National Resources Inventory

The National Resources Inventory (NRI) is an inventory of land cover and use, soil erosion, prime farmland, wetlands, and other natural resource characteristics on non-Federal rural land in the United States. The NRI provides a record of the Nation's conservation accomplishments and future program needs.

Inventories have been conducted at 5-year intervals by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)  to determine the conditions and trends in the use of soil, water, and related resources nationwide and statewide.

This site contains results from the 1997 National Resources Inventory (revised December 2000). The NRI has been reissued as a result of an error discovered in March 2000 in the results originally issued in December 1999. All results obtained from us prior to January 9, 2001, should be replaced with the revised results.

The error was in the statistical software used to calculate estimates for the inventory. Re-release of the inventory results was delayed in order to conduct a complete quality assurance review of all phases of the inventory, to institute a number of additional quality checks, and to include wetlands data in the final release.

The most noticeable difference between the December 1999 and the corrected (December 2000) estimates is in the estimated increase in developed lands. The difference affected the estimates of rural lands, in particular, cropland, rangeland, and forest land.

Complete details regarding the corrected estimates are included in the Summary Report, 1997 National Resources Inventory (revised December 2000).

Wisconsin State NRI Coordinator Lori Van Hulle lori.vanhulle@wi.usda.gov

What is the National Resources Inventory (NRI)?

A Description of the NRI in Wisconsin

Data Results of the 1997 NRI in Wisconsin

Graphics of the results of the 1997 NRI

Glossary of Terms         
More Information About the National NRI