U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2012–3141

February 2013

Climate and Land Use Change—Landscape Change Science Program

Mapping, Monitoring, and Modeling Western Gateway 

Community Landscape Dynamics

Printed on recycled paper

Pressures Affecting Federal Lands

Federal public lands in the western United States are becoming increasingly surrounded by Gateway Communities. 

These communities are undergoing landscape change due to population growth, economic growth, and the resulting land-use 

development.

Socioeconomic, demographic, and land-use changes in Gateway Communities are often perceived as threats to Federal 

land resources, natural amenities, cultural resources, and recreational opportunities.

However, land-surface disturbances on Federal public lands, such as conventional and alternative energy development 

(which impact surrounding Gateway Communities), are also environmental and societal issues that Federal land and adjacent 

regional community planners need to consider in their long-range land-use planning.

Figure 1. U.S. Department of AgricultureEconomic Research Service natural amenities 

index ranking by county (McGranahan, 1999) 

for the western United States vintage 1993.

Gateway Community Definition

According to the United States House 

of Representatives Bill 585 (U.S. House 

of Representatives, 2005), Gateway 

Communities are those communities that 

abut or are in close proximity to Federal 

lands. These communities serve as an 

entry point for visitors to Federal lands, 

since they are in close proximity to natural 

protected lands and function as portals to 

public use of these Federal lands.

Gateway Communities provide 

necessary services for visitors to the Federal 

public lands and to the employees of 

Federal land-management agencies. These 

communities generally have a smaller 

population base and yet are “hotspots” 

that can experience rapid population and 

economic growth.

Research by the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research 

Service (Cromartie, 2009) projected that 

non-metropolitan counties were likely to 

experience the greatest surge in migration 

of the Baby Boom generation from 2000 

to 2020. The future preference towards 

more rural, isolated communities with 

natural amenities (fig. 1) and recreational 

opportunities influenced U.S. Geological 

Survey (USGS) researchers to focus the 

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" Micropolitan statistical area

Natural Amenity Parameters

Land Surface Form Topography Codes

1993 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes

1993 Urban Influence Codes

Mean Temperature for January 1941–1970

Mean Hourly Sunlight for January 1941–1970

Mean Temperature for July 1941–1970

Mean Relative Humidity for July 1941–1970

% Water Area (Natural Log)

N

WASHINGTON

OREGON IDAHO

MONTANA

WYOMING

NEVADA

UTAH COLORADO

CALIFORNIA

ARIZONA

NEW MEXICO

0

0 200 400 KILOMETERS

200 400 MILES

EXPLANATION

Composite amenity index ranking

7 = over 3

6 = 2 to 3

5 = 1 to 2

4 = 0 to 1

3 = 0 to –1

2 = –2 to –1

1 = over –3

Standard deviations 

from the mean
investigation’s research on Micropolitan Statistical Areas as Gateway Community study 

sites. These micropolitan communities; as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, have 

a population base of between 10,000 and 50,000 residents and must have at least one 

urban cluster that has a population of 10,000.

Geographic Research Objectives

Public Federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau 

of Reclamation (BOR), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

(USFWS), and National Park Service (NPS) are geographically concentrated in the 11 

western States of the United States (fig. 2). According to the H.R. Bill 585 (Gateway 

Communities Cooperation Act), these protected recreational areas attract Gateway 

Community visitors and future residents due to the close proximity of both natural and 

cultural amenities.

Figure 2. Federal public lands in the Western United States for the Bureau of Land 

Management, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

and National Park Service.

Gateway Communities will be 

selected as study sites for monitoring 

urbanization intensity and density, urban 

encroachment on adjacent Federal lands, 

and public land recreational demands 

(based on an inventory of western United 

States Federal lands within a specific 

buffer distance), population growth 

rates, and economic strength rankings 

for western U.S. Micropolitan 

Statistical Areas.

