Land Use in the Narragansett Bay Region

This science update presents an analysis of land use change in all three of NBEP's study areas (Narragansett Bay, Little Narragansett Bay, the Coastal Salt Ponds and their watersheds) from 2001 to 2016. This report is the first time NBEP is presenting land use change for the Little Narragansett Bay and the Coastal Salt Ponds.

The purpose of these documents is to inform our audience on land use change in NBEP’s study areas, and to identify areas for further research. NBEP hopes that this update stimulates discussion among our partners and land use experts. The audience for this piece is anyone who is interested in land use change, particularly environmental managers, members of land-trust committees, and the interested public.

The methods used in this report are similar to the Land Use Chapter of the Status of Narragansett Bay and Its Watershed (NBEP 2017). The acreage reported in this update stem from National Land Cover Datasets (NLCD), clipped to the study areas, and then sorted by watersheds (study areas, HUC10, HUC12, etc.). Data and methods are available here: https://narragansett-bay-estuary-program-nbep.hub.arcgis.com/

This update has been peer-reviewed by NBEP staff and three members of NBEP's Science Advisory Committee. We thank everyone for their insights and comments.