Land Use
The way we live and use the land greatly influences the health of the Bay and its watershed.
The Bay watershed includes all types of land uses, from high-density urban areas to sprawling suburban development to diverse agricultural lands. The way we live and use the land greatly influences the health of the Bay and its watershed.
How is land used in the Bay watershed?
About 58 percent of the Bay watershed is undeveloped and mostly forested. The rest has been developed for other uses, such as agriculture (22 percent) and urban and suburban lands (9 percent).
The percentage of Chesapeake forestland is slipping as the rate of development across the watershed increases. One hundred acres of forest are lost each day, primarily to development: new roads and buildings added to the landscape to accommodate an expanding population.
While impervious surfaces—roads, rooftops, parking lots and other hardened surfaces—are a permanent mark on the landscape, other land uses can change over time.
- Forests cleared for logging undergo a management process and eventually revert back to forests.
- Abandoned agricultural fields eventually become forested over time.
Where in the Bay watershed is land changing?
Over the 1990s, the greatest increases in development occurred in counties near the major cities of Baltimore, Maryland; Richmond, Virginia; and Washington, D.C. The counties that experienced the greatest amount of impervious surface change—used to measure the rate of development across the watershed—include:
- Lancaster and York counties in Pennsylvania
- Fairfax and Henrico counties in Virginia
- Sussex County in Delaware
- Montgomery, Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties in Maryland
The amount of agricultural land in all Bay states generally declined from 1982 through 2002, based on estimated farmland from the USDA Census on Agriculture. The rate of decline over this 20-year period was highest in New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
While some counties that lost agricultural land—such as Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and Loudoun County, Virginia—experienced corresponding high rates of development, others—including Tioga County, Pennsylvania, and Albemarle County, Virginia—did not. These latter counties may be experiencing farmland abandonment for reasons other than development.
The highest percentages of forest loss are found in developing suburban counties across the watershed. Changes are also taking place in rural counties that are dominated by forests, such as those in New York, northern Pennsylvania and south-central Virginia. These changes are likely associated with silviculture activities (managing forests to meet human needs) rather than development.
- Causes and Consequences of Land Use Changes: Information from the U.S. Geological Survey on how land use changes affect water quality and aquatic habitats.
- Land Use and Watershed Characteristics: More USGS work on the effects of population increases on the land in the Bay watershed.
- Land Use & Population Growth: Information from Maryland Sea Grant on urban sprawl and its effect on the Bay and watershed forests.
- Facts About Growth and Land Use: Fact sheet from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation on the effects of sprawl on both the environment and our quality of life.
- Land Use: Reports and presentations from the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network with information on various land use topics.
- Sound Land Use: Links and information from the Chesapeake Bay Trust on using land wisely.
- Smart Growth: Program by the Maryland Department of Planning to support growth around existing infrastructure and preserve natural resources.
- The State of Chesapeake Forests: A 2006 report by The Conservation Fund and the USDA Forest Service that details the importance of and threats to forests in the Bay watershed.