Mapping Patterns of Human Use and Potential Resource Conflicts on Public Lands

Abstract

Large areas in western North America are publicly owned and managed by governmental agencies for a variety of uses. As the human population continues to grow, competing interests will place mounting pressures on how resources from these lands should be managed and used by people. To make sound decisions about the allocation of these resources, decision makers must consider all aspects of the ecosystems in which they are found. The human role in ecosystem function is one such topic deserving of more attention (Sheifer, 1996). Much as humans need to be included in ecological studies, current maps of human settlement and related patterns are not accurate enough for many assessments. One way to create more accurate maps is to integrate data from the U.S. Census Bureau with other information sources, often remotely sensed imagery (Lo and Faber, 1997; Yuan et al., 1997; Mesev, 1998; Ryavec and Veregin, 1998).