Research Strategy 

and Approach

Since Gateway Communities 

often experience rapid population and 

economic growth, the USGS derived 

1-year (yr), 3-yr, and 5-yr population growth rates based on 2000–2009 

Census Bureau Population Estimates 

(U.S. Census Bureau, 2010) for all of 

the Micropolitan Statistical Areas in the 

11 western states.

To factor economic growth as a 

parameter into Western U.S. Gateway 

Community study site selection, the 

USGS obtained the 2004–2010 Economic 

Strength Rankings calculated by the 

Policom Corporation (Fruth, 2010) for all 

U.S. Micropolitan Statistical Areas. Based 

on the Policom data, the USGS derived 

1-yr, 3-yr, and 5-yr average economic 

strength rankings for each of the Western 

U.S. Micropolitan Statistical Areas.

A standardized timeframe of 

2004–2008 for the Overall Combined 

Population Growth-Economic Strength 

Ranking was used to account for the 

national housing boom from 2000 to 

2006 as well as the housing foreclosure 

crisis between 2006 and 2009.

Based on the 2004–2008 Overall 

Ranking, the top 10 Micropolitan 

Statistical Areas in the western United 

States (fig. 3) were selected as potential 

Gateway Community study sites for 

monitoring urbanization intensity and 

recreational demand.

In order to identify which Federal 

land management unit jurisdictions are 

in close proximity to each of the Top 

10 Micropolitan Statistical Areas, the 

USGS inventoried Federal public lands 

within specific travel distances (fig. 4). 

The objective was to characterize the 

“Sphere of Influence” or commuting distance that residents and visitors of a Gateway Community would 

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WASHINGTON

OREGON

IDAHO

MONTANA

WYOMING

COLORADO

UTAH

NEVADA

CALIFORNIA

ARIZONA

NEW MEXICO

WASHINGTON

OREGON

IDAHO

MONTANA

WYOMING

COLORADO

UTAH

NEVADA

CALIFORNIA

ARIZONA

NEW MEXICO

N

"

EXPLANATION

Bureau of Land Management

Bureau of Reclamation

Forest Service

Fish and Wildlife Service

National Park Service

Micropolitan Statistical Area

0

0 200 400 KILOMETERS

200 400 MILES
Figure 3. Overall ranking of top 10 western U.S. Micropolitan Statistical Areas for economic 

strength and population growth from 2004–2008.

Figure 4. “Spheres of Influence” for the Overall Weighted Top 10 Western U.S. Micropolitan 

Statistical Areas using predefined buffer distances for recreational commuting from Gateway 

Communities.

drive in order to recreationally use 

the Federal public lands adjacent to 

these communities.

The travel distances, used as the 

commuting radius to buffer the “Sphere 

of Influence” of a Gateway Community, 

were 10 miles (mi), 25 mi, 50 mi, 

75 mi, and 100 mi. The travel distances were mileage values established 

previously by the BLM in analyzing 

the proximity of public lands under 

their land-management authority to 

population-growth areas. The preferred 

travel distance of 25 mi was selected for 

the “Sphere of Influence” of a Gateway 

Community study site. The entire landsurface area covered by the study area is 

approximately equal to a large landscapelevel framework, such as a BLM 

resource-management planning area used 

for managing Federal public lands.

Gateway Community 

Research Products

To map temporal landscape 

dynamics, within a 25-mi buffer radius 

of a Gateway Community study area, 

the USGS will construct a Public 

Lands Atlas of Changing Environments 

(PLACE) geodatabase for urbanization intensity and Federal land urban 

encroachment analysis. Available 

county-level land parcel data (fig. 5) and 

the Environmental Protection Agency 

Office of Smart Growth land-use development classification standards will be 

used to map the Gateway Community 

human environment.

Monitoring Gateway Community 

urban spatial structure, human environment density, and landscape fragmentation 

will be based on metrics developed by the 

Lincoln Institute of Land-Use Policy’s 

Atlas of Urban Expansion research.

