Rangeland to cropland conversions as replacement land for prime farmland lost to urban development

Data from the 1997 National Resources Inventory (NRI) are used in this study to examine recent trends in the conversion of cropland to urban land with special attention paid to the spatial distribution of these conversions relative to rangeland to cropland conversions. Our findings are that the approximately 11 million acres of cropland converted to urban land between 1982 and 1997 was coincident with an equal amount of rangeland converting to cropland. The rangeland to cropland conversions equate to replacement lands for cropland lost to urban encroachment. Approximately one third of the cropland lost to urban development occurs on prime farmland while the new cropland converted from rangeland is more likely to be irrigated as it resides principally in the arid western United States. The findings are discussed in light of a sustainable land use system perspective.