Investigating Parcel Changes to Understand Historic Land Use in a Southwestern Watershed

Abstract

This study develops a methodology to use parcel data to evaluate land use trends in southeast Arizona's San Pedro River Watershed. Changes in parcel size are examined decade by decade for two intervals: 1882-2012 and 1971-2012.  The purpose of the study is (1) to improve methodologies for evaluating land use trends using parcel data, (2) to display land use trends ina  portion of the San Pedro Watershed using parcel data, and (3) to discuss the implications of the analysis for evaluating environmental impacts with modeling tools and for assessing effects as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.