Because of the federal government shutdown, MRLC.gov is not being updated and the agency will not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted. For more information please visit: https://www.doi.gov/shutdown.
We are currently experiencing intermittent issues with https://www.mrlc.gov/data. For guidance on alternative data outlets, please click here.
Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) Collection 1 - Science Product User Guide June 2025 (PDF)
A description of the relevant characteristics of the Annual NLCD Collection 1 Science Products to help facilitate usage in the land cover remote sensing community.
To view and print the PDF you must obtain and install the Acrobat® Reader, available at no charge from Adobe Systems.
Published
The U.S. Geological Survey has added a new outlet for Reference and Validation (R&V) data for Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) Conterminous U.S. (CU), Collection 1.0. In addition to availability on the USGS ScienceBase-Catalog, the R&V data are now hosted right here on MRLC.gov.
Published
A new generation of RCMAP Ecological Potential (EP) vegetation cover components are now available. Rangelands have immense inherent spatial and temporal variability, yet assessments of land condition and trends are often assessed relative to the condition of a limited number of representative points or in some cases reference data for comparison is lacking. Understanding of the potential vegetation conditions of a site in an undisturbed state is invaluable for interpreting trends, disturbance impact, and restoration targets. EP was defined as the potential fractional cover of components (bare ground, herbaceous, litter, shrub, sagebrush, and tree) in the least disturbed and most productive spaces and times of western North America since 1985. This dataset enables: 1) setting realistic expectations for restoration and management targets, 2) better understanding of the extent of vegetation departure from potential and 3) improved spatial understanding of vegetation composition and productivity variation.
Published
Land Cover Characteristics in a Suite of Six Products