Land Use in America

• 77.3 million acres are used to produce crops that we actually eat.
• USDA says more than one-third of our land is used for pasture—by far the largest land-use type in the contiguous 48 states. Nearly 25 percent of that grazed land—158 million acres—is administered by the federal government. Most of it is in the West, and it can only be grazed if cattlemen pay a fee for it.
• The USDA categorizes national parks, wildlife areas, highways, railroads and military bases as special-use areas.
• 3 million U.S. acres are devoted to airports, while 2 million acres are used for golf courses.
• The 100 largest land-owning families in the U.S. own enough ground that it would fill nearly the entire state of Florida--58,560 square miles.
• Weyerhaeuser Co. is the largest private owner of timberlands in the U.S. With 12.4 million acres, the company controls 2.3 percent of all commercially available timber, an area nearly the size of West Virginia.