NRI Data Reveals Rapid Decrease in South Carolina’s Cropland

  COLUMBIA, April 9, 2003 --USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) today released data revealing dramatic land use changes in the Palmetto State. Significantly, the conversion of thousands of acres of cultivated cropland to built-up and urban lands—making it irreversible loss, is what most concerns conservationists. Since 1982, South Carolina has lost over 1.2 million acres of cropland. The National Resources Inventory (NRI) is a compilation of natural resource information on non-Federal land in the United States--about 75 percent of the total land area.

NRCS State Conservationist Walter W. Douglas said, “This loss of prime farmland in South Carolina reflected in the NRI should be a wake up call to the state legislature, as well as county planning commissions across the state.” The NRI is conducted to obtain scientifically valid, timely, and relevant data on natural resources and environmental conditions, with the specific goal of supporting agricultural and environmental policy development and program implementation. Conducted by NRCS in cooperation with the Iowa State University Statistical Laboratory, this inventory captures data on land cover and use, soil erosion, prime farmland soils, wetlands, habitat diversity, selected conservation practices, and related resource attributes. Data is collected annually and statistically compiled every 5 years from the same 800,000 sample sites in all 50 States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and some Pacific Basin locations. “Urban sprawl in South Carolina is having a huge impact on our landscape, and we are losing valuable cropland on a daily basis,” explained Douglas .

USDA-NRCS encourages and promotes wise land-use planning through local county planning commissions. For more information, contact your local USDA Service Center, or visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/NRI/.

USDA-NRCS is an equal opportunity employer and provider.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     

Contact:          
Amy O. Maxwell
(803) 765-5402
amy.maxwell@sc.usda.gov