Rural Land Use in the Monongahela River Basin. [Agricultural Experiment Station] Bulletin 641.

In order to determine rural land use in the Monongahela River Basin, 11,528 landowners, controlling 40 percent of 10 contiguous counties in north-central West Virginia and constituting 19 percent of the rural population, were surveyed. Data derived from 892 questionnaire responses were analyzed in terms of past, present, and future land use; land valuation; market trends; tenure; and prospects for potential conflicts among competing rural land uses. Specifically, data encompassed: (1) population statistics, 1950, 1960, 1970; (2) export industries; (3) rural land use in 1972 (acreage distribution, land values, mineral resources, idle farmland, farm income, agricultural crops, crop acreages, livestock income); (4) changes in land use, 1962-72; (5) anticipated land use changes, 1982; (6) land use problems (farm operation, water sources, and disturbed lands). Results indicated rural landowners: (1) owned less than 100 acres; (2) large tracts were few, averaging 177.9 acres; (3) beef cattle sales comprised the major source of farm income, but most owners earned greater incomes off the farm; (4) large owners of timber and mineral rights were notably absent from the survey population; (5) 50 percent of those surveyed had coal reserves, 80 percent had coal rights, and 13 percent indicated willingness to sell; (6) farmland will decrease and farms will increase in size; (7) livestock production will be the major determinant of the surveyed land. (JC)