Improve the quality of Washington's natural resources
Indicator 2: Maintain habitat to support natural systems.
Measure a: Conversion of Resource Lands to Urban Use
Description:
The National Resources Inventory (NRI) is a statistical survey of land use and natural resource conditions and trends on U.S. non-Federal lands. Non-Federal land includes privately owned land, tribal and trust land, and lands controlled by State and local governments. For the NRI, "developed land" is land that has been permanently removed from the rural land base. The developed land category includes: (a) large tracts of urban and built-up land; (b) small tracts of built-up land, less than 10 acres in size; and (c) land outside of these built-up areas that is in roads, railroads, and associated rights-of-way.
The graph depicts the share of non-federal land in Washington that is "developed land" and compares it to the population. In general, the share of developed land has increased along with the population.
| Conversion of Resource Lands to Urban Use | |||||
| Developed Land as a Share of Total Non-Federal Land in Washington | |||||
| State | Year | Developed Area | Total Non-federal Land | Percent Developed | Rate of Change |
| (1,000 Acres) | |||||
| Washington | 1982 | 1,537.2 |
30,599.3 |
5.0% |
|
| 1987 | 1,613.7 |
30,578.3 |
5.3% |
5.1% |
|
| 1992 | 1,824.2 |
30,574.6 |
6.0% |
13.1% |
|
| 1997 | 2,065.0 |
30,573.2 |
6.8% |
13.2% |
|
| 2003 | 2,279.4 |
30,569.1 |
7.5% |
10.4% |
|
| Nation (excluding Alaska) | 1982 | 73,245.8 |
1,495,931.7 |
4.9% |
|
| 1987 | 79,504.5 |
1,494,350.2 |
5.3% |
8.7% |
|
| 1992 | 87,034.7 |
1,492,652.0 |
5.8% |
9.6% |
|
| 1997 | 98,251.7 |
1,492,011.4 |
6.6% |
12.9% |
|
| 2003 | 108,116.2 |
1,485,298.0 |
7.3% |
10.0% |
|