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Land Use
Within the Palouse Basin, non-irrigated agriculture is the predominant land use, comprising 53.5% of the basin.
Major crops include wheat, barley, peas, and lentils. Forested areas account for 31.1%, while rangeland (mostly scrub and
grassland) covers 10.5%. Only 4.9% of the basin is developed, characterized mainly by rural residential and low intensity
urban areas. Less than 1% of the Palouse Basin is occupied by open water and wetlands.
The distribution of land cover types is shown in the figure below, followed by a table summarizing land cover statistics
for both the North Fork and South Fork Palouse Rivers.
Land Cover |
SFPR |
NFPR |
Total |
% of Basin |
Cropland |
154,762 |
114,840 |
269,602 |
53.3% |
Forestland |
13,290 |
143,951 |
157,241 |
31.1% |
Rangeland |
5,386 |
47,580 |
52,966 |
10.5% |
Urban Use |
14,958 |
8,762 |
23,720 |
4.7% |
Open Water/Wetland |
340 |
1,777 |
2,117 |
0.4% |
Total |
188,736 acres |
316,910 acres |
505,646 acres |
100% |
*Acreages estimated from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD 2001).
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