NRI maps reflect national patterns rather than site-specific information. A Federal program established under the Food Security Act of 1985 to assist private landowners to convert highly erodible cropland to vegetative cover for 10 years. No data are collected for any year that land is in this ownership. When viewed vertically, canopy cover is 25 percent or greater. For classification as forest land, an area must be at least one acre and 100 feet wide.
Land cover is the vegetation or other kind of material that covers the land surface.
Pastureland may consist of a single species in a pure stand, a grass mixture or a grass-legume mixture. Management usually consists of cultural treatments-fertilization, weed control, reseeding, or renovation and control of grazing. Grasslands, savannas, many wetlands, some deserts and tundra are considered rangelands. Certain low forb and shrub communities such as mesquite, chaparral, mountain shrub and pinyon-juniper are included in this category. Areas classified as native pasture are not included as rangelands.