Population Density in the Western United States (Individuals / ha)

This map of human habitation was developed, following a modification of Schumacher et al. (2000), by incorporating 2000 U.S Census Data and land ownership. The 2000 U.S. Census Block data and ownership map of the western United States were used to correct the population density for uninhabited public lands. All census blocks in the western United States were merged into one shapefile which was then clipped to contain only those areas found on private or indian reservation lands because human habitation on federal land is negligible. The area (ha) for each corrected polygon was calculated and the 2000 census block data table was joined to the shapefile. In a new field, population density (individuals/ha) corrected for public land in census blocks was calculated . SHAPEGRID in ARC/INFO was used to convert population density values to grid with 90m resolution.