Several land-use issues affect land cover. In order to explain the drivers of change in the GYA an understanding of societal and economic trends is needed. Changing trends in land ownership, home location, conversions such as the subdivision of ranch land into smaller ranchettes, economic demographics, recreation, and seasonal population are being examined.

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By focusing on the human dimensions of landscape change through information on land use and land cover this study will develop an improved understanding of historical land-use/land-cover patterns and the role of humans as drivers of landscape change in the GYA.

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is the largest contiguous intact mountain ecosystem in the U.S., which is home to many species that are increasingly interacting with humans. Future work will address the accurate prediction of the effects of land-use changes on land cover, including wildlife habitat.