County-level eastern U.S. forest loss since 2010

This dataset provides a county-level assessment of permanent and temporary forest loss across the eastern United States between 2010 and 2022. Forest change is identified by integrating the National Land Cover Database (NLCD), LANDFIRE Existing Vegetation data, and the Landscape Change Monitoring System (LCMS). Deforestation is classified as either temporary (forest to disturbed to non-barren/non-impervious) or permanent (forest to disturbed to barren or impervious). County-level metrics summarize the extent of permanent deforestation relative to forest cover in 2010 and contextualize losses with land value estimates derived from Nolte (2020).
, , # Eastern US Deforestation by County

## Purpose

The purpose of this dataset is to quantify the extent, type, and economic context of forest loss at the county scale in the eastern United States. By distinguishing between temporary and permanent deforestation, the dataset provides a foundation for evaluating the permanence of land-use change, the relative vulnerability of forests to development, and the potential costs of conservation. These data are intended to support forest landowner engagement, land-use planning, conservation prioritization, and regional reporting on forest change.

## Data

A Geopackage of the data is contained in the following Zipfile:

eastern-us-counties-d4st.zip

Once unzipped, the eastern-us-counties-d4st.gpkg file can be opened in the open source QGIS software.

## Access Constraints

None

## Use Constraints (Data Quality and Limitations)

Urban underestimation: LANDFIRE provides more accurate forest cover data than NLCD, but does not extend back to 2010. U...,