Vanishing Open Spaces (National)
In just the eight years from 2002 to 2010, over 8.3 million acres (approximately 13,000 square miles) of farmland and natural habitat succumbed to the bulldozer’s blade. This study finds that around 70% of those losses around Urbanized Areas over the last decade were related to the nation's continuing trend of high population growth. Nearly all long-term population growth in the United States is in the hands of federal policy makers, because nearly all long-term population growth is related to federal immigration policies that have quadrupled the annual level of immigration.