Colorado Land Use
Land is one of our most vital resources . We build our civilizations on it . It is habitat for thousands of species and a critical part of our ecosystem . We need land for agriculture to produce the food , clothing , and shelter we need . There are about 66.6 million acres of land in Colorado . This is all of the land available for homes , schools , airports , roads , farms , ranches , recreational areas , wildlife habitat , and everything else ! Most of Colorado ’ s land is too rocky , cold , hot , or dry to grow crops , but it can support livestock . Cattle are able to graze federal land , forest land , pastureland , and rangeland . Proper grazing of these lands helps to reduce risk of wildfires .
Using the chart legend , write in the correct labels for each piece of the pie chart to show how land in Colorado is used .
The chart on this page represents all the different uses of land in Colorado , according to 2017 data from the U . S . Department of Agriculture .
Vocabulary of land uses : cropland : a land cover / use category that includes areas used for the cultivation of agricultural crops Conservation Reserve Program ( CRP ) land : a land conservation program administered by the federal government where farmers agree to remove environmentally-sensitive land from agricultural production and plant species that will improve environmental health and quality developed land : land that houses , buildings , etc . have been built on and land used for industrial purposes federal land : lands owned by the United States federal government forest land : an area of land covered by forests other rural land : all land that is not urban and includes farmsteads and other farm structures , field windbreaks , barren land , and marshland pasture / pastureland : land covered with grass and other low plants suitable for grazing animals , especially cattle or sheep rangelands : open land vegetated mainly by native grasses , forbs , and shrubs used by grazing wildlife and livestock water areas : a land use category to describe bodies of waters and streams that have permanent open water
Source : NRCS . USDA . gov
Chart Legend : Colorado Land Use * Cropland : 12.0 % CRP Land : 2.5 % Developed : 3.0 % Federal Land : 36.2 % Forest Land : 5.3 %
Other Rural Land : 1.0 % Pastureland : 2.6 % Rangeland : 36.9 % Water Areas : 0.5 %
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