by State	Cropland used for crops: Cropland harvested, crop failure, and cultivated summer fallow.
		Cropland used for pasture 1945-2007 by State	Cropland used for pasture: Pasture considered to be in long-term crop rotation. Includes some land used for pasture that could have been cropped without additional improvement.
		Cropland idled 1945-2007 by State	Cropland idled: Land completely idled and lands seeded to soil improvement crops but not harvested or pastured.
	Pasture and range 1945-2007 by State		Grassland pasture and range: 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.
	Total forest-use land 1945-2007 by State		Total forest-use land: Forest-use land grazed and forest-use land not grazed.
		Forest-use land grazed 1945-2007 by State	Forest-use land grazed: Woodland grazed in farms plus estimates of forested grazing land not in farms.
		Forest-use not grazed 1945-2007 by State	Forest-use land not grazed: Total forest-use land minus forest-use land grazed.
	Special uses 1945-2007 by State		Total special uses: Rural transportation, rural parks and wildlife, defense and industrial, plus miscellaneous farm and other special uses.
		Rural transportation 1945-2007 by State	Rural transportation: Highways, roads, and railroad rights-of-way, plus airport facilities outside of urban areas.
		Parks and wildlife areas 1945-2007 by State	Rural parks and wildlife areas: Federal and State parks, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges.
		Defense and industrial 1945-2007 by State	Defense and industrial areas: Land owned by Department of Defense and Department of Energy and used for airfields, research and development, housing, and miscellaneous military uses.
		Miscellaneous farmland 1945-2007 by State	Miscellaneous farmland: Farmsteads, farm roads, and lanes plus other miscellaneous farmland.
	Urban area 1945-2007 by State		Urban area: Densely-populated areas with at least 50,000 people ("urbanized areas") and densely-populated areas with 2,500 to 50,000 people ("urban clusters").
	All other land uses 1945-2007 by State		All other land uses: Unclassified uses such as marshes, swamps, bare rock, deserts, tundra plus other uses not estimated, classified, or inventoried.

Summary tables (updated January 27, 2012)
Table	Description
Summary table 1: Major uses of land, by region, State, and United States, 2007	All land: cropland, grassland/pasture/range, forest-use land, special-use areas, urban areas, and miscellaneous other land, by region and State, including U.S. total.
Summary table 2: Major uses of cropland, by region, State, and United States, 2007	Total cropland: cropland used for crops, idle cropland, and cropland pasture, by region and State, including U.S. total.
Summary table 3: Cropland harvested, failure, and summer fallow for the United States, annual, 1910-2011 (updated January 27, 2012)	Total cropland used for crops: cropland harvested (including double-cropped), crop failure, cultivated summer fallow, and total cropland used for crops for the U.S.
Summary table 4: Total grazing land, by region, State, and United States, 2007	Total grazing land: cropland pasture, grassland/pasture/range, and forest-use land grazed, by region and State, including U.S. total.
Summary table 5: Special uses of land, by region State, and United States, 2007	Special uses: rural transportation, rural parks/wildlife, defense/industrial, and farmsteads/farm roads, by region and State, including U.S. total.

Sources/Documentation

For citations for previous MLU reports and sources for the 2007 data update, see reference citations.

Glossary

More detailed definitions of major land uses and terms.