To model future public land 

recreational demand in Gateway 

Communities and assess potential 

impacts on adjacent Federal lands, 

metrics will be derived based on 

the USFS National Visitor Use 

Monitoring (NVUM) analysis. The 

NVUM research will serve as a socioeconomic and demographic profile 

template for modeling recreational 

demand for other Federal public lands 

adjacent to western United States 

Gateway Communities.

WASHINGTON

MONTANA

IDAHO

NEVADA

CALIFORNIA

UTAH

COLORADO

ARIZONA

NEW MEXICO

OREGON

WYOMING

0 200 400 MILES

0 200 400 KILOMETERS

Western Micropolitan Top 10 Micropolitan Statistical Areas, 2004–2008

 Statistical Areas Gillette, Wyoming

Edwards, Colorado

Montrose, Colorado

Bozeman, Montana

Jackson, Wyoming

Durango, Colorado

Heber, Utah

Rock Springs, Wyoming

Kalispell, Montana

10-mile buffer

25-mile buffer

50-mile buffer

75-mile buffer

100-mile buffer

Sheridan, Wyoming

Sphere of influence

Western states

EXPLANATION

N

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Overall Combined Weighted Economic Strength

and Population Growth: 2004 to 2008

Combined weighted score

Gillette, WY

Edwards, CO

Montrose, CO

Bozeman, MT

Jackson, WY

Durango, CO

Heber, UT

Rock Springs, WY

Kalispell, MT

Sheridan, WY

Top 10 Western U.S. Micropolitan

 Statistical Areas

EXPLANATION
Figure 5. Developed land parcels (2010 

vintage) for the Edwards, Colorado, 

Gateway Community study area.

References Cited

Cromartie, J., and Nelson, P., 2009, Baby boom migration and its impact on rural America: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic 

Research Service, Economic Research Report No. 79.

Fruth, W.H., 2010, Economic strength rankings—2010: Palm City, Fla., Policom Corporation, accessed November 29, 2011, at 

http://www.policom.com/microrank.htm. 

McGranahan, D.A., 1999, Natural amenities drive rural population change: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research 

Service, Food and Rural Economics Division, Agricultural Economic Report No. 781.

U.S. Census Bureau, 2010, Table 1—Annual estimates of the population of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas—April 1, 

2000 to July 1, 2009 (CBSA-EST2009-01): Washington D.C., U.S. Census Bureau Population Division, accessed November 29, 

2011, at http://www.census.gov/popest/data/metro/totals/2009/index.html. 

U.S. House of Representatives, 2005, Gateway Communities Cooperation Act (H.R. Bill 585): U.S. Congress, 109th 1st Session, 

available via U.S. Government Printing Office, accessed November 29, 2011, at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-109hr585rfs/

pdf/BILLS-109hr585rfs.pdf.

For More Information

Contact David J. Hester, USGS–Geosciences 

and Environmental Change Science Center, 

dhester@usgs.gov.

N

EXPLANATION

Developed urban parcels

Developed suburban parcels

Developed exurban parcels

Town of Edwards, Colorado

U.S. federal public lands

25-mile sphere of influence

Eagle County, Colorado

0 20 40 60 80 MILES

0 20 40 60 80 KILOMETERS

Edwards, Colorado, 

Gateway Community Study Area

GARFIELD

ROUTT

GRAND

SUMMIT

PITKIN LAKE PARK

Data source: Department 

of GIS Eagle County, Colo.

0 20 40 60 

0 20 40 60 80 KILOMETERS

Edwards, Colorado, 

Gateway Community Study Area

GARFIELD

ROUTT

GRAND

SUMMIT

PITKIN LAKE PARK

EXPLANATION

Developed urban parcels

Developed suburban parcels

Developed exurban parcels

Town of Edwards, Colorado

U.S. federal public lands

25-mile sphere of influence

Eagle County, Colorado

0 20 40 60 80 MILES

0 20 40 60 80 KILOMETERS

Edwards, Colorado, 

Gateway Community Study Area

GARFIELD

ROUTT

GRAND

SUMMIT

PITKIN LAKE PARK

Data source: Department 

of GIS Eagle County, Colo.