ABSTRACT
The 1997 USDA National Resources Inventory estimated that developed land in the contiguous U.S. increased by 25 million acres or 34 percent between 1982 and 1997 (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service 2000). The increase in this 15-year period represents a quarter of all development in the U.S. that has occurred since the original European settlement. In addition, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the U.S. population increased by 15 percent during this same period (U.S. Census Bureau 2000). These two statistics indicate that land consumption rates are occurring at twice the rate of population growth. In fact, between 1982 and 1992, land was developed at the rate of 1.8 times the rate of population increase and between 1992 and 1997 at the rate of 2.5 times the rate of population increase (Beach 2002). The Census Bureau estimates that the population of the U.S. will increase by an additional 110,000,000 people by the year 2050. If land consumption continues at the same rate, this population increase will result in an additional increase of 275 million acres of developed land, an area twice the size of the state of Texas. This new growth in developing areas will greatly expand the wildland-urban interface.
